The paper examines the property market aspects of retail warehouse development. To set the context for the discussion, the history of the development of retail warehouses is traced, highlighting the increasing sophistication of this form of trading and comparing the future development prospects in each of the three main goods sectors. Comparative rental evidence provides the basis for the discussion of the relative influences of the retail and industrial property markets which follows, from which it is evident that the market for retail warehouses is much more strongly related to the industrial market than to the retail market. It is concluded, however, that the influence of the industrial market is likely to weaken as grouped developments of retail warehouses become more common and thus a ranking of centres emerges which is reflected in increasingly differentiated rental levels. Finally, the impact of planning policies on retail warehouse developments is considered.