Providing store location information is an important site feature for online purveyors that also sell from brick-and-mortar stores, so taking advantage of Google's powerful Maps JavaScript API is a great way to transform what might have been a static list of addresses into an interactive map application.

This article is part three of a tutorial mini-series created to demonstrate how to use PHP, JavaScript, XML, and other web languages to create a store locator application with the Google Maps API.

In Part 1, I created a MySQL database, did some geocoding, and prepared an SQL query to find the nearest target store—in my example application, I am using Dutch Bros. coffee locations in my home state of Idaho.

In Part 2, I "fetched" t...