Replaced .serialize with .val on line 169 and added the line directly below, which encodes the string in UTF-8. This should solve special character issues with foreign addresses. Also updated geocode.js with the same thing.

Author: bjorn2404

js/geocode.js

@@ -23,15 +23,17 @@ $(function() {
     //Stop the form submission
     e.preventDefault();
     //Get the user input and use it
-    var userinput = $('form').serialize();
-    userinput = userinput.replace("address=","");
+    var userinput = $('form #address').val();
+    //Convert to utf-8
+    userinput = unescape(encodeURIComponent(userinput));
     if (userinput == "")
       {
         alert("The input box was blank.");
       }
 
       var g = new GoogleGeocode();
       var address = userinput;
+
       g.geocode(address, function(data) {
         if(data != null) {
           olat = data.latitude;
@@ -45,8 +47,5 @@ $(function() {
         }
       });
 
-      //Replace spaces in user input
-      userinput = userinput.replace(" ","+");
-
   });
 });

js/jquery.storelocator.js

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
-* storeLocator v1.3 - jQuery store locator plugin
+* storeLocator v1.3.1 - jQuery store locator plugin
 * (c) Copyright 2012, Bjorn Holine (http://www.bjornblog.com)
 * Released under the MIT license
 * Distance calculation function by Chris Pietschmann: http://pietschsoft.com/post/2008/02/01/Calculate-Distance-Between-Geocodes-in-C-and-JavaScript.aspx
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ $.fn.storeLocator = function(options) {
   function GoogleGeocode() {
     geocoder = new google.maps.Geocoder();
     this.geocode = function(address, callbackFunction) {
+        address = unescape(encodeURIComponent(address));
         geocoder.geocode( { 'address': address}, function(results, status) {
           if (status == google.maps.GeocoderStatus.OK) {
             var result = {};
@@ -165,8 +166,9 @@ $.fn.storeLocator = function(options) {
       //Stop the form submission
       e.preventDefault();
       //Get the user input and use it
-      var userinput = $('#' + settings.formID + ' #' + settings.inputID).serialize();
-      userinput = userinput.replace("address=","");
+      var userinput = $('#' + settings.formID + ' #' + settings.inputID).val();
+      //Convert to utf-8 - special character issue fix
+      userinput = unescape(encodeURIComponent(userinput));
       if (userinput == "")
         {
           //Show alert and stop processing

js/jquery.storelocator.min.js

@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ A note on the distance calculation: this plugin currently uses a distance functi
 
 ## Changelog
 
+### Version 1.3.1
+
+Replaced .serialize with .val on line 169 and added the line directly below, which encodes the string in UTF-8. This should solve special character issues with international addresses. 
+
 ### Version 1.3
 
 Added directions links to left column location list and HTML5 geolocation API option. Also did a little cleanup.