In brief: the National Retail Planning Forum Briefing Paper series

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to make sense of recent developments in retail planning with reference to the changing agendas on retail planning, the disparate nature of participation in the retail planning debate and the diversity of literature on the subject.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper focuses on the work of the National Retail Planning Forum. Specifically, it examines the Briefing Paper Series using it as a way of seeing how the agenda has been changing and policy challenged.

Findings

The paper underlines the importance of distinguishing between evidence based research and rhetoric or advocacy in evaluating policy in retail planning.

Originality/value

The paper provides an accessible short tour of recent issues on the policy agenda whilst also counterpoising some of the underlying retail planning policy issues.

Citation

Findlay, A. and Sparks, L. (2008), "In brief: the National Retail Planning Forum Briefing Paper series", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 36 No. 12, pp. 1015-1023. https://doi.org/10.1108/09590550810919414