Search results

Examines the different employment structures in leisure and retail organizations in the light of the recent Sunday Trading Act, 1994. Considers the make‐up of staff; training methods; rates of pay and changing customer demand patterns in order to draw comparisons and identify possible emerging trends. Asks the question as to whether retail outlets and their leisure counterparts trade in similar conditions and what the impact will be on the Sunday labour pool and levels of pay. Draws interesting employment comparisons between leisure, part of the hospitality industry, and retailing as their opening times overlap to a greater degree. Finds that, consequently, they are increasingly competing for labour from similar sources.

Logistics scholars, as well as strategic management scholars, have in recent years shown that capabilities in logistics and supply chain management may be the foundation for a company's sustainable competitive advantage. It can be argued that beside product‐, production‐, or market‐oriented companies, there are also flow‐oriented companies, in which the business models are based on superior logistics performance. The purpose of this study is to explore the characteristics of logistics‐based competition, i.e. how a logistics‐based business model is designed.

The research is based on a case study at a German do‐it‐yourself retailer. The case company can be considered as a best practice company when it comes to logistics‐based competition, where a committed top management team guarantees the importance of logistics in the strategic development of the company.

Logistics‐related characteristics of the three business model components – external environment, internal factors and offering – are elaborated.

This research adds to existing theory by developing the meaning of logistics‐based competition. The strategic role of logistics is described through a business model approach.

The aim of this paper is to highlight the factors that limit and support female career progression in the retail industry.

The research used a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Data were collected from employees and managers working in 31 stores belonging to national stores operating in the East Midlands as well as ten SME independent retailers based in the region.

The women in this study can be categorised into those women who are not interested in pursuing a career in retail, those that seek promotion but have difficulties balancing the demands of their work and domestic circumstances and those who have actively pursued a career in the industry. Despite these categorisations, the study suggests that the career progression of all female staff is helped and hindered by a number of interrelating factors, such as whether they have a role model, are loyal to the store they work in or have children.

It is proposed that career initiatives in retailing need to be more adaptable so that they take account of the different development needs of these three types of women.

This is a large‐scale study that uses a mixed method approach and considers the opinions of store staff working in a range of roles.

Describes the basic conditions created by monetary union of the two German states in mid‐1990 for Western retail companies to establish businesses in former East Germany. Major obstacles include uncertainty about the ownership of property, the poor market economy knowledge of the locally employed staff and the low density of the telecommunications network. The lack of large surface stores led to the construction of superstore tents. Non‐German retail companies are not yet big players in East Germany. At first local brands were abandoned by consumers in the East but are now being relaunched.

To understand the potential for various types of retailers, it is essential to appreciate retailer' positioning in the marketplace. Positioning has a critical effect on retailers' competitiveness and performance. Despite the significance and popularity of retail positioning, a few gaps remain that prompt the need for this research. First, little has been written about positioning in the building materials distribution industry, as compared with other retail sectors. Second, the retail classification literature has rarely included positioning as a dimension of retailer characteristics, although, in essence, they are both ways to understand retailer strategy and behaviour. To fill these research gaps, the objective of this research is to contribute to retail positioning research, using the Swedish building material distribution industry as a study setting. Specifically, it has two key goals: to develop a classification framework focusing on the Swedish building material distribution market; and to analyse those distributors by strategic groups and identify their common business priorities.

This research looked at a majority of building material distributors in the Swedish market. A total of 23 interviews were conducted with managing directors or similar from case companies. Interviews ranged from 40 to 90 minutes in duration. This research adapted materials developed for other purposes in order to enhance and strengthen primary data.

This study develops a classification framework of building material distributors and provides an overview of distributors operating in the Swedish markets. Drawing on theory from retail positioning and classification, the research result suggests that the studied distributors can be classified into three strategic groups: DIY‐service focused; DIY‐cost focused; and builders' merchant (BM)‐service focused. Research also showed that distinguishing building material distributor by customer type is not as effective as it once was; there is a trend of internationalisation in the Swedish building material distribution industry; and distributors exert growing central control over certain areas, such as purchasing and marketing.

The building material distribution industry attracts little research attention when compared to other sectors, for instance food and grocery retailing. Given this, the value of this article lies in identifying the leading companies in Sweden and offering strategic analysis of their business developments and focus. Insights into building material distributors' supply requirements are provided.

Over the last 40 years Do‐It‐Yourself (DIY) consumers have evolved from relative obscurity to a major multibillion dollar per year market. Research findings based on 403 DIY cases were used to develop insights for the formulation of retailer strategy. Types of projects undertaken and annual activity rates formed the basis of the investigation. Nine project categories were identified: carpentry, vehicle, painting, electrical, lawn and garden, plumbing, sewing, wall and floor covering, and masonry. Annual activity rates of the sample DIYers were used to identify three major groups: light doers, average doers, and heavy doers. The type of retail outlet preferred (e.g., department store, hardware store) depended primarily upon the project category the DIYer was considering. However, the mix of a retailer's product, price, promotion, and place elements desired by DIYers was related to activity levels. This led the authors to suggest that retail strategies might appropriately be developed along these two lines. First, consider which project categories retailer wishes to enter. Second, adjust the merchandising offering to best serve DIYers according to their activity levels.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the accelerated growth within the Australian do-it-yourself (DIY) market and discusses the factors and drivers affecting consumer motivations to engage in such assembly tasks.

Using a case study approach, evaluations and critical analysis of the DIY industry was being formulated by drawing on real life brands and examples. An analysis of various DIY retail strategies and DIY decking companies was synthesised to provide insights into the DIY industry.

The insights into the industry outlines the changing consumer attitudes and motivations towards DIY and decking tasks. The findings on an evolving DIY industry, in particular the decking market demonstrate useful implications for academics, policy makers and brand practitioners.

There have been little industry studies that delve into specifically decking products. Considering the vast increase in homeware, renovations, and gardening, the study provides insights from various case studies into the strategies undertaken by Australian and global companies. In addition, the majority of studies undertaken have also been concerned with the intrinsic motivations of consumers and not necessarily the extrinsic effect that brands and retailers advertently and inadvertently communicate and signal to consumers of DIY products.

This paper reports findings from a small scale study exploring the role gender plays in the interactions between customers and front‐line staff in DIY retailing. Drawing on materials gathered through observations, informal discussions with staff and focus groups, this study suggests that “maleness” pervades many aspects of DIY retailing. For the respondents the image of the case retailer, B&Q, and the products sold had male connotations. Furthermore, male customers perceived male customer‐facing staff to have better knowledge of technical DIY than female employees, even though this was not always the case. Given the rising interest from women in home improvements, it would appear that measures need to be put in place to create a more “inclusive” DIY store environment for female customers, and one that challenges the stereotypical assumptions held by many male home improvement customers.

Explains that UK consumers currently spend over £9 billion on do‐it‐yourself (DIY) home improvement products. States that in the 1980s this was the UK’s fastest growing major retail sector, and the booming UK housing market, especially the number of house moves, was widely thought to be the main stimulus for this growth. Reveals that the annual number of house moves has fallen by 50 per cent since 1988 but the DIY market has still grown, which suggests that the link between DIY and the housing market has either changed or is not as strong as previously believed. Reassesses the major factors which affected the DIY market in the 1980s through data analysis and multiple regression techniques. Suggests from the results that the effect of house moves on the DIY market is less than conventional wisdom would indicate. Notes that the most significant factors have been identified and are being used in a five‐year forecast which shows growth in line with increases in the general economy in a new, mature DIY market. Concludes that the results highlight the care needed when basing forecasts on a single factor which may no longer be valid.

Purchasers of new or newly refurbished dwellings may think that the home they are buying or renting could be expected to offer a defined level of resistance to entry by unauthorised people. This is not the case, and new developments are still being constructed and offered for sale or rent with inadequate security. While there is legislation on the statute book that could be used to address this situation, the relevant section of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 has not been implemented. In contrast, policy‐makers have succeeded for instance in making energy efficiency in dwellings and security in motor cars factors that influence buying decisions and that have resulted in significant improvements for consumers.