Search results

Most people have two basic ideas about retailing in eastern European countries — firstly that there are lots of queues, and secondly that if you are privileged there are special shops for you (usually taking hard currency). Beyond this there is little knowledge of what the retail scene really is. These vague perceptions have recently been put to the test by Dr Steve Burt and Dr Leigh Sparks of the University of Stirling, who spent a number of weeks in Poland studying and investigating the organisation and structure of Polish retailing. Their trip was made possible by the generous financial assistance of the British Academy/Polish Academy of Sciences exchange scheme. This paper reports on the findings of their study tour.

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/13598540310463323. When citing the article, please cite: Leigh Sparks, Beverly A. Wagner, (2003), “Retail exchanges: a research agenda”, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 8 Iss: 1, pp. 17 - 2.

The idea that “anything goes” in enterprise zones certainly is not the case, particularly as regards retailing. Floorspace size limits on new retail developments, stringent in some cases, are commonplace. John Dawson and Leigh Sparks look at the various schemes and compare the restrictions, which have been set to exclude superstores, hypermarkets, discount stores and the like.

Reflects on the origins and development of The Retail Planner’s Bookshelf and outlines the composition of the 2002 version. Concludes that the updated version, by providing common language all round, will enable progress at the national and local level.

The UK is a developed retail economy with some of the largest and most powerful retailers in the world. These retailers have been attempting to offer sustainable distribution, both for consumer focus reasons and as an aid to performance. At the other end of the scale, small local community focused stores have begun to emerge to offer an alternative food supply to that of the major chains. They too argue for a focus on sustainability but from a very different perspective. This chapter explores these varying approaches, using the contrasts to develop a discussion about sustainable distribution in the UK.

Sparks, in a case study of the takeover of The Southland Corporation (USA) by Ito‐Yokado and Seven‐Eleven Japan, raised a number of fundamental questions about the nature of retail internationalisation and our understanding of the subject. This paper returns to this subject and, using an analysis of the changes in both businesses since the takeover, again explores our depth of comprehension of the processes of retail internationalisation. The changes in The Southland Corporation since 1991 have essentially replicated the Japanese convenience store model and produced a business turnaround. This illustrates both the depth and length of components of internationalisation. The stage is now set for the global transformation of the business.

This article assesses the specific employment opportunities for women in the retail superstore. The result of a sample survey (part of a wider study of retail employment) are compared with the responses to comparable questions from the Department of Employment survey of the late 1970s. The focus is on three areas: occupational segregation in a changing retail environment; female employment and life cycle stage; and female attitudes towards employment.

For many individuals, Sunday working in retailing is simply a fact of life. With many retailers trading, some legally, others illegally, on a Sunday, there is a need to understand the Sunday labour market. Provides a general summary of the findings of a major survey into the structure, composition, terms and conditions and motivations of this Sunday retail workforce.

The retail trades are an important employer of labour in Britain. The Retail Inquiry of 1982 found that there were 2.202 million people engaged in the retail trades (British Business, 1983). This figure includes self‐employed and casual workers. The 1981 Census of Employment recorded that retailing (1968 S.I.C.) had 1.863 million employees in employment, i.e. 8.8 per cent of the British employees in employment total. On revision to the 1980 S.I.C., the figures became 2.049 million and 9.7 per cent of the total in employment. The Census of Employment excludes the self‐employed. The present economic recession has severely contracted employment, and especially manufacturing employment (see, for example, Townsend, 1983). Little is known, however, about the impact of the recession on the retail trades, despite their importance as a source of employment.