Category Archives: Retail Failure

Fake Shops and some other retail news

Posted on March 7, 2017 by

Everyone pretty much agrees these days that we are living in an era of ‘fake news’, or outright lies as it would be better called.  You know the sort of things – £350m per week to spend on the NHS, … Continue reading →

Posted in BHS, Brands, Employment, High Streets, Independents, Local Retailers, Places, Retail Failure, Sainsbury, Store Closures, Tesco, Town Centres, Waterstones | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Retailing’s Unacceptable Faces

Posted on August 23, 2016 by

Of course, the week I was away on annual leave (and if you love rain, then my home country Wales, had it in buckets) the two House of Commons Select Committee investigations into those captains of industry, Sir Philip Green … Continue reading →

Posted in Agencies, BHS, Employment, Employment practices, Governance, Pensions, Retail Failure, Retail leadership, Select Committees, Sports Direct, Store Closures | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Playthings of the Monetary Rich and (In) Famous

Posted on June 12, 2016 by

The last couple of times this blog has fallen silent for a month, it has been because of a death in my family. Thankfully, this time that is not the case, though an alleged death threat does feature. Can you … Continue reading →

Posted in administration, BHS, Closure, Comet, Governance, Liquidation, Pensions, Retail Failure, Select Committees, Store Closures | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

The Perfect Storm?

Posted on January 4, 2016 by

Are the storms getting worse now that someone has decided to give them names? Certainly by the time Frank had finished with my garden, I’d pretty much got the swimming pool I always thought that I had not wanted. And … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Friday, Christmas, Closure, Consumer Change, Costs, Discounters, Internet, Margins, Retail Economy, Retail Failure, Sales, Stock | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Easy, it Ain’t

Posted on September 7, 2015 by

What with the announcement by a number of retailers that they are re-considering the tone of voice and announcements made by their self service checkouts and others who are removing such non-human (inhuman?) equipment, it has not been a good … Continue reading →

Posted in Automation, Communications, Customer Service, Easyjet, Personal, Retail Failure, Self-Scanning, Self-Service, Service Quality, Twitter | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Conversation: What is Going on at Tesco?

Posted on April 23, 2015 by

The University of Stirling is a supporter of The Conversation, and I published a commentary there yesterday. I reblog it here. My commentary, perhaps unsurprisingly, was on the goings-on at Tesco, which has been something of a running theme on … Continue reading →

Posted in Click and Collect, Competition, Consumer Change, Discounters, Finance, Food Retailing, Internet shopping, Retail Failure, Tesco | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Have You Heard of Sanders Bros?

Posted on July 25, 2014 by

For me it all began when one of my MBA retailing students showed me an advertisement from the 1933 Times and challenged me, as a Professor of Retail Studies, to tell him who Sanders Bros were, given that they were … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Books, Closure, Food Retailing, Historic Shops, History, Retail Failure, Retail History, Sainsbury, Sanders Bros, Tesco | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments