Category Archives: Supply Chains

The Co-operative Group Results 2021

A few weeks ago I was asked to provide a short analysis on the Co-operative Group’s results for 2021. This has now been published in Coop News. I repost it below. If nothing else it shows the impact of the … Continue reading

Posted in Availability, Community, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Covid19, Food Retailing, Membership, Retailing, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Predicting the Post-Covid Retail Landscape: presentation for Scottish Grocers Federation Cross Party Group

Later on today (from 1815 on the 16th March to be exact) I will be presenting virtually at the latest Scottish Grocers Federation organised Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Local Convenience Stores. I will be speaking, together with David … Continue reading

Posted in Amsterdam, Consumer Change, Consumers, Convenience, Convenience stores, Covid19, Dark Stores, Food Retailing, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Online Retailing, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Retailing, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Covid Variants, Retailing and this Christmas

A couple of weeks ago, I pondered putting together something again about the Christmas 2021 retail season.  Whilst there were strains over supply and labour availability, retailing seemed set for something much more normal. At about the same time, the … Continue reading

Posted in Boxing Day, Brexit, Christmas, Cities, Consumers, Covid19, Government, Inflation, Internet shopping, Online Retailing, Opening Hours, Pandemic, Retailers, Supply Chains, Town Centres, Towns | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Brexit isn’t Delivering

Neil Saunders provides a valuable service by culling newspapers on a daily basis for retail stories and putting them up on his twitter feed. This saves time for me and also provides a good snapshot of retail sentiment (He does … Continue reading

Posted in Availability, Brexit, Christmas, Consumers, Covid19, distribution, Employment, European Union, Frictionless, Government, Logistics, Next, Panic buying, Referendum, Retailers, Supply Chains, Wages, Warehouses | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Locavore’s Bigger Plan

I am not sure when I first became aware of Locavore. It certainly was before they launched their Big Plan in 2015. I had a watching interest in the development of social and more sustainable retail food stores and supermarkets, … Continue reading

Posted in Community, Community Interest Company, Consumer Lifestyle, Crowdfunding, Employment practices, Ethics, Food, Food Retailing, Glasgow, Independents, Local Retailers, Localisation, Locavore, Lockdown, organic, Pandemic, Producers, Retail innovation, Retail leadership, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland Food and Drink, Scotland Loves Local, Scottish Local Retailer, Scottish Retailing, Social Change, Stirling, Supermarket, Suppliers, Supply Chains, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Uncategorized, Veg Boxes, Wages, Waste, Wholesaling | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

COVID-19 and Christmas

About six or so weeks ago I completed a piece for the Economics Observatory (@EconObservatory) on the impact of Coronavirus on the UK’s retail sector. You can find my short intro to it on this blog and the full piece … Continue reading

Posted in Availability, Boxing Day, Brexit, Christmas, Consumers, Covid19, distribution, Employees, European Union, Food Banks, Frictionless, Government, Home Delivery, IKEA, Independents, Internet shopping, Just in Time, Local Retailers, Office for National Statistics, Online Retailing, Opening Hours, Panic buying, Regulation, Retail Economy, Retailers, Stirling, Stock, Supply Chains, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What Should We Value about Retailing and Towns and What Should We Do About Them?

Apologies, this took a little longer and got a bit lengthier than I originally intended.   “If they look beyond heroic individualism and accept that individuals exist in a network of social bonds and obligations, we might just see a … Continue reading

Posted in Community, Consumer Change, Consumers, Employment, Food, Food Banks, Food Retailing, Government, Grocery, Health, Healthy Living, High Streets, Independents, Leadership, Local Retailers, Non-food retailing, Places, Proactive Planning, Rates, Reinvention, Retail Change, Retail Planning, Retailing, Scottish Government, Shopping, Spaces, Streets, Streetscapes, Supply Chains, Tax, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Scottish Retail Sales: seeing the impact of Lockdown

Earlier today (22nd April) the March figures from the Scottish Retail Sales Monitor (managed by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG) were published. They were as bad as everyone expected, and the commentary in the media showed due concern (for … Continue reading

Posted in Availability, BRC, Closure, Community, Consumer Change, Consumers, Convenience stores, Covid19, Food, Food Retailing, Grocery, High Streets, Independents, Internet shopping, Lockdown, Market Shares, Non-food retailing, Panic buying, Places, Rents, Resilience, Retail Change, Retail Economy, Retail Sales, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Retail Sales, Scottish Retailing, Shopping, Social Inequality, Supply Chains, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Changing Priorities? The End of the (Retail) World as We Knew It

In the last three posts I have looked at the food vs non-food dichotomy in retailing as COVID19 sweeps through the country.  The figures and situation are astonishing and something no-one predicted a few weeks/months ago. How do we make … Continue reading

Posted in Availability, Community, Consumer Change, Consumer Choice, Consumers, Contactless, Convenience stores, Covid19, Food Retailing, Grocery, Independents, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Localisation, Non-food retailing, Online Retailing, Panic buying, Producers, Resilience, Retail Change, Retail Sales, Retailers, Small Shops, Supermarket, Suppliers, Supply Chains, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Retail Armageddon

A couple of weeks ago we were delighted to have Helen Dickenson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium deliver our Retail Futures lecture. Her title, Retail Armageddon or Reinvention? and her presentation were about the retail restructuring underway. Three … Continue reading

Posted in Community, Community Grocer, Consumers, Cooperative Group, Covid19, Employment, Food Retailing, Local Retailers, Logistics, Opening Hours, Panic buying, Retailers, Retailing, Scottish Retail Consortium, Shopping, Supermarket, Supply Chains, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments