Format development and retail change: supermarket retailing and the London Co-operative Society

Andrew Alexander

Business History, 2008, vol. 50, issue 4, 489-508

Abstract: This article argues that students of retail history need to give more attention to the idea of the retail format. Employing a conceptualisation of the format recently presented in contemporary retail studies, it reveals the importance of so-called 'offering' and 'know-how' components to a fuller understanding of the development of the supermarket format in post-war Britain. Supermarket development is shown to be affected by, and itself impact on, a complex interplay of factors. Arguments presented in the article are supported by a detailed examination of supermarket development at the London Co-operative Society between 1960 and 1965. The paper thus also contributes to our knowledge of the history of co-operative retailing in the post-war period.

Keywords: supermarket; self-service retailing; retail format; co-operative societies; retail change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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DOI: 10.1080/00076790802106679

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