Decline in the British small shop independent retail sector: exploring European parallels

An Overview About Fashion Retailing Sector: UK Versus Spain

“…http://www.cluteinstitute.com/ © 2012 The Clute Institute As Coca-Stefaniak et al (2005) did for small shops independent retailer, we believe that a more fruitful approach than concentration on events in one country is comparative research in two or more countries. Our chosen comparator is Spain and we agree with the aforementioned authors that a useful background to retailing in the two countries can be found in Flavián et al (2002) because they stressed that market innovations generally arrived later in Spain and that the Spanish market is more locally oriented (Coca-Stefaniak et al, 2005). Topics such as retail strategy have attracted much more academic interest in Britain than in Spain (Coca-Stefaniak et al, 2005); and although it is very difficult to make reliable comparisons because of the existence of structural differences both are characterized by the economic growing of this sector in general, and the women segment in particular.…”

The Impact of Resources and Strategic Orientation on Small Retail Firm Performance

“…Retailing is widely regarded as being vital to local and national economies (Findlay and Sparks 2002;Parnell 2013;Reinartz et al 2011;Wrigley and Lowe 2010). However, increases in the array and availability of products, the globalization and expanding dominance of large retail chains, tremendous growth in Internet sales, rapid advances in communication and distribution technologies, and turbulent economies all contribute to a volatile and competitive environment for retailers, particularly small retailers (Bennison, Warnaby, and Pal 2010;Coca-Stefaniak et al 2005;Evans 2011;Megicks and Warnaby 2008;Moore 2005;Moore and Fairhurst 2003;Nelson and Ratliff 2005). Despite these and other challenges, such as inadequate resources, supply problems and relatively higher operating costs (Smith and Sparks 2000), many small retailers are clearly successful (Megicks 2007).…”

The economic and social role of small stores: a review of UK evidence

“…Comparisons with other European regions where the tradition of independently owned small stores has been maintained and where the small store sector has been defended through politically-driven support (Coca-Stefaniak et al 2005;Guy 1998b) has shown, however, that the decline of the small store sector is not inevitable when their economic and social role is fully understood, valued, and supported by regulators, planners, and the communities they serve. What then, does the published evidence say about the role of small stores?…”