Retail Change

Book excerpt: The economic, social and environmental implications of recent changes in retailing constitute significant contemporary issues, which are the focus of this timely book. Retail change deals with the internationalization of retailing, the development of shopping centres in the city and at suburban sites, and the growth of leisure shopping. It provides an up-to-date review of the central questions faced by undergraduate students in planning, business studies and geography. The retail environment of developed economies has undergone revolutionary change since the 1970s, and the process is far from over. In the book the major elements central to contemporary retail change are developed across the whole spectrum of spatial scales relevant to present-day society. The first part adopts an economic perspective and focuses on the process of business concentration and its increasingly international orientation. This is followed by analyses of change in the urban region, concentrating on the emergence of the great variety of new retail forms associated with retail decentralization. The planning implications of retail change are developed in the third part. The future of the city-centre and other traditional shopping centres is examined in the light of challenges presented by new facilities. Alternative future scenarios contingent upon laisser-faire or interventionist government policy controls are also discussed. The social implications of retail change are developed in the final section. All students and researchers concerned with the evolution and development of the retail sector of advanced economies will welcome this book as an authoritative source of contemporary findings and commentary. Rosemary D. Bromley and Colin J. Thomas are Lecturers in Geography at the University College of Swansea, Wales.. This book is intended for undergraduate students taking courses in economic geography and retailing in departments of geography, business studies, planning, etc.