Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #435210 in Books
• Published on: 1999-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
It must be one of life's ironies that one of the most dynamic industry sectors of the last 20 years is founded on one of the most humdrum activities of the last seven days: the weekly shop. Next time you're crashing your trolley around overcrowded aisles and up-ending pyramids of Honduran ugli fruit, remember, you're part of a great tradition of innovation and progress.

Supermarkets are headline news: takeovers, price wars, destroyers of town centres and communities--it's easy to forget that they also supply us with goods and, increasingly, services, designed to make our lives fuller and easier. One estimate states that "an astonishing two per cent of an average adult life will be spent inside a supermarket." The big players, in fact, possess such power that they are able to "partly reflect and partly drive significant shifts in social patterns." In The Grocers, Seth and Randall look at the characters and stories behind each of the UK's major household names, Asda, M & S, Sainsbury's, Safeway, Tesco, broadening their gaze to include European and US retailing. The modest beginnings contrast sharply with today's total experience. It's hard to imagine, but impossible not to admire Jack Cohen, the founder of Tesco, wheeler-dealing his way to profits, buying "a consignment of 'Flying Bird' Danish cream from a half-sunk ship and sending it off to his shops with the instruction--'Takeoff the labels, get a tin of Duraglit from the shelves to clean off the rust and sell these for 2d a tin'."

Serving up a man-size slab of retail therapy, The Grocers is a fascinating account of how the corner shop came to corner shopping. --Iain Campbell

Book Jacket
A unique, in-depth study of business history in the making ... Retailing has become one of the most dynamic industry sectors over the last 20 years and the supermarket chains in particular have become the focus of regular headline news. The history of retailing, though, goes back much further.

In a fascinating account of this phenomenal growth, The Grocers reveals the stories behind the impressive development of today's international household supermarket names. It shows how their individual and intertwined histories are full of unique characters, surprising incidents and unpredictable twists of fortune. With unrivalled access to the top decision-makers in all the leading companies, the authors describe and analyse the strategies, organisation and cultures that have made these groups what they are today: Asda, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's, Safeway, Tesco, Wal-Mart. As well as these industry giants, the authors cover the "second tier" chains in Britain, including Waitrose, Morrison and Somerfield, and the European main players, such as Carrefour, Ahold and Aldi.

As supermarket stores themselves both reflect and drive significant shifts in social patterns, Seth and Randall examine their effects on the consumer and on society as a whole. That there are winners and losers is clear. It is obvious also that with Wal-Mart's decisive move into the UK, the face of retailing is set to change for ever. This powerful US entry will change the competitive structure of the UK market and influence all aspects of future consumer behaviour.

Now an international business, supermarket retailing has evolved as a consumer market in its own right. The Grocers provides everyone interested in modern retailing with definitive insights and will hold unparalleled interest for retailers themselves, their suppliers and manufacturers.

"The Grocers is a terrific story compellingly told; the growth of world retailers is well portrayed. Written with authority by two consummate business professionals, the analysis of brands and retailing rang a whole lot of bells." --Niall Fitzgerald, Chairman, Unilever plc, London

"The Grocers is a passionate description of radical food retailing change over two decades--simply in my mind, 'a quiet revolution.' Wonderfully well told." --Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth, ex-Chairman, Tesco plc, London

"The emergence and growth of the grocery business--its evolution into supermarkets, warehouse clubs, convenience stores, supercentres and discounters--with the changing consumer patterns of shopping and eating--is one of the big business stories of our time. The Grocers tells it all and tells it well." --Kenneth Roman, Former Chairman and CEO, Ogilvy and Mather, New York, USA

"This is a fine book for general readers-- consumers who want to understand the big changes in their shopping lives in the UK, in America and Europe. It's also a business and marketing story excitingly told by two internationally minded professionals." --John Quelch, Dean of London Business School (Former Harvard Business School Professor of Marketing)

"This is a roller-coaster story, a fascinating exposition of how a handful of companies have come to dominate the food retailing scene. The Grocers is a brilliant analysis of the world's top retailers and how they are where they are today." Peter Doyle, Professor of Marketing and Strategic Management, University of Warwick Business School

Synopsis
An in-depth examination of the rise of the major supermarkets. The authors assert that retailers, managers and students can all learn from the trailblazing companies which have led the way in the area of competencies, competitive strategies, marketing, internationalization and customer service.