nickshanagher

There is a lot of news about the performance of retailers on the television at the moment. This is positive because it means that there are fewer global disasters, wars, tax rises, scandals and terrible crimes to take up all the airtime. It is negative because it is so broad brush. For example, on the television news they talk about retailers as if they are interchangeable when in reality a food retailer and a white goods retailer operate in different worlds. Shops that sell books and DVDs and CDs face incredible pressure from internet sales. Ones that sell bread and milk do not. Local shops in the news and convenience channel face a very tough trading environment this year, perhaps more so than for some time. One leading wholesaler told me in November that trading was very, very difficult. For him this was a departure from his more usual optimism. I would speculate that the pressure from the multiple operators on the convenience channel, particularly in London and the South East...