Last updated July 2008 - this page now ARCHIVED
LINK TO NEW LESSON PLAN PAGE (useful for Pilot GCSE People as Consumers) & NEW YEAR 8 UNIT
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"At some point we have to face the certain reality: despite all the good the world seems to offer, true happiness can only be found in one thing - shopping" - Ally McBeal
Shopping is a subject with a lot of hidden detail. A simple visit to a supermarket exposes the shopper of all sorts of psychological tricks. We look at the way in which shopping hierarchies develop, and the changes in recent times with the advent of Internet shopping. The OUP Geog.1 textbook has some useful information on this. We've adopted this textbook series as one of our new resources.
Go HERE for some Year 7 stuff on shopping. We take our students out to Gaywood, which is a local neighbourhood shopping centre close to the school. We also use this as the location for a traffic survey.
Out of town shopping centres are just one of many recent trends which has changed the way that people shop.
At the end of WWII, most people would shop regularly and at specialist retailers: they would go to a bakers for bread (or make their own..) on most days, along with trips to butchers, grocers etc.
Other trends (which have come as a result of the changes in lifestyles due to increased car ownership etc.)
Increase in purchase of convenience food (microwave introduced)
Sunday trading - inevitable, but has meant disruption to family weekends for those in the retail sector.
Freezers: bulk purchases: the weekly 'shop'
Car parks: free car parks attracting customers
Loyalty cards
Celebrity endorsements
Internet: online shopping has been bigger this Christmas 2002 than ever
Reduction in Green Shield stamps
Shopping malls and supermarkets where people went round with a trolley or basket and picked their own produce were an American import. In reality, the concept did away with shop assistants, and put shoppers to work loading their own trolleys and wheeling them to the tills.
The late 50's saw the arrival of the malls of Victor Gruen, whose 'recipe' was:
"Take 100 acres of suitable flat land. Surround it with 500 000 consumers who have no access to other commercial developments. Prepare the site and cover the centre with 10 million square feet of building. Fill with the best merchandisers selling quality products at a low price. Decorate with 10 000 parking spaces, and ensure that the site can be reached with excellent, under-used expressways. Finish by decorating with bushes and a small sculpture and serve hot.."
In terms of SIZE: a SUPERMARKET is a store with between 4000 and 25000 square feet. A SUPERSTORE has between 25000 and 50000 and a HYPERMARKET has over 50000 square feet, and sometimes over 100000 square feet. The arrival of BIG W stores has brought some huge retail spaces to the UK.
Most out of town shopping centres have sites which are sometimes little more than glorified adverts, but can also have useful plans, and details on the history of the development.
These include:
GRAFTON CENTRE, Cambridge (not quite on the same scale...)
McARTHUR GLEN: have a number of outlets in various parts of the country and abroad - they specialise in DESIGNER OUTLETS: the outlet at YORK has some great shops and a Viking boat in the food court...
Go HERE for the associated LESSON PLAN or HERE for some more SHOPPING information.
Supermarkets arrived in Britain around 1960. In 1970 there were less than 30 supermarkets in the UK, by 1997 there were over 1100. As the number of supermarkets grew, the size grew as well. They moved to the edge of town where the land was cheaper. Opening hours have lengthened, so that many are now open 24 hours a day, and Sunday is no longer a day when shops are closed.
Many small shops have been unable to compete. Some people suggest that there is now less choice of certain food items as supermarkets control the supply chain. The main issue is 'economies of scale'.
So how can the CBD fight back ?
In many CBDs there are parts called ZONES OF DISCARD: areas which are in decline, where shops have a fast turnover, or there are lots of empty shops. Some of the reasons why shoppers are pushed out of the CBD include:
Problems with access due to out of date infrastructure
Problems with parking
Inefficient public transport
Safety issues
Problems with expanding
Noise
Litter
Environmental destruction
Norwich has spent a lot of money on developing CASTLE MALL in the centre of the city, and trying to get people back in to the centre.
What advantages PULL people to OUT OF TOWN centres ?
Large variety and choice of shops and services under one roof
Environmental control - out of the weather
Lots of free parking
Ease of access with direct routes in by car, bus, rail etc.
A chance to see a film, have a meal etc - shopping as a leisure activity (retail therapy) rather than a chore
No one bothering you as you shop
And how have places like Norfolk towns got the customers to go back to the CBD ?
Pedestrianisation
Greening
Regular cleaning
Security cameras / patrols
Improve access and public transport
Smarter street furniture
Try CORPORATE WATCH for one view on the growth of supermarkets and their effect on retail trends. Downloaded a rather good 4 page critique of supermarkets from them.
The David Gardiner resource "ICT Activities in Geography" has some Powerpoint presentations on Monk's Cross, York and Meadowhall, and images of other shopping areas too. Tried to take some pictures at a local retail park recently but was thrown off by security.
There are some useful resources on the Internet which a few searches will uncover.
There's a separate page of information on MEADOWHALL here. Thanks to the EDUSCHOOL programme for this information, as credited on the actual webpage.
Some SHOPPING information too.
RACE TO THE TOP looks at 'Tracking Supermarket progress towards a greener and fairer food system'.
There are CASE STUDIES and RESOURCES to download. Tries to raise awareness of SUSTAINABLE practices. One of the CASE STUDIES for example looks at the problem of supplying food to people in remote rural communities, and tackling RETAIL DESERTS.
Article in March 2004 listed the top 20 best shopping locations in Britain. This is an annual list and gives an indication of the retail health of certain cities. One big mover this year was Birmingham, which has just opened its futuristic Selfridge's development as part of the redevelopment of the old Bull Ring area which has become a symbol of Birmingham's decline. The results are produced by Experian.
| 1 | West End of London |
| 2 | Glasgow |
| 3 | Birmingham |
| 4 | Leeds |
| 5 | Nottingham |
| 6 | Manchester |
| 7 | Southampton |
| 8 | Cardiff |
| 9 | Norwich |
| 10 | Bluewater (Kent) |
| 11 | Chester |
| 12 | Reading |
| 13 | Liverpool |
| 14 | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| 15 | Leicester |
| 16 | Edinburgh |
| 17 | Kingston upon Thames |
| 18 | Brighton |
| 19 | Merry Hill (near Dudley) |
| 20 | Meadowhall (Sheffield) |
Will try and get some updated figures for this...
http://www.visitnorwich.co.uk/shopping.aspx - Norwich doing well
Interesting article in 'The Guardian' in September 2006 giving the results of a survey by the National Consumer Council on how GREEN supermarkets are. They were given a rank from A to E on a number of categories, such as Food transport, Waste, Nature - fish and trees and Sustainable farming.
Waitrose came top with an overall B grade. Tesco scored a D. Morrisons and Somerfield were ranked E.
Report
from NO SWEAT on where clothes bought in Supermarkets are made:
http://www.nosweat.org.uk/node/156
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2183851.ece - excess packaging
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money_savers/article.html?in_article_id=406815&in_page_id=5
Check out this film too
Greenpeace vs Morrisons: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/oceans/media/pressrelease.cfm?ucidparam=20060317123332
Remember to question all internet based materials - who is 'telling the truth...' ?