There's no business like shop business: Leading retailers analyse current trends

Predicting the future is a risky business, and in retailing in particular it is especially hazardous. Which may be the reason why only one or two of the speakers at the Financial Times conference, “Retailing to 1996”, actually dared to prophesy. Nonetheless the two‐day conference, held in London in May, was valuable in that it put forward some useful analyses of current trends in retailing. The range of themes tackled was comprehensive; it included the changing consumer, the two‐nations syndrome, multi‐niche formulae, the specialists versus generalists debate, the emergence of the cellular household, out‐of‐town developments — and the retailer as entertainer! The 150 delegates comprised a wide range of interests — retailers, market analysts, technologists and property developers — and included our contributor, Michael Poynor.