The demise of the cookie cutter strategy

The effects of the financial crisis are now more evident than ever. There will be more job cuts in the public sector, the Euro crisis will not settle anytime soon and a recession appears to be imminent. We’re fed information by the media, yet it’s often difficult to see the immediate impacts on our surroundings; however, a walk through our local town centre, and an article in the Metro (I left the house without a book), confirms that a transition has steadily been taking place on the frontline of our economy: retail.

Chains, franchises and well known High Street retailers have been retreating or down-sizing, for over two years, since the closure of Woolworths. Premium retail space is now left vacant or occupied by independent traders selling low-quality, imported goods. In my opinion, the influx of independent trade erodes the cookie cutter strategy: the efforts of a group of holding companies to monopolise and replicate town centres across the country.

Next to Footlocker you will find Kaza Shoes and opposite Marks & Spencer there is Fresh Fashions. It’s all very interesting. Independent retailers are drawing in the masses once alienated by the chains, and now a walk through the town centre provides a realistic sample of the town’s population composition: Albanian and Polish immigrants, industrial estate workers from Britwell and Farnham, Asians from Cippenham and small Arabic and Lebanese communities.

Noting the changes makes me realise how local trade, through the influence larger companies, was geared to only cater for one class: the monied middle class, which probably accounts for 20 -30% of East Berkshire’s population. The town’s population hasn’t significantly changed as both grammar schools attract very well to do families; however, Middle Britain tightening its purse strings is evidently empowering small business owners and breathing life into a new, rebalanced local economy.