Clone town

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Clone town is a UK term for a town where the High Street or other major shopping areas are significantly dominated by Chain stores. The term was coined by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), a British think tank, in their 2004 report on "Clone Town Britain".[1]

A survey conducted by NEF in 2005 [2] estimated that 41% of towns in the UK and 48% of London villages could be considered clone towns, with the trend rising.

Contents

[edit] Controversy

The NEF report argued that the spread of clone towns is highly damaging to society because of the removal of diversity. [3] In particular:

  • The expansion of clone towns devastated small businesses. Between 1997 and 2002, independent general stores were estimated to close at the rate of 1 per day, and specialist stores at the rate of 50 per week.[4]
  • Consolidation of large amounts of distribution power in the hands of these companies could lead to danger. For example, magazine editors lobbied the Prime Minister to act to prevent a situation where a few supermarket brands could control the distribution of magazines and thus effectively censor any publication they did not like, or even force it out of business [5]. The report also found that many suppliers, such as farmers, feared making any public criticism of chain retailers, as the retailer could simply cut their distribution and force them out of business.
  • Related to both of the above is the danger of the loss of regional colour. For example, the NEF report found that many supermarket branches in Scotland did not carry, or did not stock, regional Scottish publications. .[6]
  • The tendancy for chain stores, and in particular supermarkets, to locate out-of-town means that they purchase land which could have been used for housing, thus driving up house prices since less land is available. [7]
  • Chain stores and especially supermarkets tend to carry only the few most popular products in certain ranges (for example, the most popular computer games, books, and DVDs). Thus, they remove the most profitable business from independent retailers, while reducing the range of choice available [8].

The converse argument is that large chain stores have grown big because their products are desirable to large numbers of people, and thus their arrival in towns provides convenient access to the products that the population might want. It is argued that providing locals with easy access to popular products they want should be a higher priority than ensuring that people travelling between multiple towns experience variety. Furthermore, because they are wealthy businesses they are more likely to consume large amounts of local services and to employ local people, thus energising the local economy.

However, evidence suggests that local independent businesses tend to generate more employment and keep more money in circulation locally than businesses headquartered elsewhere.

The NEF report also notes that the creation of chain stores and supermarkets has been in part a response to the consolidation of retail land ownership in the UK. Retailers are forced to consolidate in order to have any leverage over landlords who are already consolidated[9].

[edit] Examples

The 2005 survey rated Exeter as the worst example of a clone town in the UK, with only a single independent store in the city's high street, and less diversity (in terms of different categories of shop) than any other town surveyed. Other extreme clone towns in England include Stafford, Middlesbrough, Weston-super-Mare and Winchester.

In Scotland, the major provincial towns such as Paisley, Clydebank, Greenock, Ayr, East Kilbride, Stirling and Falkirk all suffer from clone town syndrome with their identical array of chain stores and coffee shops in gaudy polar white shopping malls.

Notably, in spite of having the highest property prices in the country, London is not even close to becoming a clone town: even in the central areas of the city, a huge diversity of businesses exists, largely as a result of the city's relatively large size and cosmopolitan population.

[edit] List of chain stores often found in clone towns in the UK

Category Retailer UK branches Ref
Food and drink Burger King 724 as of May 2006 [10]
Caffè Nero 262 as of May 2006 [11]
Costa Coffee 555 as of May 2007 [12]
Greggs around 1300 as of March 2006 [13]
J D Wetherspoon 655 as of July 2005 [14]
KFC (Yum! Brands) 300 as of May 2006 [15]
McDonald's 1263 as of May 2006 [10]
Pizza Express 386 as of May 2006 [10]
Pizza Hut (Yum! Brands) more than 650 [16]
Starbucks 540 as of May 2007 [12]
Subway over 285 including the Republic of Ireland as of August 2004 [17]
Books Waterstones (HMV)
Mobile phones Carphone Warehouse 669 as of March 2006 [18]
O2 around 350 as of June 2006 [19] [20]
Orange 300 as of May 2006 [21]
Phones 4u more than 350 [22]
T-Mobile
The Link [23] 294 as of June 2006 [19] [24]
Vodafone over 350 [25]
General retail Argos over 650 including the Republic of Ireland [26]
Boots approximately 1500 including the Republic of Ireland [27]
Woolworths 803 plus 18 out-of-town stores as of January 2006 [28]
WH Smith
Music HMV around 200 including the Republic of Ireland [29]
Virgin Megastore
Clothing Marks & Spencer over 450 [30]
Next over 400 [31]
Primark 134 including the Republic of Ireland [32]
Electrical Currys.digital (formerly Dixons) 190 as of April 2006 [33]
Supermarket Tesco Express over 650 as of February 2006 [34]
Travel agent Thomas Cook 615 plus 121 bureaux de change [35]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Molly Conisbee, Petra Kjell, Julian Oram, Jessica Bridges Palmer, Andrew Simms and John Taylor (2005-06-06). "Clone Town Britain: The loss of local identity on the nation's high streets" (PDF). . new economics foundation Retrieved on 2006-07-17.
  2. ^ Andrew Simms, Petra Kjell and Ruth Potts (2004-08-28). "Clone Town Britain: The survey results on the bland state of the nation" (PDF). . new economics foundation Retrieved on 2006-07-17.
  3. ^ Andrew Simms, Petra Kjell and Ruth Potts (2004-08-28). "Clone Town Britain: The survey results on the bland state of the nation" (PDF). . new economics foundation Retrieved on 2006-07-17.
  4. ^ Andrew Simms, Petra Kjell and Ruth Potts (2004-08-28). "Clone Town Britain: The survey results on the bland state of the nation" (PDF). . new economics foundation Retrieved on 2006-07-17.
  5. ^ “Editors Lobby Number 10 over Supermarket Censorship”, The Observer, 27 March 2005 
  6. ^ Andrew Simms, Petra Kjell and Ruth Potts (2004-08-28). "Clone Town Britain: The survey results on the bland state of the nation" (PDF). . new economics foundation Retrieved on 2006-07-17.
  7. ^ Andrew Simms, Petra Kjell and Ruth Potts (2004-08-28). "Clone Town Britain: The survey results on the bland state of the nation" (PDF). . new economics foundation Retrieved on 2006-07-17.
  8. ^ Andrew Simms, Petra Kjell and Ruth Potts (2004-08-28). "Clone Town Britain: The survey results on the bland state of the nation" (PDF). . new economics foundation Retrieved on 2006-07-17.
  9. ^ Andrew Simms, Petra Kjell and Ruth Potts (2004-08-28). "Clone Town Britain: The survey results on the bland state of the nation" (PDF). . new economics foundation Retrieved on 2006-07-17.
  10. ^ a b c Caterer Search: Restaurant sector overview. Retrieved on 2006-10-04.
  11. ^ Caffè Nero: Pre-Close Trading Update (2006-05-31). Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  12. ^ a b Costa tops table of coffee outlets (2007-05-28). Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
  13. ^ 12% wiped off Greggs after profits warning. The Scotsman (2006-03-11). Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  14. ^ J D Wetherspoon: Annual Report and Accounts 2005 (2005-09-02). Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  15. ^ Eprocurement on the menu for KFC stores (2006-05-25). Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
  16. ^ Pizza Hut (UK) fact sheet. Hoover's, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  17. ^ Fast forward. Forecourt Trader (2004-08-01). Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  18. ^ The Carphone Warehouse: Preliminary results for the year to March 2006 (2006-06-06). Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  19. ^ a b 22 O2 stores and 73 The Link stores were sold to 3UK in October 2006
  20. ^ O2 Buys The Link (2006-06-22). Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
  21. ^ Orange (2006-05-31). "Orange Pioneers Total Communications". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  22. ^ About Phones 4u. Retrieved on 2006-10-04.
  23. ^ The Link was sold to O2 in June 2006
  24. ^ DSG international plc: The Link. Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  25. ^ Vodafone Careers FAQs. Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  26. ^ About Argos: Company Information. Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  27. ^ About Boots. Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
  28. ^ Woolworths Group plc: Annual Report and Accounts 2006 (2006-03-28). Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  29. ^ All About HMV. Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  30. ^ Marks & Spencer: About Us. Retrieved on 2006-10-04.
  31. ^ NEXT Group PLC: Corporate Information. Retrieved on 2006-10-04.
  32. ^ Primark: Company Profile. Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  33. ^ DSG international plc: Currys. Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  34. ^ Tesco plc Preliminary Resuilts 2005/6 (2006-04-25). Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
  35. ^ Thomas Cook: Press Pack. Retrieved on 2006-07-07.