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Offers an appraisal of the corporate experience and prospects of J. Sainsbury plc in the USA, ten years after its market entry. In Part 1, focuses on Sainsbury’s New England subsidiary, Shaw’s, and shows that heavy capital investment, and the determined export of a British model of food retailing, has produced a chain of 119 stores enjoying rapid growth and impressive improvements in profitability. In Part 2, focuses on Sainsbury’s acquisition of 50 per cent of the voting stock (20 per cent of total equity) of Giant Food Inc., the market leader in the Washington DC‐Baltimore area. Shows that Sainsbury is poised to purchase full control of Giant (at an estimated cost of approximately $2 billion), is promoting a major expansion of Giant northwards into Philadelphia, and is on the verge of becoming one of the top ten firms in a US industry worth $410 billion per annum by 1995.

Looks in depth at the operation of the first undergraduate degree in retailing to be operated at the Manchester Metropolitan University by distance learning exclusively for J Sainsbury plc. Draws on experience and maps the dimensions of how this was accomplished. Makes some suggestions for making successful collaborative work between business and higher education, based on the experience of the university’s Department of Retailing and Marketing, particularly working together and growing to operate with mutual understanding.

The purpose of this study is to explore the conceptualisation of co-evolution using a corporate history research approach. While the application of the co-evolutionary perspective to the organisational-environmental relationships has uncovered significant evidences, little is understood about how the co-evolutionary process occurs over time between organisations and their institutional environment.

A co-evolutionary corporate history approach in used, as the authors investigated Sainsbury’s historical trajectory, exploring the role specific family members played in the evolution of the firm and the co-evolution of Sainsbury’s with its environment. This research design framework encompasses longitudinal archival analysis which incorporates both external and internal engagement which fostered Sainsbury’s joint evolution.

The findings from this study clearly suggest that certain organisations can and do co-evolve with their environment. However, organisations need to build legitimate cases for co-evolution to occur. In addition, they need to acquire certain resources that can be used to stimulate changes within their institutional environment.

Through a corporate history archival analysis, this study presents a UK company’s evolutionary narrative. The authors contribute to the growing literature on co-evolution in management studies by presenting a detailed historical narrative and interpretation of Sainsbury’s evolution at different time periods.

Points out that consumers are turning increasingly away from specialist retailers towards supermarkets for their fresh produce requirements, and looks at how supermarket chains are responding. Notes that major retailers are starting to focus on building longer‐term relationships with key suppliers. Discusses J Sainsbury’s “Partnership in produce” agreement with ENFRU, one of the UK’s principal fruit suppliers, examining the marketing strategy behind it, the key points incorporated into the scheme and the benefits for the consumer, retailer and supplier.

Reports an interview with Terry Wells, director of Customer Service at J. Sainsbury plc, where the importance of customer service is discussed. States that the provision of good service is “critical” in keeping customer loyalty. Shows how J. Sainsbury keeps customer loyalty which even makes the customer less price sensitive. Concludes that at Sainsbury’s, at least, providing good customer service has proved to be profitable.

Sainsbury have impressed yet again, with a profit advance in the latest reported year of 20 per cent. The group became the biggest UK retailer in terms of turnover, even outstripping Marks & Spencer. Our commentator takes the view that brand strength will continue to power Sainsbury ahead, together with its store expansion programme.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role played by leadership in divestment decision making and indeed during the corporate restructuring phase for retail organisations. In doing so, the paper aims to contribute to a growing body of research that seeks to develop understanding of the factors leading to retail divestment and the nature of corporate response to divestment.

A multiple case approach is utilised. The cases are selected from a database of international retail divestment activity over a longitudinal period.

The paper demonstrates that divestment can be a response to “failure”, however, support is also provided for the assertion that divestment can be a strategic decision to devote resources more efficiently elsewhere, either at home or abroad. A key finding is the role of leadership and managerial stability in relation to divestment and restructuring at home and abroad.

The themes presented in this paper are developed from observational data. The validity of the themes should be examined further through in‐depth, qualitative case studies of divestment activity. Future research could examine the role of new CEOs both in relation to the divestment itself and during the process of restructuring following divestment.

The role of leadership and managerial stability in divestment and corporate restructuring processes are highlighted. Insights are provided into the organisational response to divestment actions and the implications for further international strategies.

Academic debate on divestment has highlighted a wide range of reasons that lead to retailers divesting international operations and the strategic value of divestment. This paper adds to existing knowledge by examining the role of leadership within the divestment process.

This paper aims to explore the nature of divestment within the context of retailer internationalisation.

It focuses on the activities of the Dutch food multinational retailer Royal Ahold (Ahold). Drawing on 37 in‐depth interviews with investment banks and executives, this paper provides a number of insights into Ahold's international retail divestment activities within the context of a broadly successful international investment strategy.

It offers some new insights into the multidimensional nature of international retail divestment construct in terms of the operational as well as more subtle and less visible non‐operational international retail divestments. It is concluded from this study that, rather than portraying strategic and opportunistic approaches as binary opposites, a retail firm may have varying degrees of approaches to international retail divestment, and these may not necessarily be isomorphic across different countries.

The paper explores international retail divestment from a rather broad perspective, although it is hoped that these parameters can be used to raise a new set of more detailed priorities for future research on international retail divestment.

This paper raises a number of interesting issues such as whether retailers initially take divestment seriously and the degree to which this is actually possible during market entry.

As called for in the literature, this study examines divestment in the broadest possible fashion, thus addressing a major gap in our understanding of the whole internationalisation process.

To underestimate service quality is like saying goodbye to some of your hard‐earned profits. Even after revamping and upgrading products, many organizations continue to experience decline because they forget that people want to feel good. The feel‐good factor is espoused by politicians throughout the world to nurture votes. The fact that people want to feel good is often overlooked and ignores Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. How many times have you bought a product only to find there is a fault and the product needs replacing? This is normally something which is very irritating, but not ulcer‐inducing enough to get worked up about until, that is, the customer service department treats you as though it is your fault.

Tightened UK land‐use planning regulation governing retail development, specifically the 1993 and 1996 revisions of the Department of the Environment’s PPG6 Town Centres and Retail Developments, appeared to usher in a new era of more restricted and redirected food store expansion. This paper explores to what extent that restriction and redirection has occurred, sifts rhetoric from “reality” in the intense debates that have surrounded PPG6, poses alternative interpretations of the contemporary food store development dynamic, and assesses the food choice implications of these developments.