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The progression from fish and chips to fried chicken spans an era of radical social change—from smoky street corner fish and chip shops to the fluorescent and chromium American style suburban outlet. Questions of hygiene apart, such a “progression” to an alien and plastic style of eating‐out seems doubtful to say the least. One can therefore view with a certain detachment the pressures on the fast food industry, here discussed by Roger Cox, of inflated raw material prices, decline in custom, and tangles with legislation.

When the first real live hypermarket opened in this country in the autumn of 1972, it made retailing history by finding it necessary to launch TV commercials telling people to keep away because the roads were congested. Where do Carrefour's customers come from? And which retail organisations do they directly compete with? Two organisations — Donaldsons and the RORU — have published reports on these questions, and both are discussed here.

Two major factors distinguish the pharmacy trade in this country: the increasing conflict between the professionally‐trained pharmacists and the merchandising wizards of the multiples and supermarket groups, intent on developing their business in OTC lines; and the huge preponderance of one single organisation ‐ Boots, with over 1,000 branches and over £488m. turn‐over. Independent pharmacies are closing at the rate of about 200–250 a year; the Care voluntary group numbers less than half the independents amongst its members.

W H Smith is performing well, on the whole. Apparently the low average spend in the group is cushioning it against consumer downturn; conversely, sales at the Do‐It‐All DIY chain have been affected. W H Smith has also bought the prestigious Waterstones group of bookshops and plans to add to it Sherratt & Hughes. This will improve Smiths' share of the book market from about 17 to a massive 20 per cent. Also in this feature: Great Universal Stores and Boots.

Changes in social conditions and the enterprise of manufacturers in developing new lines in paints and wallpapers are factors which have led to the rapid expansion of the DIY market. In addition the distribution pattern has recently evolved into a somewhat complex one — it includes discount stores, voluntary group shops, and supermarkets. Some of these DIY retail outlets are discussed in this market analysis report.

The past year has not been a particularly good one for Next, with the high street side of the business being rather more badly hit than the mail order side. Our contributor also looks at the food sector, and where it's going over the next few years. Are we about to see a return to price cutting as a result of the high interest policies of the government? And what about the level of customer service? Also — a remarkably good half‐year for Marks & Spencer.

Our commentator speculates as to whether we might be getting longer intervals between our recessions, and is the next one just starting? All is good news, however, as far as Tesco is concerned, with a pre‐tax profits increase of over 22 per cent. And Ratners have done even better, with a rise in pre‐tax profits as much as 63 per cent.

Despite the impact of food contamination scares which affected all food retailers, and high interest rates, Marks & Spencer have still performed well — at least in the UK, with pre‐tax profits up 5.4 per cent to £529 million, and turnover increased from £4.58bn to £5.12bn. But overseas results were patchy. Nonetheless M&S seems determined to expand in Europe, and is believed to have pinpointed Spain as a prime candidate. Also our commentator reports on the John Lewis Partnership and Asda.

A fall in the number of new shopping centres opened; saturation of some of the larger regional markets; the decline of older shopping malls and some downtown sections; and a general uncertainty amongst retail managers. All these are aspects of American retailing perceived by our contributor, recently returned from a tour of the States.

We may not be all that impressive in the European stakes when it comes to productivity, but in one index we triumphantly lead — some 96% of British families own or rent a TV set. Of that vast number of boob‐tubes (as they are currently known in the States), some 75% are rented. And in 1974 the TV rental trade netted £360m in rental payments. It seems a high price to pay for fantasised triviality.