Retail Therapy

Connecting with the local community doesn't just mean parents collecting tokens for school computers. It means placing the school alongside the supermarket -- like Sainsbury's has done in the UK by teaming up with a company called Explore Learning -- or using retail space for community purposes like Tesco has done by putting a police station inside a supermarket in Essex. Going local also means utilizing local labor and selling local produce. Farmers markets have been so successful in recent years that there's even been talk of allowing them to use supermarket car parks after hours.

Another important trend is Everyday Low Pricing, but low prices often carry a high cost for other countries. Moreover, increased consumption doesn't seem to be where people are heading. Read Growth Fetish by Clive Hamilton and Status Anxiety by Alain De Botton. If you put a coat and bag checking service into a store, people will be able to carry -- and therefore buy -- more. Regardless, this misses the bigger picture. People are beginning to realize that buying more things doesn't make them happier.

In 1989, 58% of people in the UK said they were happy. By 2003, this figure had dropped to 45% -- despite the fact that average incomes had risen by 60% over the same period.

Perhaps the ultimate solution is for retailers to be more than just shopkeepers. Maybe their higher purpose is to build and support communities. That could mean creating aesthetically pleasing environments that are integrated with all aspects of the local area. It could also mean employing friendly people rather than impersonal machines. Such practices may add to the cost of goods, but you can't build a cut-price community.

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