Market Insight: Fairtrade & Eco-Friendly

All things considered, I was sorely tempted to open this letter with the immortal words God save the Queen! So now that I’ve given into temptation and got that off my chest, I feel able to offer my whole-hearted good wishes to everyone now engaged in the quest to make Christmas 2009 more spectacular than even Debenhams can manage. More spectacular than a Penny Bazaar, better than a BOGOF and deeper than a discount. One really good one rather than two under par and a third thrown in for free, you might say.

I’ve also been inspired in these sentiments by my recent visit to one of the UK’s best independent retailers, Temptation Gifts, which also has a booming etail site that’s an excellent model for online gift retailing if ever I saw one. Brilliant brands, competitive pricing and first-rate delivery are all essential to the enticing mix. During the same trip to Amersham I paid a visit to the newly launched second branch of Alworths, where partner Andy Latham was on hand to explain how the business is different to Woolworths and who the target market is for this retail reincarnation.

Over on the Trading Talk blog, Shop is contemplating the behemothic spectre of Tesco doubling its convenience store portfolio, begging the question, do we need more grocers?