Note from the publisher

Citation

Fernie, J. (2002), "Note from the publisher", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 30 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijrdm.2002.08930aaa.002

Note from the publisher

Forthcoming in IJRDM

Issue 2 of this journal is a themed issue on the subject of international retailing. It features articles covering areas such as;

• •

  A consideration of the landscape of pan-European food retail consolidation. This piece is authored by Neil Wrigley of the University of Southampton. The article is summarised by the author as follows; "Within a context of the globalization of retailing, examines the current structure of pan-European food retail consolidation. Portrays the interlinkages between firms in the EU food retail market, and offers an assessment of the three leading consolidators (Carrefour, Wal-Mart, Ahold) in that market. Considers potential acquisition/merger targets in France and the UK, and conceptualizes the future process of consolidation as a struggle between competing models of globalized retail operation. Assesses the strengths and weaknesses of those models."

• •

  An article entitled, "The findings have surprised some shoppers" by Leigh Sparks of the University of Stirling. Leigh summarises this article as follows;"Recent years have seen a plethora of media comments about prices in Britain compared to overseas. This "rip-off Britain" campaign culminated with the two-year Competition Commission inquiry into supermarket retailing. International price comparisons however are not straightforward and there are many difficulties in their undertaking and in reporting such a complicated subject. This paper examines a BBC TV main news report on the night of the publication of the Competition Commission report and illustrates the problems in covering the subject. If we are to really understand pricing in British businesses compared to overseas, then much more sophisticated research and reportage is required."

Issue 3 will be a Retail Insights issue which continues the international theme. This issue aims to have a particularly practical outlook offering a piece on the fashion industry in Seoul and Tokyo as well as a piece on the largest retail firms. This offers a comparison of Asia, Europe and US-based retailers. These articles will be followed by a series of bulletins on current items of relevance to the area of international retailing.

Adelina Broadbridge has joined the editorial team as Retail Insights Editor. Adelina is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Retail Studies at the University of Stirling, UK. She will be looking to ensure the continued and improving quality of the Retail Insights issues contained in each volume. Adelina can be contacted via e-mail at a.m.broadbridge@stirling.ac.uk

Good news on usage

The publishers of this journal are now able to access detailed usage statistics charting downloads of articles from the Emerald database. Figures for this journal are encouraging for potential authors keen to ensure a wide distribution of their material. The 1999 volume of the journal totalled around 4,500 downloads of IJRDM articles. The 2000 volume registered 7,080 and the 2001 volume has so far registered 7,954 downloads. This figure is increasing as usage of the articles continues long after the completion of the current volume. So far in 2001 IJRDM has registered a total of over 52,000 journal hits. This includes potential readers accessing contents pages and abstracts as well as the articles themselves. The top five countries in terms of usage of this journal are as follows;

1. 1.

   the UK;

2. 2.

   Australia;

3. 3.

   the USA;

4. 4.

   Malaysia; and

5. 5.

   Singapore.

The usage is truly international and this has to be good news for you if you wish to contribute to this journal.

Literati Club

Our author relations service – the Literati Club – provides services and support for those authors who publish with an Emerald journal. It is a tangible expression of commitment by a publisher to its authors and Editors – we offer support and resources for all Emerald contributors worldwide.

For further infromation about the Literati club please see www.emeraldinsight.com/literaticlub For further information about IJRDM please see www.emeraldinsight.com/jrdm.htm