Understanding store development programmes in post-property-crisis UK food retailing

Urban planning experts and retail analysts offer conflicting theories to explain the food store development in the UK in the post-property crisis period. There are those who argue that the food retail store development process was a direct result of strict land-use planning laws that prevented out-of-town development and instead encouraged reinvestment in town center retail development. Others, however, reject this view. They contend that the lessons of the property crisis of 1993-1994 compelled food retailers to seek new ways of improving their profitability and market share.