Louise Hill Curth

Selling Self-Service and the Supermarket: The Americanisation of Food Retailing in Britain, 1945-60

This article explores the early origins and growth of the supermarket in Britain. In doing so, it focuses on a number of themes, including the transfer of ideas of selling from America, and how such ideas were modified by the conditions operating in early post-war Britain. Within this context, emphasis is given to the role of individuals, commercial associations and the state in promoting the benefits of self-service. The research is based on a detailed reading of the trade press and the minute books of various retailers that now comprise the business archives of Somerfield plc.

Promoting retail innovation: knowledge flows during the emergence of self-service and supermarket retailing in Britain

The notion of innovation underpins many studies of change within the literatures of retail management and the new retail geography. However, conceptualisation of the innovation process within retailing has remained surprisingly partial, with insufficient attention being given to the processes of knowledge management and learning within the firm. The authors illustrate the importance of such themes by reference to the key organisational and technological changes surrounding the development of self-service and supermarket retailing in Britain during the postwar years 1945–65. A conceptual framework derived from a reading of the business-management and economic geography literatures is employed to analyse the innovation transfer and related knowledge-management processes that influenced retail change during this critical period.

The Care of Brute Beasts: A Social and Cultural Study of Veterinary Medicine in Early Modern England

This book is about medical beliefs and practices for animals in early modern England. Although there are numerous texts on the subject of human health, this is the first and only text to focus exclusively on animals during this period.