"Roland Perry" wrote in message

In message , at 13:45:07 on
Tue, 11 Aug 2009, Recliner remarked:
My impression from a quick Google is that retail employment has been
increasing steadily at half to one percent per annum over the last
decade.

I would think that the jobs per sales pound are much lower in an
Asda or Tesco than the small shops they replace. Yes, you'll see
shelf-stackers and staff loading bins for on-line shoppers in the
aisles, but the average shopper will have much less human
interaction with staff than in an old-fashioned small shop.

But other retailers may be recruiting as well, as the increasingly
affluent population (OK, not necessarily this year) spends more in
retailers, buying stuff their predecessors simply couldn't buy (ie,
it simply didn't exist or they couldn't afford it).

Every "traditional" shop near where I live, be it a corner shop or in
one of the several parades, is still open as a shop. They aren't
generally selling groceries any more (apart from a few specialist
deli's) but they are selling something.

I wonder how many of those are estate agents or bank/building society
offices? And, of course, you now have mobile phone stores, pizza
delivery outfits, etc.