Institute for Retail Studies Archive
Collection Ref.: GB 0559 IRS
Administrative history:
Established in 1983 the University of Stirling’s Institute for Retail Studies provides a focus for the study of the retail industry. It has documented, preserved and examined the history and development of the retail sector from the early twentieth century through to the present day, both in the UK and internationally. Its staff conduct research on behalf of retail and distributive companies, local and national governments, public sector bodies and research councils. (Read more)
Contents:
The Institute for Retail Studies Archive consists of a wealth of material created and collected by staff of the Institute. The collections provide a unique record of the growth and development of the retail sector, while the research papers and reports produced by the institute comprise an unrivalled academic library of the study of the business of retail. Material covers the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and includes administrative files, reports and papers produced by the institute; trade reports, annual company reports, extensive runs of trade press; business directories; sales catalogues; marketing material and product packaging; photographic and slide collections of UK and international retail outlets; and a library of the key historical international textbooks and studies on retail. (Read more)
Catalogue information:
The collection is currently being organised and catalogued. A full survey of the collection was completed in February 2024. Please contact us for further information.
Custodial history:
The bulk of the records created and collected by the Institute are still held by the Institute for Retail Studies. The transfer of the key administrative records of the Institute to the University Archives began in February 2024. The personal paper collections of Professor John Dawson and Nick Bubb were placed on deposit with the University Archives between 2019-2021.
Access conditions:
Material from the Institute for Retail Studies Archives can be consulted in our archives reading room. Please contact us for further information.
Administrative history (continued):
In the early 1980s, the size of the retail sector was not matched by academic attention in either research or teaching. In 1983 this situation was formally addressed with the endowment of the Fraser of Allander Chair of Distributive Studies at the University of Stirling and the appointment of Professor John Dawson to the position. Following this appointment, the Institute for Retail Studies was created, and it became a recognised unit of the University in 1988. As well as teaching, its initial aims were to carry out research into the retail industry; provide a resource base for research and foster links with similar institutes; provide courses for existing management within the industry; and provide connectivity between the university and retail sector.
An early example of this connectivity was the establishment of the Distributive Trades Technology Advisory Centre (DTTAC), a joint initiative between the Distributive Trades Economic Development Committee and the University of Stirling. Later the Institute was a founding member of the European Network for Retail Research, hosting its 7th conference in 1993, and the European Association for Education and Research in Commercial Distribution (EAERCD). Commissioned research has been the principal mechanism for staffing and funding the Institute. Research contracts have been undertaken on behalf of the Scottish Development Agency; the Economic and Social Research Council; the French Ministry of Labour; and the Council of Europe. Institute staff have been published widely in journals and books. They have also edited the Scottish Retail Newsletter, the International Journal of Retailing and the International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research. As well as these, the Institute maintained its own publication programme, producing market reports, in-depth research reports and, from 1983-2005, a series of 85 working papers.
The Institute was equally innovative in teaching. They offered the only full time MBA in retail management in the UK in the late 1980s and formed a partnership in 1988 with the Singapore Retailers Association to validate and teach a diploma programme for Singapore retail managers. They also started an MBA in Retailing and Wholesaling by Distance Learning, aimed at existing managers. As these managers then took what they learned back to their workplaces, this fulfilled one of the Institute’s aims of transferring its research into the real world. By the mid-2010s, the Institute was seen as both a Centre of Excellence in teaching and as ‘World Leading’ in terms of its research according to the Research Assessment Exercise. The scope of the Institute’s contribution to research has been broad ranging from structural change to comparative retailing, employment issues to public policy and technology to consumer behaviour.
Contents (continued):
The archive at present consists of the administrative and research papers of the Institute itself; resources collected by the Institute; and the personal research papers of the Institute’s founder Professor John Dawson; and of Nick Bubb, a leading retail analyst.
The Institute’s papers include of information on courses offered to students and training given to industry clients; research projects; and research papers and publications written by members of staff. The Institute’s Resource Centre collection forms the main part of the archive. It is arranged by subject and holds long runs of periodicals; UK, European and Asian trade press and company reports; working papers from other academic centres for retail research both in the UK and overseas; and conference proceedings.
The papers of John Dawson document his long and distinguished academic career, during which he held visiting professorships in Australia, USA and Japan, and include research on a wide range of themes such as co-operatives, survival of small shops, development of retail in Eastern Europe, Australian and US shopping centres; trade press on the retail sector; retail-related books and monographs from the 1920s onwards; and photographs of shops from Romania, Japan and many other parts of the world.
Nick Bubb is a leading retail analyst. His papers reflect his career and include reports written by Bubb for a variety of organisations and companies; company information, magazines and catalogues.
