| Sumario: | This article focuses on the New Economics Foundation's recent report that shows 41% of Great Britain high streets are made up predominantly of national and multinational retail brands. The survey concludes that high street homogenisation, combined with the rise of giant supermarket chains, will lead to fewer, more powerful retail brands and, potentially, an overall reduction in choice for consumers. In the book industry, the effects of such retail evolution are keenly felt by independent booksellers trying to compete with chains' and supermarkets' prices. A significant factor is Tesco PLC's rising influence in British bookselling that since the collapse of the Net Book Agreement has seen it cream off a good amount of profits from the bestseller lists. A perceived standardisation of range across Britain's largest book retailers is felt particularly in frontlist fiction, where chains must compete head on with supermarkets' selections, although genres such as travel and health also feel the lack of front-of-store openings.
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