The trading profiles of community retail enterprises

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the key features of the community retail enterprises sector in the UK. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on the results of a postal questionnaire survey of 197 community retail enterprises. The information gathered from this survey was supplemented by visits to 21 of the shops run by these enterprises and short interviews with some of the shop staff. Findings The community retail enterprise sector is growing very quickly, with a significant number of new shops opening every year in the UK. It is a very diverse sector that provides a wide range of goods and services, reflecting the desire to meet the needs of members and local residents. It is heavily dependent on the involvement of the local community, particularly as volunteers, but this can lead to other tensions around the role of the shop and the enterprise in general. Originality/value This paper provides an overview of an area of retailing that is growing in size and will be of interest to those involved in policy‐making in rural areas.