Is Asda's community big box space scheme sound?

What to do with those big out-of-town sheds in an era of increasing online shopping and high fuel bills? That is the question occupying supermarket CEOs right now.

As we have seen, Tesco CEO Philip Clarke’s vision is radical: acquiring the Giraffe restaurants, and introducing Harris + Hoole coffee bars and artisan bakeries, he wants to turn his Extras into more enticing destinations.

Asda CEO Andy Clarke’s plans are less well developed - he recently hired consultants McKinsey to explore potential options - but a pilot outlined last week lacks nothing in terms of ambition. Described by Asda as a “new model for retail” it promises to release excess shelf space for use by communities, as part of a wider CSR-led plan to improve relationships with key stakeholders.

“We hope this project will work in parallel with projects such as Mary Portas’ to examine how we can spread the benefits of a future community retail model with local businesses”

Paul Kelly, Asda

So how would it work? And what might it achieve? Following the launch of Asda’s Community Life Programme in March 2012, it has teamed up with the RSA, a body devoted to “enlightened thinking”, on pilots in Clapham, Tilbury and Oldham. But the new project promises to go much further.

Between now and the end of the year, the RSA will ask the three communities what they want from their local Asda. While Paul Buddery, chief of the RSA 2020 Public Services Hub, says there is no definite timescale or required outcome - “we may propose a model, at the end of the day, that Asda does not accept” - the work will not just look at creating glorified community projects or charity projects but explore options for how Asda can be involved in education, planning and health policies, as well as working with rival retailers.

“One of the criticisms of CSR is that it’s just a licence to operate, a nice soundbite that doesn’t affect your business model,” says Buddery. “But what Asda are talking about is very different from bunging down a children’s playground.”

Its localism agenda is rife with complications, however. Take Oldham. Having gained the tag of the “capital of binge drinking”, not only did the local council and NHS support plans for minimum pricing (Asda backed a campaign against it) the local bodies are calling for a ban on alcohol promotions and say it should be treated as an addictive drug. Buddery says Asda will not skirt the issue. “Its input on public health is part of the mix,” he says.

Concerns were also raised athat Asda will simply replicate, or replace, existing community facilities. Buddery admits the scheme could be derailed if the retailer is seen to be throwing its weight around: “It’s a very important question for them to answer. Is this manoeuvring to monopolise these places?”

Save the high street

Another barrier is how it links with other initiatives to save the high street. “We hope this project will work in parallel with projects such as Mary Portas’ to examine how we can spread the benefits of a future community retail model with local businesses,” says Asda corporate affairs director Paul Kelly.

“It’s hugely ironic, given the pace with which they have thrown themselves into out-of-town store development”

James Lowman, ACS

The message does not sit easily with local traders. “It’s hugely ironic, given the pace with which they have thrown themselves into out-of-town store development,” says ACS CEO James Lowman.

“I don’t want to completely knock it but I don’t think a CSR policy can replace ruined high streets. And if they are doing it because they finally realise they have made a mistake in building all these out-of-town spaces and now have all this excess space, and want to try to shift community facilities out of town to make up for it, it’s a bit like re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.”

Asda insists its strategy is a genuine attempt to change the way it interacts with businesses. “We have established an independent advisory group, which will challenge and guide the project,” says Kelly.

“Potentially this work is a very exciting departure for retailers’ CSR policies,” said one leading town centre figure at the launch. “But it is such a lofty aim, and fraught with so many potential pitfalls, nobody is holding their breath.”