As outlined in the Preface, this study aims to ‘ground’ the relationship between consumption and identity through an empirical study of two North London shopping centres: Brent Cross and Wood Green. To do so, the project draws on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods including survey, focus group and ethnographic research. Previous studies have tended to be either highly abstract and theoretical (e.g. Fiske 1989; Shields 1992a) or thoroughly applied and technical (e.g. Retail Planning Associates 1978; McGoldrick and Thompson 1992). Apart from narrowly behavioural studies (e.g. Philips and Bradshaw 1993), little research has been carried out on people’s everyday views on shopping, relating their changing attitudes and identities to the actual use they make of particular consumption spaces and places. Unlike the many studies of spectacular ‘mega malls’ and sites of ‘heroic consumption’, our approach aims to engage directly with the views of ‘ordinary people’ in everyday places.