Britain: Stamp War

The British are succumbing to the U.S. mania for trading stamps, and another Battle of Britain is under way. Thirty trading-stamp companies are already in operation, giving out stamps in 35,000 stores. Britain's Green Shield, which sells 60% of all the stamps in circulation, has done so well in four years that it has hiked its sales force from 12 to 250, doubled its premiums catalogue to 64 pages and moved from cramped quarters into a 13-story London headquarters of its own.

Britain's trade associations and small shopkeepers are vociferously fighting against the stamps. Says a spokesman for the 12,000-store Multiple Grocers Association: "We have had the advantage of seeing what happened with stamps in the U.S. You have an initial competitive advantage; then your rivals have stamps and you lose the advantage. But you're stuck with the stamps." They haven't seen anything yet. The U.S.'s MacDonald Stamp Co. (Plaid Stamps) is exploring the British market, and giant Sperry & Hutchinson (Green Stamps) will launch an assault this summer. More immediately. Great Universal Stores' Sir Isaac Wolfson now owns five small stamp companies, and is expected to begin issuing stamps in his 2.600 retail outlets.