The theme of this Podcast is a discussion on how closely theory is to practice. The first part features an interview with Professor Andrew Newman for Salford Business School who is a Retail Guru. As well as discussing some of the key issues for retailers he also highlights how academics need to be concerned with producing research that can be understood and applied by the real world of business, recognising some of the shortcomings of academia. His comments make for interesting listening. The second part of the discussion is with a student who works in retail - she comments on the points that Professor Newman makes from a practitioners perspective.