A film by don HAWORTH The multiples and chain stores have been growing since the beginning of the century. In the past 15 years they have grown very fast. Today more than a third of all the money spent by shoppers in Britain goes to the multiples. This film tells the story of their growth and the way they play the retail game. It shows in detail what goes on behind the scenes of two well-known organisations which have become household words. Many of the multiples have been created by strong individualists, men of character who have built their empires their own way. Now the personalities of the retail game are being superseded by the calculators and the computers but their methods are usually still those of the street market - buy cheap, sell cheap, put everything you've got on display and the turnover will pay for the pilfering. It's a thought that has made quite a few millionaires. - Commentary spoken by DEREK HART