Welcome to ThisIsRetail, your weekly* look at some of the more diverse and unexpected stuff influencing the way we buy, sell, and consume in the 21st century.

My uncle Trevor, an inveterate tinkerer, shares his small Greenwich flat with four washing machines, two dishwashers, seven televisions, and a couple of microwaves.

Each item is earmarked for imminent repair, refurbishment, and possible return to friends and neighbours who, I cynically suspect, simply find it easier (and cheaper) to offload their careworn household appliances on to my dear old, well-meaning, mad-professor of an uncle than to call the council for a special collection.

His flat is, in a very real sense, a dump.

It was with uncle Trevor in mind that I hazarded a few desultory attempts to fix the family dishwasher last weekend.

And what I found is that this machine, like so much of the technology we share our lives with, is simply unknowable; definitely built by some higher intelligence, and probably powered by spells.

Unsure whether to call a plumber, an electrician, or a witch-doctor, I admitted defeat and did what everyone else (but Trevor) would do – I went online and bought a new one.

So this week I've been thinking about the near-impossibility of successful bodging, tinkering, making-do-and-mending in the modern era - how wasteful this is, and the challenges it presents to consumers and retailers.

In honour of uncle Trevor, this edition brings you articles on ripping up warranties, the problematic concept of circular fashion, and the return of craftsmanship.

Bish bosh.

*occasional, when we have time (we do our best)