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Author: Leigh Sparks
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12.02.2018 Our latest Trading Places column for Town & Country Planning is now available on the Trading Places section of this blog
22.1.18 A little bit of post new year tidying up and updating done, especially in relation to media
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Author Archives: Leigh Sparks
Try Before You Buy: A ‘Returns Tsunami’?
The rise of the internet as a channel of purchase and distribution has been a major transformation for consumers and also for many retailers. Whilst distance selling including mail order had been present for centuries, the internet offers a radically … Continue reading
“No Town Immune”: Data and reporting
On Tuesday afternoon, I was contacted by a journalist (Stephen Naysmith) from The Herald about the upcoming Local Data Company/PwC report on high streets. He sent me the (then) embargoed press release. I attach it here for those interested and … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Closure, Data, Government, High Streets, Independents, Internet, Local Data Company, Online Retailing, Places, Retail Failure, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retailing, SNP, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Vacancies
Tagged Churn, closures, Data, failure, High Street, Local Data Company, Openings, PwC, Scotland, SNP, towns
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Tartan Cents: Linking the Scottish Global Diaspora
The Scottish Diaspora is extensive and has an active engagement with Scotland. Having lived in the US and seen Highland Games and other Scottish links, this lineage and linkage is obviously tangible. It is also this weekend the 20th Anniversary … Continue reading
Posted in Buildings, Campaigns, Collaboration, Heritage, Places, Public Realm, Scotland, Scottish Diaspora Tapestry, Tartan Cents, Towns
Tagged Adam Smith, Carnegie, Crowd Funding, Diaspora, Dunfermline, Girvan, Heritage, Kirkcaldy, Patronicity, Pittencrieff, Places, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Spirit of scotland, Tartan Cents, towns, USA
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2000 and Counting
This just popped up in my Twitter timeline; a tweet from James Timpson, announcing that Timpson’s had just opened their 2000th store. Now I am pretty sure that Twitter timelines reflect personality traits (hello, Cambridge Analytica, I’ll save you the … Continue reading
Posted in Competition, Consumer Change, CVA, High Streets, Leadership, Retail Change, Retail Failure, Retailers, Service Quality, Store Closures, Timpsons, Towns, Turnaround
Tagged Customers, CVA, Ex-offenders, failure, High Street, Retail, Retail Employment, Service Quality, Success, Timpson
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Talking Shops at The Engine Shed
On a number of occasions this blog has covered aspects of the past and in particular ghostsigns and historic shops and shopfronts. Across Scotland (and beyond) there is an enduring fascination for, and concern with, our retail history. I was … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, BHS, Buildings, Falkirk, Ghost Signs, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Retail History, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopfronts, Signage, Stirling, Streets, Streetscapes, Urban History, Woolworths
Tagged Architecture, BHS Mural Hull, Co-operatives, Conservation, Engine Shed, History, Murals, Retail History, Shopfronts, Shops, Stirling, Streets, Streetscapes, Woolworths
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1967 and All Things Retail
2017 was the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the University of Stirling. There were a number of celebrations and activities, as well as periods of reflection. One of the events on campus was an exhibition about 1967. This involved … Continue reading
Posted in 1967, ATMs, Cashpoints, Consumers, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Corporate History, Cumbernauld, Fish, History, New Towns, Pricing, Retail History, Shopping Centres, University of Stirling, Urban History
Tagged 1967, ATMs, Co-operatives, Cumbernauld, Devaluation, Fish Fingers, Retailing, Shopping Centres, University of Stirling
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Healthy Ageing in Scotland (HAGIS) and Online Shopping
We are all getting older, even if many of us are feeling younger than our chronological age. The ageing of the population is a recurrent theme cutting across topics and activities. But, in all of the discussion, there is a … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Consumers, Digital, HAGIS, Healthy Ageing, Institute for Retail Studies, Internet, Internet shopping, Older consumers, Online Retailing, Retail Change, Retailing, Technology, University of Stirling
Tagged Ageing, HAGIS, Healthy Ageing, Internet, Older consumers, Retailing, Scotland, Shopping
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