Author: Leigh Sparks
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May 2023 – Two new articles and a book chapter noted on the Journal Articles page
February 2023 – New piece for The Conversation on online retailing (see commentaries tab)
January 2023 – Roll over of some areas for new year, plus The Conversation piece on Christmas trading updates published (see commentaries tab) and main posts
December 2022 – End of year tidying up and re-arrangement, including link to EDAS podcast on places and towns (see presentations tab)
Top Posts & Pages
- Transformative Food Retailing, Data and Consumers
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- The architectural heritage of Montague Burton’s Art Deco shops
- Internet sales as a percentage of retail sales in the UK
- Retail Branding: it's not (just) private label
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- Are Retailers Social Engineers?
- Food, health and data: developing transformative food retailing
- Strange Things in Self-Service
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Category Archives: Buildings
Avenues to the Past: Stirling’s Historic Streets
This post is about an exhibition that has already closed. Sorry about that, but I did not get to see it until its penultimate day. It had only a three-week life, so I hope you forgive me. Avenues to the … Continue reading
Posted in Arcades, Architecture, Buildings, City Centres, Exhibitions, High Streets, Historic Shops, Places, Retailers, Stirling, Streets, Streetscapes, Town Centres, Towns, Urban History
Tagged Arcades, Architecture, Buildings, Exhibition, High Streets, History, Made in Stirling, Stirling, Streetscapes, Town Centres
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Clapped Out
The last two weeks of June saw a mammoth effort in the University of Stirling to catch up on graduation events for our 2020 and 2021 cohorts as well as our 2022 graduands. Ten ceremonies over the two weeks saw … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Architecture, Buildings, Campus Central, Design, Places, Reinvention, RICS, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Design Awards, University of Stirling
Tagged Campus Central, Graduation, Page\Park, RICS, Robertson, Scottish Design Awards, University of Stirling
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Departing Stores and Place Vandalism
“Loss of local identity is a powerful factor that can influence the social and economic wellbeing of a town. By preserving the fabric of distinctive historic buildings, particularly those as prominent as former department stores, residents can recover a sense … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, City Centres, Department Stores, Design, Edinburgh, Heritage, High Streets, Historic Shops, Marks and Spencer, Oxford Street, Places, Town Centres, Urban History
Tagged Architecture, Buildings, C20 Society, City Centres, Demolition, Department Stores, Design, Edinburgh, Heritage, High Streets, Hull, Jenners, Marks and Spencer, Oxford Street, Place Vandalism, Places, Retailing, Three Ships, Town Centres, Urban History
4 Comments
Oxford Street, Hull and Beyond
I have never really understood the fascination with Oxford Street as the retail heart of the UK. I get that there are some great buildings, but as a shopping street, though not a great streetscape, it has never worked for … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Campaigns, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Department Stores, Historic Shops, History, Hull, Marks and Spencer, Oxford Street, Places, Regeneration, Retail History, Streetscapes, Town Centres, Towns, Urban History
Tagged Alan Boyson, Architecture, Buildings, Cooperative Group, Department Stores, Heritage, History, Marks and Spencer, Modernism, Murals, Oxford Street, Retail, Ships in the Sky, Streetscapes, Town Centres
2 Comments
Ghostsigns: A London Story
Anyone who follows me on twitter will have seen my fascination with ghostsigns and especially retail ones. They have also featured at various points in this blog (for example Scotland, Montana, Dublin, London). Most notably (for I am undoubtedly in … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Books, Buildings, Crowdfunding, Design, Ghost Signs, Heritage, High Streets, History, London, Retail History, Signage, Streetscapes, Town Centres
Tagged Advertising, Book, Crowdfunding, Design, Ghost Signs, Ghostsigns, Heritage, High Streets, History, London, Photography, Signs, Streetscapes, Urban History
2 Comments
The Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels
A good few years ago, Anne Findlay and myself published a paper on the changing retail structure in the Borders using longitudinal data. We titled this ‘Weaving new retail and consumer structures in the Scottish Borders,’ reflecting the weaving history … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Community Assets, Culture, Cumbernauld, East Kilbride, Exhibitions, Great Tapestry of Scotland, High Streets, New Towns, Places, Regeneration, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Borders, Scottish Diaspora Tapestry, Streetscapes, Thomas Lipton, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged Cultural Assets, East Kilbride, Galashiels, Great Tapestry of Scotland, History, New Towns, Places, Scottish Borders, Scottish Diaspora Tapestry, Town Centres, Urban Change
3 Comments
Aberdeen, No More?
The Covid pandemic has hit retailing hard. Government support (though important) has in no way matched the lost sales and business. Previous trends have been accelerated, most notably in terms of online sales. Retailers of all shapes and sizes have … Continue reading
Posted in 1960s, Aberdeen, Architecture, Bids Scotland, Buildings, City Centres, Closure, Consumers, Cooperatives, Covid19, Department Stores, Internet shopping, John Lewis Partnership, Lockdown, Norco, Online Retailing, Pandemic, Rates, Regulation, Rents, Retail Change, Retail Sales, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopping, Social value, Tax, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Waitrose
Tagged Aberdeen, Architecture, Brutalism, Business Improvement Districts, City Centres, Consumers, Covid-19, Department Stores, John Lewis, John Lewis Partnership, Norco, Online sales, Retail costs, Retailing, Scotland's Towns, Tax, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group
2 Comments
Screen Time? Cinemas and Town Centres
One of the things that people have missed though the pandemic is the ability to go to a cinema and see a film. This is a social as well as an artistic activity, whihc raises questions about the types and … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Cinemas, Consumers, Creative Places, High Streets, Regeneration, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Social value, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History
Tagged Assets, Ayr, Catchment, Cinema, Investment, Leisure, Retail, Town Centres
6 Comments
The Architecture of England’s Co-operative Movement
Over two and a half years ago I attended a seminar at the Engine Shed in Stirling called ‘Talking Shops’ and my blog discussion of the event can be found here. In that post I noted the presentation by Lynn … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Art Deco, Buildings, Community, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Corporate branding, Corporate History, Department Stores, Design, Historic Shops, History, Hull, Localisation, Places, Retail Change, Retailers, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History
Tagged Architecture, Book, Buildings, Co-operatives, Community, Design, Historic England, Historic Shops, History, Retailing, Ships in the Sky, Talking Shops
1 Comment
Lockdown Reading: Welsh Saints on the Mormon Trail
When we were living in the USA in 2000-1 we flew to Jackson Hole in Wyoming via Salt Lake City. That last flight to Jackson Hole was the most unpleasant flight I’ve taken before or since, shaken and bounced over … Continue reading
Posted in Ajax Underground Store, Buildings, Catalogues, Cooperatives, Department Stores, Emigration, Historic Shops, History, Mormons, Places, Retail History, Retailers, Retailing, Uncategorized, USA, Wales, Zion Co-operative Mercantile Institution
Tagged Ajax Underground Store, Buildings, Emigrants, History, Mormon Trail, Mormons, Pioneers, Retail, Salt Lake City, Shops, Utah, Wales, Welsh Mormons, Zion Co-operative Mercantile Institution
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