Author: Leigh Sparks
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January 2024 – Roll over of some areas for new year, plus The Economics Observatory piece on Christmas trading (see commentaries tab)
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Category Archives: Cooperatives
Stirlingretail.com : The 2023 Review
It’s that time of year again. The blog is another year older, but certainly not any wiser. At this point I normally reflect on the visitor activity on the blog during the year – and this year is going to … Continue reading
Posted in Branding, Bristol Pound, Cinemas, Cooperatives, Eataly, Grocery retailing, High Streets, Internet shopping, Market Shares, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Online Retailing, Places, Retailers, Retailing, Royal society of Edinburgh, Scotland's National Academy, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retailing, Self-Service, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Branding, Cinemas, Cooperative Movement, Eataly, Grocery market, Internet Sales, Market Shares, Place, Review, Royal Societyt of Edinburgh, Scotland, Self-service checkouts, Stirling Council, Stirling Retail, Town Centres, towns, Welsh Dairies
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“Shopping without Stopping”: When did self-service retailing start in the British Isles?
The answer to the question posed in the title of this post has been the subject of quite a lot of discussion over many years. Most of the debate have centred on the operations of Cooperative stores, mainly in the … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Amazon Go, Cafeterias, Consumers, Cooperatives, Food Retailing, Government, Historic Shops, History, Retail Change, Retail History, Retailing, Self-Service, Uncategorized
Tagged 1920s, Adverts, Cafeteria, Consumer Education, Consumers, Grocery, Ideas, Knowledge Transfer, Retail History, Retailing, Self-Service, Shopping, Shopping without stopping, United Kingdom, USA, Womenswear
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The Co-operative Group Results 2021
A few weeks ago I was asked to provide a short analysis on the Co-operative Group’s results for 2021. This has now been published in Coop News. I repost it below. If nothing else it shows the impact of the … Continue reading
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
3 Comments
Discount Food Stores in the UK: Kwik Save and Shoprite
Following on the recent post on Axe Stores, I have dug out some of my early slides on Kwik Save and Shoprite and their stores. I have written academically on both of these companies, quite some time ago. For anyone … Continue reading
Posted in Albert Gubay, Aldi, Axe Stores, Bridge of Allan, Cooperatives, Discounters, Food Retailing, Kwik Save, Lidl, Netto, Retail Failure, Retail History, Retailers, Shoprite, Wm Low
Tagged Albert Gubay, Aldi, Axe Stores, Bridge of Allan, Co-operative Group, Discounters, Isle of Man, Kwik Save, Lidl, Netto, Retail History, Shoprite, UK Food Retailing
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Grocery Market Shares in Great Britain 1997-2021
Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I have, since 1997, been using Kantar data to look at the changing grocery market shares in Great Britain. Taking July data each year this series now extends almost a quarter … Continue reading
Posted in Aldi, Asda, Competition, Consumers, Convenience, Cooperatives, Discounters, Food Retailing, Grocery, Independents, Internet shopping, Kantar, Lidl, Local Retailers, Longitudinal Data, Market Shares, Ocado, Retail Change, Retailers, Sainsbury, Tesco
Tagged Asda, Concentration Ratio, Cooperatives, Covid19, Food retailing, Great Britain, Grocery market, Independent Retailing, Kantar Worldpanel, Lidl, Market Shares, Morrisons, Online retailing, Pandemic, Retailing, Sainsbury, Tesco
2 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
2020 on the Blog – a reflection
Stirlingretail.com began in 2011. It was born out of a desire to provide a home for common questions about Scottish retailing and a space for me to make comments and cite some evidence and stuff, so as to save me … Continue reading
Posted in 2020, Armageddon, BRC, Bristol Pound, Competition, Consumer Change, Cooperative Tokens, Cooperatives, Covid19, Food Retailing, Grocery, Historic Shops, Lockdown, Market Shares, Non-Essential Retailing, Places, Reinvention, Retail Change, Retail Economy, Retail Failure, Retail History, Retailers, Retailing, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged 2020 Retail, Covid-19, Footfall, Lockdowns, Pandemic, Retail History, Retailing, Review, Shopping, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, towns, UK Grocery market
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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
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Convenience and Local Shop Retailing (and the new @Coopuk @StirUni)
On the 22nd October the Co-op opened its latest convenience store, at the heart of the University of Stirling. This was the first Co-op franchise in Scotland and is part of the growth of the Co-op and the convenience and … Continue reading
Posted in Association of Convenience Stores, ATMs, Community, Consumers, Convenience, Convenience stores, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Covid19, Entrepreneurship, Food Retailing, Independents, Local Retailers, Post Offices, Scotland, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Local Retailer, Scottish Retailing, Self-checkout, Small Shops, Uncategorized, University of Stirling
Tagged Association of Convenience Stores, ATMs, Co-operative Group, Community, Consumers, Convenience stores, Covid19, Food retail, Home Delivery, Local Shop Report 2020, Post office, Scotland, Scottish Grocers Federation, Self-checkout, Store Openings, University of Stirling
2 Comments
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