Author: Leigh Sparks
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March 2021 – Personal Biography redesigned and updated
January 2021 – Updates of Media Commentary and Journal Articles page structures
October 2020 – Additions of recent articles in Social Science & Medicine and Marketing Theory to the Journal Article section
Top Posts & Pages
- Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- London's Welsh Dairies: The Welsh Milk Trade
- Screen Time? Cinemas and Town Centres
- Aberdeen, No More?
- Have You Heard of Sanders Bros?
- Herkku Food Market Delicatessen – Helsinki
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
- Ten years on stirlingretail.com
- Locavore's Bigger Plan
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Category Archives: Customer Service
Going Self-Service – a 70 year old revolution?
A few weeks ago a journalist rang and asked about the introduction of self-service retailing into the UK. A particular question was about the way in which retailers converting to self-service in the 1940s and 1950s knew what to do … Continue reading
Posted in Consumer Change, Customer Service, Express Dairies, Food Retailing, Historic Shops, History, Retail Change, Retail History, Retail innovation, Retailers, Retailing, Self-checkout, Self-Service, Small Shops, Tesco, Uncategorized, USA
Tagged Express Dairies, Innovation, Knowledge Transfer, Retail, Retail History, Self-Service, Tesco
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The Multiplier and the Glue: Locally owned convenience stores and the local economy
Longer term readers of this blog will possibly recall a long standing interest in the impacts of small convenience stores on the local economy. This has taken the form of some discussion about what may be termed ‘the local multiplier’. … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Community, Consumers, Convenience stores, Customer Service, Independents, Local Multiplier, Local Retailers, Relationships, Retail Economy, Retailers, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Local Retailer, Uncategorized, University of Stirling
Tagged Communities, Consumers, Convenience stores, Economic Impact, independents, Local Economy, Local Multiplier, Locally-owned, Retailing, Scotland, Scottish Grocers Federation, Services, Social impact
2 Comments
London’s Welsh Dairies: The Welsh Milk Trade
As a child I remember people mentioning the ‘milk train’ between London and South Wales, but was never sure if it was first up or last down or both. Before I married, my fiancée and I went to stay in … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Buildings, Consumer Change, Consumers, Customer Service, distribution, Food, Food Retailing, Heritage, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Independents, London, MIlk, Retail Change, Retail History, Sanders Bros, Shopfronts, Signage, Uncategorized, Urban History, Wales
Tagged Book, Consumer change, Dairy, Distribution and Supply, Drovers, Heritage, History, London Welsh, MIlk, Retail History, Retailing, Sanders Bros, Shopfronts, Wales
11 Comments
Efficiency or Idiocy?
For some time it has been apparent that Dave Lewis has been determined to address the ‘bloat’ in Tesco and cut back on all sorts of things. In the big picture out have gone most of the diversifications of the … Continue reading
Posted in Boots, Competition, Consumer Change, Consumers, Costs, Customer Service, distribution, Food Retailing, Local Retailers, Pharmacy, Plastic Bags, Retailers, Self-checkout, Stirling, Tax, Tesco, Uncategorized
Tagged Boots, Butchers, Consumers, Cost-cutting, distribution, Efficiency, Fishmongers, independents, Plastic, Prescriptions, Self-checkout, Service, Tax, Tesco
8 Comments
Feargal Quinn 1936-2019
On the 25th April, it was announced that Feargal Quinn the legendary Irish retail businessman, founder of Superquinn, had passed away. The President of Ireland said There have been many tributes and obituaries to him in the days that have … Continue reading
Posted in Alumni, Consumer Lifestyle, Customer engagement, Customer Service, Food Retailing, Ireland, Retail leadership, Retailers, Retailing, Supermarket, Superquinn, Uncategorized, University of Stirling
Tagged Customer service, Entrepreneur, Feargal Quinn, Honorary Degree, Ireland, Retailing, Superquinn, University of Stirling
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Herkku Food Market Delicatessen – Helsinki
Visiting Helsinki for a couple of days (see blog here) allowed me also to experience a guided visit to the S-Group’s Herkku Food Market Delicatessen in the basement of the Stockmann Department Store. Stockmann is an institution in Finland, being … Continue reading
Posted in Consumer Lifestyle, Cooperatives, Customer Service, Delicatessen, Deposit Return Scheme, Finland, Food, Food and Beverage, Food Retailing, Format, Herkku, Merchandising, Restaurants, Retailers, Retailing, Service Quality, Town Centre Living, Uncategorized
Tagged Bistro, Cooperatives, Customer service, Delicatessen, Deposit Return Scheme, Finland, Fish, Food and Beverage, Food retailing, Helsinki, Herkku, Juice, Restaurants, Reverse Vending, S-Group, Service Counters, Stockmann, Supermarket
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HMV – predictable or what?
125 stores, 2200 direct employees, an unknown number of individuals and businesses also linked to, and supplying, the company; the administration and likely demise of HMV would be problematic at any time but between Christmas and New Year it has … Continue reading
Posted in administration, Amazon, Boxing Day, Closure, Competition, Consumer Change, Customer Service, Government, High Streets, HMV, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Online Retailing, Rates, Record stores, Retail Change, Retail Failure, Tax, Technology, Timpsons, Town Centres, Uncategorized
Tagged administration, Amazon, Boxing Day, Business rates, Christmas, Christmas trading, Digital, HILCO, HMV, Internet, Music, Profits, Record shops, Sales, Streaming, Tax, technology, Timpson
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Some thoughts on the ASOS profit warning
The ASOS news this week was to many something of a surprise, but in reality it really shouldn’t be. A profit warning on Monday wiped almost 40% off its share price and impacted other retailers as well. Many of these … Continue reading
Posted in Asos, Black Friday, Brexit, Christmas, Competition, Consumer Change, Customer Service, Internet, Internet shopping, Online Retailing, Profits, Rates, Retail Change, Retailing, Tax, Uncategorized
Tagged Asos, Black Friday, Brexit, Business rates, Christmas, Consumers, High Street, Internet, Margin, Profits, Retail Crisis, Shares, Tax, Warnings
4 Comments
Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travelling Fellowships 2017
In the summer of 1989 I spent eight weeks travelling around the United States and Canada looking at the customer service practices of North American retailers. I visited numerous retailers, large and small, and interviewed countless owners, managers, directors and … Continue reading
Easy, it Ain’t
What with the announcement by a number of retailers that they are re-considering the tone of voice and announcements made by their self service checkouts and others who are removing such non-human (inhuman?) equipment, it has not been a good … Continue reading
