Category Archives: Experiential

Strange Things in Self-Service

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Leigh Sparks

My twitter timeline has been populated recently by photos of retailers doing, for me, some strange things with self-service tills.  These tills have popped up everywhere over the last decade and not always to universal acclaim.  B&Q and WH Smith … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go, Clothing, Consumers, Customer Service, Employment practices, Experiential, Functional Retailing, Marks and Spencer, Retail Change, Sainsbury, Self-checkout, Self-Scanning, Self-Service, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Singapore’s Scary Monsters

Posted on October 13, 2017 by Leigh Sparks

Back in the warmth of Singapore for our graduation and alumni events and associated student and other meetings, and there seemed to be only one question people had for me; what could be done about Singapore’s ailing retail sector?  On … Continue reading →

Posted in Adjacencies, Art, Brands, Corporate branding, Customer engagement, Design, Experiential, Flagship, Food and Beverage, Gentle Monster, Korea, Malls, Online Retailing, Retailers, Retailing, Shopping Centres, Singapore, Space, Vacancies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Lost Broch of Stirling

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Leigh Sparks

I am not sure what it says about me, but I have been seduced into some small crowdfunding projects over the last few years.  The subjects have been food, drink, rugby and history, so maybe I do know how and … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Brochs, Buildings, Crowdfunding, Experiential, Heritage, History, Incredible Edible, Retail Change, Sexism, Social media, Stirling, University of Stirling, Urban, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Singapore Swing

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Leigh Sparks

My current dose of warm weather in Singapore and soon in Hong Kong is mainly about meeting and talking to partners of the University of Stirling in my capacity as Deputy Principal for Internationalisation and Graduate Studies. It is good … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Consumer Change, Consumer Lifestyle, Consumers, Convenience stores, Experiential, Multichannel, Retail brands, Retailers, Singapore | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

And now for some good news: Dixons Carphone and Dyson Openings

Posted on July 15, 2016 by Leigh Sparks

As promised, after my rather pessimistic review of some recent retail stories in the last blog, I want to turn to something a little more positive.  The stories below that caught my attention are in one way the other side … Continue reading →

Posted in BrickMeetsClick, Consumer Lifestyle, Design, Dixons Carphone, Dyson, Electronics, Engineering, Experiential, Flagship, London, Multichannel, Oxford Street, Pop-Up Shops, Space, Tesco | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Market Time

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Leigh Sparks

I suspect that my interest in markets was sparked at a young age when my father would take me to the livestock market and my mother would take me to the open-air market (Cheapside) and to the covered food market, … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Experiential, Farmers Markets, Festivals, Food, Krakow, London, Markets, Places, Spaces, Streetscapes, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Japanese Eataly? In Singapore?

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Leigh Sparks

Regular readers of this blog will recall that I have a bit of a thing for Eataly, the destination food retail and dining concept showcasing the best in Italian local, slow and seasonal products and other gourmet food and cooking. … Continue reading →

Posted in Eataly, Emporium Shokuhin, Experiential, Food, Food Quality, Food Retailing, Gastronomy, Japanese, Markets, Restaurants, Scotland Food and Drink, Seafood, Shopping Centres, Singapore, Slow Food | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Marks and Sparks

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Leigh Sparks

In the dim and distant past, when I first arrived at the University of Stirling, I was one of number of research follows and assistants involved in establishing the Institute for Retail Studies under the leadership of John Dawson. One … Continue reading →

Posted in Experiential, Loyalty, Loyalty Schemes, Marks and Spencer, Membership, Relationships, Sparks, University of Stirling | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

We didn’t see that coming

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Leigh Sparks

              Celtic mysticism abounds in Stirling, mainly because a number of the retail staff here are Welsh – and those that aren’t, such as Steve Burt, wish they were –  and so strange languages … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer Change, Experiential, Fairies, Merchandising, New Age, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Spirituality | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

So …

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Leigh Sparks

… and the next phrase is NOT Moneysupermarket.com and their infuriating ads. Instead the answer is Peter Gabriel and his appearance (So …) in Glasgow last week. But unlike the last time I saw him in Glasgow, this time he … Continue reading →

Posted in Experiential, Food, Internet shopping, Merchandising, Music, Online Retailing, Places | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments