Author: Leigh Sparks
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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
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- "If Not Now, When?" - the Social Renewal Advisory Board Report
- Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
- 2020 - my year in articles
- About Leigh Sparks and this Blog
- Goodbye 2020 - Hello 2021 and beyond
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- Albert Gubay 1928-2016
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- A Japanese Eataly? In Singapore?
- Retail change and why we fell in love with supermarkets?
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Category Archives: History
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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The Buttercup Dairy Company
One of the most enjoyable things about social media is the ease of connectivity to people, their work and interesting (well, to me) things. It really is so much more simpler and easier than decades ago. A good example of … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Books, Buttercup Dairy Company, Corporate History, Creative Places, Edinburgh, Food Retailing, Grocery, Heritage, Historic Shops, History, Retail Change, Retail History, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopfronts, Signage, Town Centres, Uncategorized, Urban History
Tagged Architecture, Buttercup Dairy Company, Customer service, Grocery, Heritage, Retail History, Shop Fronts, Shops, Tiles
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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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Quant (ifying) the Past
A weekend away in London, and a chance to take in some exhibitions and meet up with up friends. The outcome; a great weekend but some contrasting cultural experiences. Amongst the things we saw were the Tutankhamun exhibition at the … Continue reading
Posted in 1960s, Bazaar, Books, Clothes, Exhibitions, Fashion, History, Mary Quant, Pop-Up Shops, Uncategorized, Wholesaling
Tagged 1960s, Bazaar, Clothing, Design, Exhibition Shops, Fashion, King's Road, Mary Quant, Retail History, Retailing, Shopping, Tutankhamun, V&A Museum
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Of Cows and Elephants
During our recent weekend in London we somehow found ourselves at Conway Street having a coffee in the old Welsh dairy which has featured in this blog before. As my wife said, how did that happen? A weekend away and … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Burtons, Heritage, Historic Shops, History, London, MIlk, Retail History, Uncategorized, Urban History
Tagged Art Deco, Burtons, Elephants, Foundation Stones, Historic Shops, Lpndon, Markets, Milk trade, Retail History, Wales
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Hull and Beyond
I’ve never knowingly been to Hull. It’s not that I’ve anything against Hull, just that the question of going there has never arisen. I became a little more aware of it when it owned the accolade as UK City … Continue reading
Posted in Art, BHS, Buildings, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Department Stores, Design, Historic Shops, History, Hull, Places, Public Realm, Regeneration, Retail History, Spaces, Uncategorized, Urban History
Tagged BHS Mural Hull, Boyson, Co-op, Culture, Heritage, Hull, Mosaic, Public Art, Retail, Ships in the Sky, Three Ships
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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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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
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Shopfronts – some recent sightings
Some people have been a bad influence on me: @historicshops @KA_Morrison (see Building Our Past) and @ghostsigns spring to mind. Their encyclopaedic knowledge – and delight in and willingness to share – means that I am forever on the search … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Corporate branding, Corporate History, Design, Heritage, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Places, Public Realm, Retail History, Shopfronts, Signage, Small Towns, Spaces, Streetscapes, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History
Tagged Buildings, Ghostsigns, Heritage, History, Retail, Shopfronts, Signs, Streets, Tiles
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#Woolies10
I was out at the country on the tenth ‘anniversary’ of the closure of the last Woolworths store in the UK – 6th January to be exact. I had already contributed to an element of the ‘celebration’/‘remembrance’, so didn’t feel … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Churn, Closure, Consumers, Corporate History, Ghost Signs, Heritage, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Pound Shops, Poundland, Retail Failure, Shopfronts, Store Closures, Streetscapes, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History, Woolworths
Tagged Churn, closures, Employees, failure, Heritage, High Streets, History, Pound shops, Retail Change, Retail Nostalgia, South Africa, stores, Streetscape, Woolworths
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