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Author: Leigh Sparks
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02.08.2018 2018 Publications updated to include three new articles
12.07.2018 Our latest Trading Places column for Town & Country Planning is now available on the Trading Places section of this blog
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- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- Albert Gubay 1928-2016
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- Trading Places: our Town and Country Planning Columns
- About Leigh Sparks and this Blog
- Research Projects
- From the Scottish Government’s National Review of Town Centres to the World Towns Summit
- Shops opening and expanding, queues outside: the High Street picture that’s not making the national news
- Uncertainty: Brexit and Retailing
- Talking Tesco (Again)
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Category Archives: Independents
Orc-(k)nee
There has been a lot of doom and gloom around in the last few weeks about the state of retail and high streets across the country. There is clearly a new changed set of circumstances around consumer behaviours and the … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Cooperative Group, Creative Places, Environmental Quality, Food Tourism, Heritage, High Streets, Independents, Lidl, Orkney, Personal, Places, Pound Shops, Poundland, Public Realm, Retail History, Scotland's Islands, Seafood, Small Shops, Small Towns, Stirling, Tourism, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Urban History
Tagged History, Knee Caps, Local retail, Orkney, Tourism
3 Comments
Shops opening and expanding, queues outside: the High Street picture that’s not making the national news
I recently had an exchange with Iain Nicholson around media coverage of the high street. it followed my recent diatribe about data. I have known Iain for a few years and admired the work he has been doing in towns … Continue reading
Posted in Car Parking, Consumers, Creative Places, Government, High Streets, Independents, Local Retailers, Localisation, Oxfordshire, Places, Planning, Policy, Producers, Record stores, Retail Diversity, Retail Economy, Retailers, Small Shops, Small Towns, Spaces, town centre first, Town Centres, Towns, Vacancies
Tagged #indie, #morethanretail, Authors, Car Parking, Comics, Diversity, independents, Oxford Etsy, Oxfordshire, Planning, Positive Places, Rates, Records, Shops, town centre first, Town Centres, Town Teams, Vacancies
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“No Town Immune”: Data and reporting
On Tuesday afternoon, I was contacted by a journalist (Stephen Naysmith) from The Herald about the upcoming Local Data Company/PwC report on high streets. He sent me the (then) embargoed press release. I attach it here for those interested and … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Closure, Data, Government, High Streets, Independents, Internet, Local Data Company, Online Retailing, Places, Retail Failure, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retailing, SNP, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Vacancies
Tagged Churn, closures, Data, failure, High Street, Local Data Company, Openings, PwC, Scotland, SNP, towns
2 Comments
Perth – Past, Present, Future
Last week I ventured north to the ‘Fair City’ of Perth for a presentation at a Scottish Civic Trust and Perth Civic Trust evening event on the theme of Perth: Past, Present and Future. I had been given the task … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Closure, Consumer Change, Consumers, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Independents, Online Retailing, Perth, Places, Public Realm, Reinvention, Retail Planning, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopfronts, Store Closures, Streets, Streetscapes, Town Centre Living, Town Centres, Understanding Scottish Places, Urban History
Tagged Architecture, Assets, Civic Trust, Future, High Streets, History, Perth, Retailing, Streetscapes, Town Planning, Urban History
2 Comments
Are Retailers Social Engineers?
A few months ago, we published our report for Food Standards Scotland (FSS) entitled “Identifying and Understanding the Factors that can Transform the Retail Environment to Enable Healthier Purchasing by Consumers”. The report and various summaries along with our brief … Continue reading
Posted in Community Grocer, Consumer Lifestyle, Consumers, Convenience stores, Cross Party Group, Deposit Return Scheme, Diet and Health, Food, Food Retailing, Food Standards, Health, Healthcare Retail Standard, Healthy Living, Independents, Local Retailers, Restaurants, Retail Change, Retailers, Scotland Food and Drink, Scottish Grocers Federation, Small Shops, Social Inequality, Social Justice, Sugar Tax, Waste
Tagged Consumers, Cross Party Group, Deposit Return Scheme, Diet and Health, Food Standards Scotland, Healthcare Retail Standard, Healthy Living, Nanny State, Placement, Prices, Promotion, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Super-sizing
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Fake Shops and some other retail news
Everyone pretty much agrees these days that we are living in an era of ‘fake news’, or outright lies as it would be better called. You know the sort of things – £350m per week to spend on the NHS, … Continue reading
Posted in BHS, Brands, Employment, High Streets, Independents, Local Retailers, Places, Retail Failure, Sainsbury, Store Closures, Tesco, Town Centres, Waterstones
Tagged BHS, Bookshops, Brands, Employment, High Streets, independents, Passing-off, Philip Green, towns, Vacant Shops, Waterstones
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Retail Vacancy and Structural Change in Scotland’s Towns and Cities
For the last four years, mid December has seen the release of the latest edition of the Local Data Company/University of Stirling Retail report on the situation of retailing in the major towns and cities across Scotland. Last Tuesday saw … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Christmas, Convenience stores, Independents, Places, Rates, Retail Policy, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Services, Shop Numbers, Small Towns, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, University of Stirling, Vacancies
Tagged Convenience, Local Data Company, off Licences, Persistent Vacancy, Places, Rates, Retail Change, Scotland, Services, Town Centre Living, towns, Vacancies
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