Author: Leigh Sparks
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February 2023 – New piece for The Conversation on online retailing (see commentaries tab)
January 2023 – Roll over of some areas for new year, plus The Conversation piece on Christmas trading updates published (see commentaries tab) and main posts
December 2022 – End of year tidying up and re-arrangement, including link to EDAS podcast on places and towns (see presentations tab)
April 2022 -new journal article published (Journal Articles page) on Twenty-One Years of Going Shopping and Marketing History
Top Posts & Pages
- The Buttercup Dairy Company
- Retail change and why we fell in love with supermarkets?
- Logistics and Retail Management 5th Edition
- A (Retail) Sense of Place
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
- London's Welsh Dairies: The Welsh Milk Trade
- Oxford Street, Hull and Beyond
- Strange Things in Self-Service
- Urban Logistics and Retailing
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Category Archives: Local Retailers
Towns and Resilience: A Totally Locally Follow-Up
On the 20th April I presented at the Institute of Place Management Annual Conference in Manchester. It was an interesting and enjoyable event; details of what I said can be found in an earlier post on this blog. There was … Continue reading
Posted in "We" towns, Campaigns, Community, Consumers, High Streets, Incredible Edible, Independents, Local Multiplier, Local Retailers, Places, Retailing, Rugby League, Small Towns, Totally Locally, Towns
Tagged Fiverfest, Independent Retailing, Institute of Place Management, Local, Local Businesses, Places, Small Towns, Totally Locally
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The Cost of Employment in Local Convenience Stores
Almost a decade ago, we began working with the Scottish Grocers Federation on understanding the costs of doing business in the convenience sector. One aspect of this work has been the relationship between the headline figure for the National Living … Continue reading
Posted in Convenience stores, Cost of Living, Employment, Independents, Local Retailers, National Living Wage, Scottish Grocers Federation, Uncategorized, University of Stirling, Wages
Tagged Convenience stores, Cost of Living, Employment, National Living Wage, Scottish Grocers Federation, University of Stirling
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Walking the Talk: Town Centres and Retailing in a Car-dominated Economy
Today (March 7th), I am presenting at a Living Streets Seminar. I was asked to talk about retailing in car-dominated places and what follows is a summary of sorts (and the overheads) of my presentation. In responses to the climate … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Active travel, Car Dependency, Car Parking, Car Use Reduction, Community, community wealth building, Consumers, Just Transition, Local Retailers, Neighbourhood, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Places, Retail Change, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Retailing, Stirling Council, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Town Centres
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Car dominated places, Car Use Reduction, Climate Emergency, Just Transition, Living streets, NPF4, Out of town retailing, Retailing, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Stirling Council, Town Centres, Walking, Wheeling
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The Conversation: UK Retailers Christmas Trading Updates
The University of Stirling is a supporter of The Conversation and I published a piece there on the 12th January about the recent UK retailer trading updates from Christmas. I reblog it below. The starting point for the piece was … Continue reading
Posted in Aldi, Christmas, City Centres, Consumer Change, Consumers, Cost of Living, Covid19, Discounters, Grocery, High Streets, Independents, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Market Shares, Marks and Spencer, Next, Retailers, Retailing, The Conversation, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged B&M, Brexit, Christmas, Consumers, Cost of Living, Covid, Credit, Discounters, Health and wellbeing, High Streets, Local, Next, Online, Retailing, Shoppers, spending, The Conversation, towns, Trading Updates, Value
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Scottish Grocers Federation Conference: Issues and Opportunities
Just over a year ago, I did my first F2F presentation in a long time, when I presented at the Scottish Grocers Federation annual conference in Glasgow. This was apparently one of the very first such events held in Glasgow … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Consumers, Convenience, Convenience stores, Cost of Living, Costs, Crime, Deposit Return Scheme, Energy Costs, Food Retailing, Go Local, Local Retailers, Producers, Retail Strategy, Retailers, Retailing, Reverse Vending, Scotland Food and Drink, Scotland Loves Local, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation
Tagged Convenience Retailing, Convenience stores, Crime, Deposit Return Scheme, Energy Costs, Go Local, local shops, Retail Strat, Retailing, Scotland, Scottish Government, SGF
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Shopping: the cost of living crisis – Q&A with The Conversation
In between graduation ceremonies last Friday (as we caught up with the pandemic impacted ceremonies of 2020 and 2021), I was interviewed by Steven Vass of The Conversation about the cost of living crisis and Shopping. The result is a … Continue reading
Posted in Consumer Confidence, Consumers, Cost of Living, Discounters, Food, Food Banks, Food Retailing, Inflation, Local Retailers, Office for National Statistics, Pricing, Retail Sales, Retailers, Shopping, The Conversation
Tagged Budgets, Consumer Confidence, Consumers, Cost of Living, Food, Inflation, Retail Sales, Retailing, The Conversation
5 Comments
The Retail Strategy for Scotland – Launch Day Questions to the Minister
As noted in my previous post, on the 24th March the Scottish Government published its Retail Strategy for Scotland and the Minister Tom Arthur MSP launched it in Parliament that afternoon. The Strategy can be downloaded here and the Ministerial … Continue reading
Posted in BIDS, Bids Scotland, Consumer Change, High Streets, Independents, Local Authorities, Local Retailers, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Places, Public Policy, Retail Change, Retail leadership, Retail Policy, Retail Productivity, Retail Strategy, Retailers, Scotland, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Small Shops, Strategy, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged BIDs, Business rates, Independent Retailing, Non-domestic rates, Places, Productivity, Retail Strategy, Retailing, Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament, Small Retailers, towns
3 Comments
A Retail Strategy for Scotland
On the 24th March, the Scottish Government unveiled its long-awaited Retail Strategy for Scotland. The Strategy can be found here and the Ministerial statement from Tom Arthur MSP can be found here. Getting the Right Change: A Retail Strategy for … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Bids Scotland, Community, Consumer Change, Employment, Government, Internet shopping, Just Transition, Local Retailers, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Places, Public Policy, Retail Policy, Retail Strategy, Retailers, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Retailing, Shopping, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centres
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, Climate Emergency, Communities, community wealth building, Employment, Fair Work, Just Transition, Place, Retail, Retail Industry Leadership Group, Retail Strategy, Scotland, Scottish Government, Skills, Town Centres, Wellbeing Economy
7 Comments
Predicting the Post-Covid Retail Landscape: presentation for Scottish Grocers Federation Cross Party Group
Later on today (from 1815 on the 16th March to be exact) I will be presenting virtually at the latest Scottish Grocers Federation organised Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Local Convenience Stores. I will be speaking, together with David … Continue reading
Posted in Amsterdam, Consumer Change, Consumers, Convenience, Convenience stores, Covid19, Dark Stores, Food Retailing, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Online Retailing, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Retailing, Supply Chains
Tagged Convenience stores, Costs, Covid19, Cross Party Group, Dark Stores, Digital, Future, Hyper Local, Inflation, internet retailing, John Lewis, Local Stores, Retailing, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Parliament, scottish retail consortium, Scottish Retail Sales Monitor, Supply chains, Working from Home
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Scotland’s Community Retailers – SLR Awards 2021
The last year has been one like no other and the contribution of community retailers across Scotland has been one of the outstanding and life-affirming stories to come out of the pandemic. Last week Scottish Local Retailer recognised this through … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Community Grocer, Consumers, Convenience stores, Food Retailing, Local Retailers, Pandemic, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland, Scottish Local Retailer, Scottish Retailing
Tagged Awards, Community Retailers, Convenience Retailing, Pandemic, Scotland, Scottish Local Retailer
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