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 , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , | Leave a comment