Author: Leigh Sparks
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May 2021 – Journal Articles page updated with two new academic papers in Planning, Theory and Practice, and Sustainability, joining our Ageing & Society paper
March 2021 – Personal Biography redesigned and updated
January 2021 – Updates of Media Commentary and Journal Articles page structures
Top Posts & Pages
- Town Centres in Wales: Bounded Muscularity?
- Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
- Convenience Stores and the Covid-19 Pandemic
- Scotland's Town Centre Action Plan Review
- Axe Stores (this is a description not an instruction)
- Planning: Good, Evil or Just Tedious?
- Journal Articles 2021
- Town & Country Planning Journal (Trading Places Columns) 2012-2018
- The Buttercup Dairy Company
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
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Category Archives: Lockdown
Economic Trends in the Retail Sector, Great Britain: 1989 to 2021
In late July, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) produced a short article on economic trends in GB in the retail sector since 1989, examining how retail sales fit in with the wider economic climate, including over time, long-term trends … Continue reading
Posted in Consumer Change, Covid19, Food Retailing, Internet shopping, Lockdown, Longitudinal Data, Office for National Statistics, Online Retailing, Retail Change, Retail Economy, Retail Sales, Retailing
Tagged Book Retailing, Food retailing, Great Britain, International Retail Comparisons, Non-Store Retail Sales, Office for National Statistics, Online retailing, Retail Sales, Retail Trends, Sports Goods Retailing
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“Soaring Vacancies” : perhaps or perhaps not?
The end of last week saw headlines about the number of vacant shops in Scotland. Typical Scottish newspaper examples included: The Herald The Scotsman So, something of a downer to end the first week out of lockdown in Scotland and … Continue reading
Posted in BRC, Consumers, Covid19, Data, Independents, Local Data Company, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Pandemic, Places, Rates, Rents, Retail Change, Retailers, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Retailing, Shop Numbers, Shopping, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Vacancies
Tagged British Retail Consortium, Consumer Confidence, Consumers, Covid-19, Data, independents, Local Data Company, Lockdown, Pandemic, Retailing, Scotland, Shops, Vacancies
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The Great Re-Awakening?
One week on from the first major easing of retail (and other) restrictions from the ‘Christmas’ lockdown in Scotland and everyone is wondering how it has been and how it is going? For some the sight of people queuing at … Continue reading
Posted in Amazon, Consumers, Covid19, Lockdown, Pandemic, Primark, Queuing, Retail Sales, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland, Scottish Retail Sales, Shopping, Uncategorized
Tagged Consumers, Covid-19, Lockdown, Primark, Queues, Retail Sales, Retailers, Scotland, Shopping
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Locavore’s Bigger Plan
I am not sure when I first became aware of Locavore. It certainly was before they launched their Big Plan in 2015. I had a watching interest in the development of social and more sustainable retail food stores and supermarkets, … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Community Interest Company, Consumer Lifestyle, Crowdfunding, Employment practices, Ethics, Food, Food Retailing, Glasgow, Independents, Local Retailers, Localisation, Locavore, Lockdown, organic, Pandemic, Producers, Retail innovation, Retail leadership, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland Food and Drink, Scotland Loves Local, Scottish Local Retailer, Scottish Retailing, Social Change, Stirling, Supermarket, Suppliers, Supply Chains, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Uncategorized, Veg Boxes, Wages, Waste, Wholesaling
Tagged Carbon negative, Community Interest Company, Glasgow, Local, Local suppliers, Locavore, organic, Retail, Shops, Social impact, Social Supermarkets, Supply chains, Sustainability, Veg Boxes, Waste Reduction
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Aberdeen, No More?
The Covid pandemic has hit retailing hard. Government support (though important) has in no way matched the lost sales and business. Previous trends have been accelerated, most notably in terms of online sales. Retailers of all shapes and sizes have … Continue reading
Posted in 1960s, Aberdeen, Architecture, Bids Scotland, Buildings, City Centres, Closure, Consumers, Cooperatives, Covid19, Department Stores, Internet shopping, John Lewis Partnership, Lockdown, Norco, Online Retailing, Pandemic, Rates, Regulation, Rents, Retail Change, Retail Sales, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopping, Social value, Tax, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Waitrose
Tagged Aberdeen, Architecture, Brutalism, Business Improvement Districts, City Centres, Consumers, Covid-19, Department Stores, John Lewis, John Lewis Partnership, Norco, Online sales, Retail costs, Retailing, Scotland's Towns, Tax, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group
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An (Un)Happy Anniversary
On the 16th March 2020 I started working from home. There had been an odd set of circumstances in the run-up to this date. We’d come back from South Africa in late January and I’d felt a little unwell; something … Continue reading
Posted in Amazon, Books, Cardiff, Christmas, Consumer Change, Consumer Lifestyle, Consumers, Covid19, Farmers Markets, Food, Food and Beverage, Food Retailing, Home Delivery, Independents, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Localisation, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Pandemic, Producers, Products, Retail Change, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland Food and Drink, Scottish Retailing, Small Shops, Stirling, Uncategorized, Wholesaling
Tagged Amazon, Covid-19, Home Delivery, Indepedendents, internet retailing, Local Retailing, Lockdown, Pandemic, Retailing, Specialist retailers
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Retail Sales in Great Britain, January 2021
A couple of weeks ago, the Office for National Statistics produced the monthly retail sales figures for Great Britain for January 2021. This is the first full month of data since lockdown was reintroduced before and around Christmas. The press … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Click and Collect, Clothing, Consumer Change, Convenience stores, Covid19, Essential Retailing, Food Retailing, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Localisation, Lockdown, Non-Essential Retailing, Non-food retailing, Office for National Statistics, Online Retailing, Pandemic, Retail Change, Retail Sales, Retailers, Supermarket, Uncategorized
Tagged Clothing, Conveneience, Essential Retailing, Food retailing, Localisation, Lockdonw, Monthly Sales Figures, Non-Essential Retailing, Office for National Statistics, Online retailing, Panedemic, Retail Change, Retail Futures, Retail Sales, Supermarkets
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2020 on the Blog – a reflection
Stirlingretail.com began in 2011. It was born out of a desire to provide a home for common questions about Scottish retailing and a space for me to make comments and cite some evidence and stuff, so as to save me … Continue reading
Posted in 2020, Armageddon, BRC, Bristol Pound, Competition, Consumer Change, Cooperative Tokens, Cooperatives, Covid19, Food Retailing, Grocery, Historic Shops, Lockdown, Market Shares, Non-Essential Retailing, Places, Reinvention, Retail Change, Retail Economy, Retail Failure, Retail History, Retailers, Retailing, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged 2020 Retail, Covid-19, Footfall, Lockdowns, Pandemic, Retail History, Retailing, Review, Shopping, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, towns, UK Grocery market
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