Category Archives: London

Fading Glory: the Ghost Signs of London

Posted on January 20, 2020 by

Anyone following me on twitter will know of my enduring fascination with ghostsigns.  It has also appeared on this blog a few times.  These traces of the past are, in my view, something worth capturing and preserving (or at least … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Design, Ghost Signs, Heritage, London, Places, Retail Change, Retail History, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Of Cows and Elephants

Posted on December 12, 2019 by

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

London’s Welsh Dairies: The Welsh Milk Trade

Posted on September 16, 2019 by

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

And now for some good news: Dixons Carphone and Dyson Openings

Posted on July 15, 2016 by

As promised, after my rather pessimistic review of some recent retail stories in the last blog, I want to turn to something a little more positive.  The stories below that caught my attention are in one way the other side … Continue reading →

Posted in BrickMeetsClick, Consumer Lifestyle, Design, Dixons Carphone, Dyson, Electronics, Engineering, Experiential, Flagship, London, Multichannel, Oxford Street, Pop-Up Shops, Space, Tesco | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Market Time

Posted on January 13, 2016 by

I suspect that my interest in markets was sparked at a young age when my father would take me to the livestock market and my mother would take me to the open-air market (Cheapside) and to the covered food market, … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Experiential, Farmers Markets, Festivals, Food, Krakow, London, Markets, Places, Spaces, Streetscapes, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Plastic Bags, Referenda and Retail Prices

Posted on October 20, 2014 by

I’ve just come off the radio after doing a short piece on the John Beattie Radio Scotland show about the introduction of carrier bag charging in Scotland. Some three and a bit years after I wrote about this, the Scottish … Continue reading →

Posted in Campaigns, Government, John Lewis Partnership, London, Plastic Bags, Pricing, Retailers, Waitrose | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

John Lewis: Stories of a Shopkeeper

Posted on June 13, 2014 by

Earlier this week I had a number of meetings in London and for the last of them I was looking for a central café. I am not sure that’s quite how John Lewis on Oxford Street really likes to think … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Click and Collect, Department Stores, Heritage, Historic Shops, John Lewis Partnership, London, Retail History, Sanders Bros, Waitrose | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

London Calling

Posted on March 26, 2013 by

Everyone’s into high streets and town centres these days and there is a large volume of material out there and advice to follow. Little seems to have done much good to date, but we can live in hope. This is … Continue reading →

Posted in BIDS, Car Parking, Government, High Streets, Local Retailers, London, Rates, Retail Policy, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Vacancies | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments