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
- Changing Scotland's Towns
- Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
- Brexit isn't Delivering
- London's Welsh Dairies: The Welsh Milk Trade
- Scottish and Online Retail Sales in Lockdown
- Town Centres in Wales: Bounded Muscularity?
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
- Retail Disruptors - the spectacular rise and impact of the hard discounters
- Webinar: "A New Future for Scotland's Town Centres"
- A Lidl Surprise?
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Category Archives: London
Fading Glory: the Ghost Signs of London
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 Books, Ghost Signs, Ghostsigns, Heritage, London
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Of Cows and Elephants
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 Art Deco, Burtons, Elephants, Foundation Stones, Historic Shops, Lpndon, Markets, Milk trade, Retail History, Wales
1 Comment
London’s Welsh Dairies: The Welsh Milk Trade
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 Book, Consumer change, Dairy, Distribution and Supply, Drovers, Heritage, History, London Welsh, MIlk, Retail History, Retailing, Sanders Bros, Shopfronts, Wales
14 Comments
And now for some good news: Dixons Carphone and Dyson Openings
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 Carphone Warehouse, Design, Dyson, Entertainment, Flagship, London, Oxford Street, pop-up stores, Tesco
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Market Time
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 Christmas, Entrepreneurs, Food, Krakow, London, Markets
2 Comments
Plastic Bags, Referenda and Retail Prices
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 Independance, Plastic bags, Prices, Retail, Retailers, Scotland
2 Comments
London Calling
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 BIDs, Empty shops, High Streets, London, Parking, Rates, Scotland
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