Author: Leigh Sparks
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January 2022 – removal of some redundant pages, reordering of some material, the addition of some new pages (under Commentaries), and some changes to some of the text throughout
January 2022 – annual rollover of pages completed (Media and Journal Articles)
December 2021 – Journal Articles page updated with editorial from IRRDCR
Top Posts & Pages
- NPF4 - on the evidence trail
- Retail Branding: it's not (just) private label
- Retail Impact Assessments: Time for a Rethink?
- Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
- Logistics and Retail Management 5th Edition
- "If Not Now, When?" - the Social Renewal Advisory Board Report
- National Planning Framework 4 - the consultation
- Retail Disruptors - the spectacular rise and impact of the hard discounters
- London's Welsh Dairies: The Welsh Milk Trade
- Axe Stores (this is a description not an instruction)
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Category Archives: Retail Change
2021 : the stirlingretail.com year in retrospect
My reflections this time last year noted that in the ten years of running this blog, 2020 had seen it attract the most visitors in a year. 2020 saw more than 70% more visitors than any previous year. Well, the … Continue reading
Posted in Aberdeen, Cooperative Tokens, Covid19, Food Retailing, History, John Lewis Partnership, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Pandemic, Public Policy, Retail Change, Retail History, Retail Policy, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Retailing, Social Renewal, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Covid-19, Food retailing, High Streets, Retail, Retail Change, Retail History, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centres, towns, University of Stirling
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Should every encouragement have an equal and opposite discouragement?
This is the third in a loosely linked series of posts arising in part from the publication of the draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) and the New Future for Scotland’s Town Centres The first post was my discussion of … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Car Parking, Climate Emergency, community wealth building, Consumer Change, Government, High Streets, Housing, Internet shopping, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Place Based Investment Programme, Places, Planning, Policy, Politicians, Public Policy, Rates, Regulation, Retail Change, Retail Impact Assessments, Retail Planning, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Tax, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, town centre first, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Behaviour Change, Car Parking, Climate Emergency, Development, Fraser review, internet retailing, Land Use Planning, Non-domestic rates, NPF4, Out of Town, Out of town impacts, Place Based Investment Programme, Place Principle, Regualtion, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Spatial Planning, Taxation, Town Centres, towns
4 Comments
Retail Impact Assessments: Time for a Rethink?
This is the second in a linked series of posts. The next one reflects on existing out-of-town developments and what we need to do about them. The first was on the draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4). In that post … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, community wealth building, Consumer Change, Convenience, Convenience stores, Home Delivery, Internet shopping, Land Use Planning, Local Authorities, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Pandemic, Places, Planning, Public Policy, Retail Change, Retail Impact Assessments, Retail Planning, Retail Policy, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Planner, Scottish Retailing, Sequential Approach, Spatial Planning, Town & Country PLanning, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Climate Emergency, Convenience Retailing, Home Delivery, In Home Eating, Land Use Planning, Local Authorities, NPF4, Online shopping, Out of town impacts, Out of town retailing, Pandemic, Place Principle, Planning, Retail Impact Assessments, Retailing, Scottish Government, Sequential Approach, Town Centres, towns
3 Comments
Town Centres in Wales: Bounded Muscularity?
A few months ago I, together with Phil Prentice (STP), had a long discussion with representatives of Audit Wales around enhancing town centres. This came in the wake of the review I chaired, and the report I authored, for the … Continue reading
Posted in Car Parking, Government, High Streets, Out of Town, Places, Regeneration, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Small Towns, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Understanding Welsh Places, Wales
Tagged Audit Wales, Bridgend, Car Dependency, Foundation Economy Research, Non-domestic rates, Place, Regeneration, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Tax, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Understanding Welsh Places, Wales
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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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Grocery Market Shares in Great Britain 1997-2021
Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I have, since 1997, been using Kantar data to look at the changing grocery market shares in Great Britain. Taking July data each year this series now extends almost a quarter … Continue reading
Posted in Aldi, Asda, Competition, Consumers, Convenience, Cooperatives, Discounters, Food Retailing, Grocery, Independents, Internet shopping, Kantar, Lidl, Local Retailers, Longitudinal Data, Market Shares, Ocado, Retail Change, Retailers, Sainsbury, Tesco
Tagged Asda, Concentration Ratio, Cooperatives, Covid19, Food retailing, Great Britain, Grocery market, Independent Retailing, Kantar Worldpanel, Lidl, Market Shares, Morrisons, Online retailing, Pandemic, Retailing, Sainsbury, Tesco
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Small Shops: Brian Lomas
I have just been alerted (thanks to @LeighVBird) to a book recently published by the modernist on the topic of Small Shops. It consists of 45 black and white photographs of small shops from North Manchester, taken in the early … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Community, Consumer Change, Food Retailing, Historic Shops, History, Independents, Local Retailers, Manchester, Neighbourhood, Retail Change, Retailing, Small Shops, Social Change, Urban, Urban History
Tagged 1980s, Books, Community, Manchester, Photographs, Retailing, Retailing change, Small shops, Social Change, the modernist, Urban History
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Towns, High Streets and Resilience: A Question for Policy?
“It is all too easy to talk about “bouncing back to where we were” without asking which “we” is counted and without asking whether “where we were” is a place to which a return is desirable”. (Vale, 2014, p198) Some … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Academics, CLES, Community, community wealth building, Covid19, Government, High Streets, Pandemic, Public Policy, Resilience, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Social Renewal, Sustainability, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, Academic papers, Bouncing Back, Community, community wealth building, Covid-19, High Streets, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Pandemic, Policy, Resilience, Retailing, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town Centres, Scotland's Towns, Scottish Government, Sustainability, Town Centre Action plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centres, Towns. Vulnerability, Urban Retail Systems
1 Comment
“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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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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