Author: Leigh Sparks
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January 2024 – Roll over of some areas for new year, plus The Economics Observatory piece on Christmas trading (see commentaries tab)
May 2023 – Two new articles and a book chapter noted on the Journal Articles page
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Category Archives: Retail Change
Celebrating 40 years of the Institute for Retail Studies at the University of Stirling
Anyone entering the library at the heart of the University of Stirling in recent weeks can not help but notice the latest use of the exhibition space. It’s been taken over by us retailers, to celebrate 40 years of retail … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Alumni, archives, Branding, Brands, Exhibitions, Food Retailing, Institute for Retail Studies, Private brands, Products, Retail brands, Retail Change, Retail Degrees, Retail History, Retail Research, Retailer Branding, Shopping, Stirling, Uncategorized, University of Stirling
Tagged Alumni, Archive, Exhibition, History, Institute for Retail Studies, Library, MBA in Retailing, Packaging, Professor John Dawson, Retail Branding, Retail History, Retail Research, Retailing, University of Stirling
4 Comments
The Wonder of Woolies – 15 Years On
Early January 2024 marked 15 years from the collapse of Woolworths in the UK and the closure of its 807 mainly high street stores. There are several potential parents of the phrase ‘death of the high street’, spanning many decades, … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Consumer Change, Convenience stores, Discounters, Heritage, High Streets, History, Reinvention, Retail Change, Retail Failure, Retail History, Town Centre Living, Town Centres, Uncategorized, Urban History, Woolworths
Tagged Convenience, Discounters, Discounts, failure, High Streets, Reinvention, Retail, Retail Change, Streetscape, Town Centre Living, Woolworths
2 Comments
Regenerative Scotland: Town Centre Regeneration
A couple of months ago I sat down with Ariane Burgess MSP and Kimberley Guthrie to chat about town centre regeneration – well, we virtually sat down as we were in three different locations. Ariane is a Scottish Greens MSP … Continue reading
Posted in High Streets, Independents, MSPs, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Places, Planning, Public Policy, Regeneration, Retail Change, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Ariane Burgess, High Streets, Places, Regenerative Scotland, Retail, Scotland, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Towns and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Town Centres, towns
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Shrewsbury – Welsh or English?
There I was, quietly photographing an old shop and a neat ghostsign in one of the main streets of Shrewsbury (see photo above), when an elderly local man challenged me. He said he thought I was mad as there was … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Ghost Signs, High Streets, History, Independents, Local Retailers, Pret, Retail Change, Retailers, Shopfronts, Shrewsbury, Streetscapes, Town Centres, Urban History
Tagged Architecture, Buildings, Ghostsigns, Heritage, High Streets, History, Indpendents, Pret, Retail, Shops, Shrewsbury, store design, Town Centres, Urban History
3 Comments
“Shopping without Stopping”: When did self-service retailing start in the British Isles?
The answer to the question posed in the title of this post has been the subject of quite a lot of discussion over many years. Most of the debate have centred on the operations of Cooperative stores, mainly in the … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Amazon Go, Cafeterias, Consumers, Cooperatives, Food Retailing, Government, Historic Shops, History, Retail Change, Retail History, Retailing, Self-Service, Uncategorized
Tagged 1920s, Adverts, Cafeteria, Consumer Education, Consumers, Grocery, Ideas, Knowledge Transfer, Retail History, Retailing, Self-Service, Shopping, Shopping without stopping, United Kingdom, USA, Womenswear
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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 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Car dominated places, Car Use Reduction, Climate Emergency, Just Transition, Living streets, NPF4, Out of town retailing, Retailing, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Stirling Council, Town Centres, Walking, Wheeling
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Strange Things in Self-Service
My twitter timeline has been populated recently by photos of retailers doing, for me, some strange things with self-service tills. These tills have popped up everywhere over the last decade and not always to universal acclaim. B&Q and WH Smith … Continue reading
Posted in Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go, Clothing, Consumers, Customer Service, Employment practices, Experiential, Functional Retailing, Marks and Spencer, Retail Change, Sainsbury, Self-checkout, Self-Scanning, Self-Service, Uncategorized
Tagged Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go, Clothing, Consumers, Costs, Customer service, Marks and Spencer, Retail, Retail Employment, Sainsbury, Self-checkout, Self-Scanning, Self-Service, technology
4 Comments
2022: the stirlingretail.com year in retrospect
This time of the year I normally produce my last post and look back at the activity on the blog during the calendar year. My reviews for 2020 and 2021 covered the two years with the most visitors the site … Continue reading
Posted in 1977, Bristol Pound, Cooperative Tokens, Department Stores, Food Retailing, Grocery, Local Authorities, Market Shares, MIlk, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Places, Planning, Retail Change, Retail History, Retail Strategy, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Stirling, Stirling Council, Tesco, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Urban History, Who Owns Scotland?
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Department Stores, Grocery Market Shares, NPF4, Places, Planning, Retail Change, Retail History, Retail Strategy, Retailing, Scotland, Scottish Government, Stirling, Tesco, Town Centres, Welsh Dairies
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Who Owns Scotland’s Towns, High Streets and Shopping Centres?
One of the issues raised in the recent report by the Economy and Fair Work Committee of the Scottish Parliament concerned the lack of transparency over the ownership of much of the property in Scotland. I noted this in the … Continue reading
Posted in Community Ownership, Dumfries, Government, High Streets, Landlords, Legislation, Local Authorities, Midsteeple Quarter, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Out of Town, Place Based Investment Programme, Retail Change, Retailers, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Shopping Centres, Streets, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Urban, Vacancies, Who Owns Scotland?
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Absentee Owners, Community, Community enterprise, Economy and Fair Work committee, Property, Retail, Scotland, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Streets, Tax, Tax Havens, Vacancies, Who Owns Scotland?
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Stirlingretail 