Author: Leigh Sparks
-
Follow me on Twitter
My TweetsPage Updates
January 2023 – Roll over of some areas for new year, plus The Conversation piece on Christmas trading updates published (see commentaries tab) and main posts
December 2022 – End of year tidying up and re-arrangement, including link to EDAS podcast on places and towns (see presentations tab)
April 2022 -new journal article published (Journal Articles page) on Twenty-One Years of Going Shopping and Marketing History
Top Posts & Pages
- E-commerce: economic growth and empowerment of women and girls
- Grocery Market Shares in Great Britain (GB) 1997-2022
- A Japanese Eataly? In Singapore?
- Retail change and why we fell in love with supermarkets?
- Retail Branding: it's not (just) private label
- Who Owns Scotland's Towns, High Streets and Shopping Centres?
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- Herkku Food Market Delicatessen – Helsinki
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
Writing About ...
Archives
-
Join 5,450 other subscribers
- Follow Stirlingretail on WordPress.com
Meta
Category Archives: Retailing
E-commerce: economic growth and empowerment of women and girls
This evening (18 January) I am a member of a panel at an online Royal Society of Arts (RSA) event looking at the topic of female growth and empowerment in the field of e-commerce. The invitation came from Ann-Maree Morrison … Continue reading
Posted in Amazon, Climate Emergency, e-commerce, Education, Entrepreneurship, High Streets, Independents, Internet, Internet shopping, Multichannel, Office for National Statistics, Online Retailing, Retailers, Retailing, Small Shops, Town Centres
Tagged Climate Emergency, e-commerce, High Streets, Online retailing, Retail, RSA, Women
Leave a comment
The Conversation: UK Retailers Christmas Trading Updates
The University of Stirling is a supporter of The Conversation and I published a piece there on the 12th January about the recent UK retailer trading updates from Christmas. I reblog it below. The starting point for the piece was … Continue reading
Posted in Aldi, Christmas, City Centres, Consumer Change, Consumers, Cost of Living, Covid19, Discounters, Grocery, High Streets, Independents, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Market Shares, Marks and Spencer, Next, Retailers, Retailing, The Conversation, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged B&M, Brexit, Christmas, Consumers, Cost of Living, Covid, Credit, Discounters, Health and wellbeing, High Streets, Local, Next, Online, Retailing, Shoppers, spending, The Conversation, towns, Trading Updates, Value
1 Comment
“Christmas and the Cost-of-Living Crisis: How will retailers cope?”
The past two year’s holiday seasons were tough for the UK’s retail sector, with lockdowns and resulting changes in consumer behaviour. I covered the previous Christmas periods in two pieces for the Economics Observatory (2020 and 2021) and followed this … Continue reading
Posted in Aldi, Brexit, Christmas, Consumers, Cost of Living, Costs, Discounters, Economics Observatory, Energy Costs, ESRC, Food, Food Retailing, Inflation, Lidl, Market Shares, Places, Retailers, Retailing, Shopping, Towns
Tagged Brexit, Christmas, Consumers, Cost of Living, Discounters, Economics Observatory, Energy Costs, Food, Inflation, interest rates, Market Shares, Retailers, Retailing
1 Comment
Retailing, Towns and Healthy Ageing
Today (27th October), the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC-UK) and the University of Stirling are hosting an (online and physical) event on “How can retailers keep us healthy?” with an emphasis on Spending with Dementia – making the high streets … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Consumer Change, Consumers, Cost of Living, Covid19, Diaries, Health, Healthy Ageing, Healthy Living, High Streets, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Places, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Retailing, Shopping, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged Climate Emergency, Cost-of-Living, Covid, Dementia, Healthy Ageing, High Streets, Personal Data, Places, Policy, Retail, Shopping, Town Centres, towns, Transport
2 Comments
Scottish Grocers Federation Conference: Issues and Opportunities
Just over a year ago, I did my first F2F presentation in a long time, when I presented at the Scottish Grocers Federation annual conference in Glasgow. This was apparently one of the very first such events held in Glasgow … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Consumers, Convenience, Convenience stores, Cost of Living, Costs, Crime, Deposit Return Scheme, Energy Costs, Food Retailing, Go Local, Local Retailers, Producers, Retail Strategy, Retailers, Retailing, Reverse Vending, Scotland Food and Drink, Scotland Loves Local, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation
Tagged Convenience Retailing, Convenience stores, Crime, Deposit Return Scheme, Energy Costs, Go Local, local shops, Retail Strat, Retailing, Scotland, Scottish Government, SGF
Leave a comment
The Co-operative Group Results 2021
A few weeks ago I was asked to provide a short analysis on the Co-operative Group’s results for 2021. This has now been published in Coop News. I repost it below. If nothing else it shows the impact of the … Continue reading
At the Heart of Economic Transformation? The City Centre Recovery Task Force Report
There can be little doubt that the pandemic has affected city centres to a far greater extent than many places. City centre businesses and organisations depend on residents, visitors, tourists and workers for their footfall and trade. When lockdowns occurred, … Continue reading
Posted in Aberdeen, Cities, City Centres, Consumer Change, Dundee, Edinburgh, Employment practices, Footfall, Glasgow, Local Authorities, Lockdown, Pandemic, Place Principle, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Urban
Tagged City Centres, Covid-19, Data, Economic Recovery, Footfall, Pandemic, Productivity, Scotland, Scottish Cities Alliance, Scottish Government, Sustainability, Working from Home
2 Comments
Giving Evidence to the Economy and Fair Work Committee on Town Centres and Retail
The Scottish Parliament’s Economy and Fair Work Committee’s call for written evidence for its inquiry into town centre and retail expired on the 16th March and they are now into oral evidence. The Committee posed two questions in its opening … Continue reading
Posted in "We" towns, 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Car Use Reduction, Climate Emergency, community wealth building, Consumer Change, Convenience, Decentralisation, Government, High Streets, Internet shopping, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Place Based Investment Programme, Place Principle, Planning, Retail Change, Retailing, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Sustainable Development, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Car Use Reduction, community wealth building, Convenience, High Streets, internet shopping, Out of Town, Out of town impacts, Public Sector, Retail, Scotland, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottich Government, Scottish Parliament, Town Centre Action plan, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres
6 Comments
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
1 Comment
Stirlingretail 