Author: Leigh Sparks
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March 2021 – Personal Biography redesigned and updated
January 2021 – Updates of Media Commentary and Journal Articles page structures
October 2020 – Additions of recent articles in Social Science & Medicine and Marketing Theory to the Journal Article section
Top Posts & Pages
- "Soaring Vacancies" : perhaps or perhaps not?
- Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
- London's Welsh Dairies: The Welsh Milk Trade
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- The Lost Broch of Stirling
- "Argos catalogues - a fascinating historical archive"
- The Great Re-Awakening?
- Retail change and why we fell in love with supermarkets?
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
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Category Archives: Scotland Food and Drink
Locavore’s Bigger Plan
I am not sure when I first became aware of Locavore. It certainly was before they launched their Big Plan in 2015. I had a watching interest in the development of social and more sustainable retail food stores and supermarkets, … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Community Interest Company, Consumer Lifestyle, Crowdfunding, Employment practices, Ethics, Food, Food Retailing, Glasgow, Independents, Local Retailers, Localisation, Locavore, Lockdown, organic, Pandemic, Producers, Retail innovation, Retail leadership, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland Food and Drink, Scotland Loves Local, Scottish Local Retailer, Scottish Retailing, Social Change, Stirling, Supermarket, Suppliers, Supply Chains, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Uncategorized, Veg Boxes, Wages, Waste, Wholesaling
Tagged Carbon negative, Community Interest Company, Glasgow, Local, Local suppliers, Locavore, organic, Retail, Shops, Social impact, Social Supermarkets, Supply chains, Sustainability, Veg Boxes, Waste Reduction
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An (Un)Happy Anniversary
On the 16th March 2020 I started working from home. There had been an odd set of circumstances in the run-up to this date. We’d come back from South Africa in late January and I’d felt a little unwell; something … Continue reading
Posted in Amazon, Books, Cardiff, Christmas, Consumer Change, Consumer Lifestyle, Consumers, Covid19, Farmers Markets, Food, Food and Beverage, Food Retailing, Home Delivery, Independents, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Localisation, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Pandemic, Producers, Products, Retail Change, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland Food and Drink, Scottish Retailing, Small Shops, Stirling, Uncategorized, Wholesaling
Tagged Amazon, Covid-19, Home Delivery, Indepedendents, internet retailing, Local Retailing, Lockdown, Pandemic, Retailing, Specialist retailers
1 Comment
Time Out in Lisbon: Part One
It has been some time since I was in Lisbon and thus it was a pleasure to receive an invite to present a keynote to a conference on retail, consumption and urban governance, especially in early autumn, which is slightly … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Architecture, Brands, Eataly, Emporium Shokuhin, Food and Beverage, Food Court, Food Tourism, Gastronomy, Historic Shops, History, Lisbon, Markets, Places, Regeneration, Retailers, Scotland Food and Drink, Singapore, Time Out, Tourism
Tagged Brands, Eataly, Food Culture, Food Tourism, Lisbon, Markets, Mercado da Ribeira, Regeneration, Scotland's Food and Drink, Singapore, Time Out, Tourism
3 Comments
Are Retailers Social Engineers?
A few months ago, we published our report for Food Standards Scotland (FSS) entitled “Identifying and Understanding the Factors that can Transform the Retail Environment to Enable Healthier Purchasing by Consumers”. The report and various summaries along with our brief … Continue reading
Posted in Community Grocer, Consumer Lifestyle, Consumers, Convenience stores, Cross Party Group, Deposit Return Scheme, Diet and Health, Food, Food Retailing, Food Standards, Health, Healthcare Retail Standard, Healthy Living, Independents, Local Retailers, Restaurants, Retail Change, Retailers, Scotland Food and Drink, Scottish Grocers Federation, Small Shops, Social Inequality, Social Justice, Sugar Tax, Waste
Tagged Consumers, Cross Party Group, Deposit Return Scheme, Diet and Health, Food Standards Scotland, Healthcare Retail Standard, Healthy Living, Nanny State, Placement, Prices, Promotion, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Super-sizing
7 Comments
The Scottish Diet and Retail Shops
The Scottish diet has become a short-hand for unhealthy living. All the evidence points to its stubborn lack of change despite information, exhortation and even small measures of legislation. Whilst retailers and manufacturers have taken some actions on reformulation of … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Advertising, Availability, Behavioural Economics, Brands, Consumer Choice, Consumer Lifestyle, Diet and Health, Discounts, Food Retailing, Food Standards, Healthcare Retail Standard, Labelling, Marketing, Merchandising, Policy, Pricing, Research, Retail Policy, Retailers, Scotland, Scotland Food and Drink, Scottish Retailing, Small Shops, Space, Sugar Tax, Supermarket, Suppliers, Tax, Unit Pricing, University of Stirling
Tagged Consumption, Diet and Health, Display, Food retailing, Food Standards Scotland, Healthcare Retail Standard, internet retailing, Merchandising, Pricing, Product, Promotion, Retailing, Scotland, Small shops, Sugar Tax, Supermarkets, Unit Pricing
8 Comments
Taste the Landscape with Scotrail
I’ve always enjoyed travelling by train. Maybe this stems from my grandfather being a blacksmith by trade and when I was young seeing him working on steam engines in Tondu sheds. Or perhaps it comes from being packed off on … Continue reading
Where Good Food is a Religion
Regular readers of this blog will be aware of my passion for Welsh rugby, fresh food and especially markets. Every so often the stars align and we take ourselves off to Rome where all can be indulged. And so it … Continue reading
Posted in Campagna Amica, Consumer Lifestyle, Diet and Health, Eataly, Farmers Markets, Food, Food Quality, Food Tourism, Gastronomy, Markets, Producers, Rugby Union, Scotland Food and Drink, Slow Food, Sparks, Supply Chains, Sustainability
Tagged Authenticity, Campagna Amica, Eataly, Farmers Markets, Food, Markets, Producers, Quality, Rome, Rugby, Supply chains
1 Comment
Gardens and Gin
I sometimes wonder what visitors make of Scotland. When I first moved up we did a lot of the tourist things, as people and family visited, but as life goes on it is all too easy to look to further … Continue reading
Posted in Alcohol, Architecture, Buildings, Community, Distillery, Edinburgh, Festivals, Gardens, Gin, Historic Shops, Royal Mile, Scotland Food and Drink, Spaces, Urban History
Tagged Distillery Tours, Edinburgh, Gardens, Gin, Pickerings, Royal Mile, Walking Tours
2 Comments
A Japanese Eataly? In Singapore?
Regular readers of this blog will recall that I have a bit of a thing for Eataly, the destination food retail and dining concept showcasing the best in Italian local, slow and seasonal products and other gourmet food and cooking. … Continue reading
Posted in Eataly, Emporium Shokuhin, Experiential, Food, Food Quality, Food Retailing, Gastronomy, Japanese, Markets, Restaurants, Scotland Food and Drink, Seafood, Shopping Centres, Singapore, Slow Food
Tagged Concept Store, Eataly, Emporium Shokuhin, Food, Japan, Restaurants, Seafood, Singapore
2 Comments
Roman Remains
Let’s get the rugby out of the way first. It’s all Scotland’s fault; these days it always is. Another wooden spoon and apparently such a poor performance that the true champions, Wales, despite a magnificent demonstration of world-class rugby against … Continue reading
Posted in Eataly, Food, Food Quality, Food Tourism, Heritage, Logistics, Markets, Public Realm, Scotland Food and Drink, Slow Food, Urban History
Tagged Eataly, Food, Food Culture, Markets, Public Realm, Rome, Rugby, Street selling
3 Comments
