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: Scottish Retailing
Stirlingretail.com : The 2023 Review
It’s that time of year again. The blog is another year older, but certainly not any wiser. At this point I normally reflect on the visitor activity on the blog during the year – and this year is going to … Continue reading
Posted in Branding, Bristol Pound, Cinemas, Cooperatives, Eataly, Grocery retailing, High Streets, Internet shopping, Market Shares, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Online Retailing, Places, Retailers, Retailing, Royal society of Edinburgh, Scotland's National Academy, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retailing, Self-Service, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Branding, Cinemas, Cooperative Movement, Eataly, Grocery market, Internet Sales, Market Shares, Place, Review, Royal Societyt of Edinburgh, Scotland, Self-service checkouts, Stirling Council, Stirling Retail, Town Centres, towns, Welsh Dairies
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The Scottish Convenience Store Sector 2023
Due to University commitments I was unfortunately unable to attend the Scottish Parliament Cross-Party Group on Independent Convenience Stores Tuesday evening. The technological advances in hybrid meetings however meant I was able to present online. I was delighted to accept … Continue reading
Posted in Association of Convenience Stores, Convenience, Convenience stores, Cross Party Group, Food Retailing, Go Local, Grocery retailing, Healthy Living, Local Multiplier, Local Retailers, Retailers, Retailing, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Retailing
Tagged Association of Convenience Stores, Brexit, Convenience, Convenience stores, Covid, Food retailing, Go Local, Healthy Living, Impact, Local Multiplier, Local Shop Report 2023, Local Stores, Scottish Grocers Federation
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The Scottish Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Debacle
I am no expert on the ins and outs of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in Scotland, but instead am an interested bystander. You can read my only other foray into this area on this blog from this post in … Continue reading
Posted in Consumers, Convenience stores, Costs, Deposit Return Scheme, Food Retailing, Government, Herkku, Legislation, Minimum Unit Pricing, Politicians, Recycling, Returns, Reverse Vending, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Small Shops, UK Government
Tagged Convenience stores, Costs, Deposit Return Scheme, Food Retailers, Government, Internal Market Act 2020, Legislation, Minimum Unit Pricing, Recycling, returns, Reverse Vending, Scotland, Small stores
2 Comments
Scottish Retail Sales Performance
The monthly Scottish Retail Sales Monitor (SRSM) is a valuable publication on retail sales in Scotland produced by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC). It has featured on a number of occasions in this blog, most recently when I took issue … Continue reading
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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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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The Retail Strategy for Scotland – Launch Day Questions to the Minister
As noted in my previous post, on the 24th March the Scottish Government published its Retail Strategy for Scotland and the Minister Tom Arthur MSP launched it in Parliament that afternoon. The Strategy can be downloaded here and the Ministerial … Continue reading
Posted in BIDS, Bids Scotland, Consumer Change, High Streets, Independents, Local Authorities, Local Retailers, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Places, Public Policy, Retail Change, Retail leadership, Retail Policy, Retail Productivity, Retail Strategy, Retailers, Scotland, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Small Shops, Strategy, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged BIDs, Business rates, Independent Retailing, Non-domestic rates, Places, Productivity, Retail Strategy, Retailing, Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament, Small Retailers, towns
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A Retail Strategy for Scotland
On the 24th March, the Scottish Government unveiled its long-awaited Retail Strategy for Scotland. The Strategy can be found here and the Ministerial statement from Tom Arthur MSP can be found here. Getting the Right Change: A Retail Strategy for … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Bids Scotland, Community, Consumer Change, Employment, Government, Internet shopping, Just Transition, Local Retailers, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Places, Public Policy, Retail Policy, Retail Strategy, Retailers, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Retailing, Shopping, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centres
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, Climate Emergency, Communities, community wealth building, Employment, Fair Work, Just Transition, Place, Retail, Retail Industry Leadership Group, Retail Strategy, Scotland, Scottish Government, Skills, Town Centres, Wellbeing Economy
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