Author: Leigh Sparks
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May 2021 – Journal Articles page updated with two new academic papers in Planning, Theory and Practice, and Sustainability, joining our Ageing & Society paper
March 2021 – Personal Biography redesigned and updated
January 2021 – Updates of Media Commentary and Journal Articles page structures
Top Posts & Pages
- Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
- Brexit isn't Delivering
- The Scottish Diet and Retail Shops
- London's Welsh Dairies: The Welsh Milk Trade
- Tesco Trails
- Albert Gubay 1928-2016
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- Retail Disruptors - the spectacular rise and impact of the hard discounters
- Feargal Quinn 1936-2019
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Category Archives: Small Towns
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
2 Comments
Openings and Closures in 2020 – but of what?
The retail news cycle last Sunday was dominated by the Local Data Company/PwC report on openings and closures in the first half (well, to August) of this year. The headlines were positively apocalyptic, led by the BBC with its unambiguous … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Churn, Closure, Consumer Change, Consumers, Data, High Streets, Local Data Company, Media, Ordnance Survey, Resilience, Retail Diversity, Retail Economy, Retailers, Small Towns, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Vacancies
Tagged Covid-19, Data, High Street, Hospitality, Journalism, Leisure, Local Data Company, Multiple retailers, Ordnance Survey, PwC, Reporting, Shopping Centres, Store Closures, Store Openings, Town Centres
6 Comments
Scotland’s Towns Conference 2019
One of the now established features of Scotland’s Towns Partnership and Scotland’s Towns Week is the Annual Conference. For many years it has been located in the Central Belt, but for 2019 it relocated to Aberdeen. There are many good … Continue reading
Posted in Aberdeen, Amsterdam, BIDS, Bids Scotland, Consumer Change, Cork, Creative Places, Development Trusts, Healthy Ageing, High Streets, Local Authorities, Localisation, Place Standard, Places, Policy, Public Realm, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Small Towns, Streetscapes, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban
Tagged Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Bids Scotland, Cork, Healthy Places, Localisation, Place Standard, Places, Planning, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Conference, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scotland's Towns Week
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Shopfronts – some recent sightings
Some people have been a bad influence on me: @historicshops @KA_Morrison (see Building Our Past) and @ghostsigns spring to mind. Their encyclopaedic knowledge – and delight in and willingness to share – means that I am forever on the search … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Corporate branding, Corporate History, Design, Heritage, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Places, Public Realm, Retail History, Shopfronts, Signage, Small Towns, Spaces, Streetscapes, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History
Tagged Buildings, Ghostsigns, Heritage, History, Retail, Shopfronts, Signs, Streets, Tiles
2 Comments
Dead or Alive?
A few weeks ago I was reading an interview in the Guardian and the interviewee, the writer Barbara Kingsolver, said about the Great Barrier Reef: “You’re hearing about everything that dies, you’re not hearing about everything that’s still alive. If … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Consumers, Local Retailers, Localisation, Regeneration, Reinvention, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Small Shops, Small Towns, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged High Streets, Localisation, Media, Places, Regeneration, retail failure, Store Closures, Store Openings, towns
5 Comments
“Destination High Street – Restoring Vibrancy to Scotland’s Towns”
The invitation from the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (AHSS) and the Scottish Civic Trust was to present a keynote address to their conference on ‘Destination High Street’. As both Professor of Retail Studies and Chair, Scotland’s Towns Partnership I … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, BIDS, Buildings, Community, Community Development, Consumer Change, Consumer Lifestyle, Creative Places, Design, Development Trusts, Environmental Quality, Government, High Streets, Historic Shops, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Online Retailing, Places, Public Realm, Rates, Retail Change, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Small Towns, Social Inequality, Streets, Streetscapes, Tax, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Urban
Tagged Community, Consumers, Digital, Heritage, High Street, National Review of Town Centres, Places, Rates, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Town Centres, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Tax, Town Centres, Understanding Scottish Places
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Twin Towns
To anyone with a Welsh background and an interest in films, Twin Town conjures up a film of 20+ years ago which was described as a Welsh Trainspotting, though less successful. Lock up your sheep and pretty much anything else, … Continue reading
Posted in Carnegie UK Trust, Collaboration, Community, Heritage, High Streets, History, Markets, Places, Regeneration, Small Towns, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged Carnegie UK Trust, Collaboration, Community, Development, Digital, Heritage, High Streets, Identity, Markets, Places, Small Towns, towns, Twin Towns, Twinning
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Ghosts in the Rockies
In one of the many ironies of destroying my knee in May, we were left with a race against time to see if I was fit enough to go on a booked holiday in late August and early September. Would … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Architecture, Buildings, Canada, Corporate branding, Downtown, Ghost Signs, Heritage, High Streets, Historic Shops, Places, Retail History, Signage, Small Towns, Streetscapes, Urban History, USA
Tagged Canada, Coca-Cola, Ghost Towns, Ghostsigns, Heritage, High Streets, Historic Shops, Museums, Retail History, Retail Marketing, Signs, USA
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Orkney – the Second Leg
Our recent visit to Orkney was not meant to be about retailing or shops, but inevitably just wandering around Stromness and Kirkwall one can’t help but look at the retailing. As I noted in the earlier blog, the overwhelming sense … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Art Deco, Environmental Quality, Ghost Signs, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Orkney, Places, Planning, Post Offices, Regeneration, Retail History, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopfronts, Signage, Small Towns, Streets, Streetscapes, Stromness, Towns
Tagged Art Deco, Design, Fascias, Fugaccia, Ghostsigns, History, Orkney, Retail History, Retail Stores, Shopfronts, Soda Fountain, Stromness
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