Category Archives: Spaces

Shops opening and expanding, queues outside: the High Street picture that’s not making the national news

Posted on May 9, 2018 by

I recently had an exchange with Iain Nicholson around media coverage of the high street. it followed my recent diatribe about data. I have known Iain for a few years and admired the work he has been doing in towns … Continue reading →

Posted in Car Parking, Consumers, Creative Places, Government, High Streets, Independents, Local Retailers, Localisation, Oxfordshire, Places, Planning, Policy, Producers, Record stores, Retail Diversity, Retail Economy, Retailers, Small Shops, Small Towns, Spaces, town centre first, Town Centres, Towns, Vacancies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

High Streets for Consumers or High Streets for Citizens?

Posted on December 15, 2017 by

A little while ago I came across a new article by Julian Dobson entitled “from me towns to we towns”. I invited Julian to summarise this for this blog,  but he thought some up to date context would work better … Continue reading →

Posted in "We" towns, Bristol Pound, Citizens, Community, Consumers, Creative Places, Incredible Edible, Local Retailers, Places, Planning, Public Realm, Retail Change, Social Justice, Spaces, Stokes Croft, Totnes, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gardens and Gin

Posted on July 4, 2016 by

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 , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Retail change and why we fell in love with supermarkets?

Posted on February 5, 2016 by

My long-term colleague, Anne Findlay has just sent me a newspaper clipping that she recently found in her parent’s house. A quick bit of research (or Googling as we now call it) dated it to February 7th 1962. Anne knew … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Charity Shops, Consumer Change, Consumer Lifestyle, Cooperative Group, Coopers, Food Retailing, Glasgow, Historic Shops, Planning, Retail Change, Retail History, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Spaces, Store Closures, Streetscapes, Supermarket, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Market Time

Posted on January 13, 2016 by

I suspect that my interest in markets was sparked at a young age when my father would take me to the livestock market and my mother would take me to the open-air market (Cheapside) and to the covered food market, … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Experiential, Farmers Markets, Festivals, Food, Krakow, London, Markets, Places, Spaces, Streetscapes, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Places of Possibility; Spaces of Opportunity”

Posted on May 15, 2015 by

It was with the phrase “Places of Possibility; Spaces of Opportunity” that we ended Julian Dobson’s tour de force on “How to Save our Town Centres” last Wednesday. His presentation and Scottish book launch to a full Storytelling centre in … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Crowdfunding, High Streets, MSPs, Places, Planning, Property, Public Realm, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Spaces, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Sense of Place

Posted on April 21, 2015 by

A few months ago I was approached to write a short piece for “Context – the magazine of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation” as part of a collected set of items on The Changing Face of Retail. A couple … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Places, Signage, Spaces, Streetscapes, Town Centres | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments