Author: Leigh Sparks
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February 2023 – New piece for The Conversation on online retailing (see commentaries tab)
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
- Personal Announcement: FRSE
- London's Welsh Dairies: The Welsh Milk Trade
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
- Internet sales as a percentage of retail sales in the UK
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- Journal Articles 2021
- Retail Branding: it's not (just) private label
- Commentaries
- Ghost Signs and Retailing
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Category Archives: Store Closures
Landlords vs Retailers or Zombies vs Aliens?
There are not many reasons for feeling sorry for Philip Green (see my earlier blogs here here and here and those were before the latest American and other revelations), but the fact that he is in such a weakened state … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Arcadia, Closure, CVA, Inter-depenendencies, Landlords, management, Philip Green, Property, Rates, Rents, Retail Change, Store Closures, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged Advertising, Arcadia, CVA, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, failure, Landlords, Leases, Philip Green, Property, Rent, Retailing, Sale
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Debenhams and Tesco
It is necessary to start this blog post by reflecting that underneath the news stories and headlines are real personal stories in which individuals are losing their jobs. Too often it is easy to focus on the store closure and … Continue reading
Posted in administration, Consumer Choice, Consumers, CVA, Debenhams, Department Stores, Employees, Rates, Rents, Retail Change, Retail Failure, Sports Direct, Store Closures, Uncategorized
Tagged administration, Customers, Debenhams, Department Stores, Jobs, Mike Ashley, Sports Direct, Store Closures, Tesco
6 Comments
Vacancies and Store Closures
Over the last few years, vacancies and store closures have not been out of the news. Whilst vacancy levels may have dropped off from their peak a few years ago, there is a continuation of stories about the closure rates … Continue reading
Posted in Closure, Competition, Consumer Change, Government, High Streets, Local Data Company, Places, Public Realm, Retail Change, Retail Economy, Retail Failure, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Shop Numbers, Store Closures, Tax, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Vacancies
Tagged futures, High Streets, Local Data Company, Places, PwC, Rates, Retail, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Shop Closures, Tax, Town Centres, Vacancies
2 Comments
The Next Ten Years of Grocery Retailing?
Given we are less than 10 weeks away from Brexit and the possible end of the grocery world as we know, writing a post about retailing a decade ahead seems foolhardy (spoiler alert; it is). But bear with me. Let’s … Continue reading
Posted in Amazon, Asda, Brexit, Competition, Consumer Change, Customer engagement, Food Retailing, Property, Reinvention, Retail Change, Retail Failure, Sainsbury, Store Closures, Tesco, Uncategorized
Tagged Asda, Brexit, Competition, Customer, Grocery, Innovation, McKinsey, Property, Sainsbury, Tesco
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#Woolies10
I was out at the country on the tenth ‘anniversary’ of the closure of the last Woolworths store in the UK – 6th January to be exact. I had already contributed to an element of the ‘celebration’/‘remembrance’, so didn’t feel … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Churn, Closure, Consumers, Corporate History, Ghost Signs, Heritage, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Pound Shops, Poundland, Retail Failure, Shopfronts, Store Closures, Streetscapes, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History, Woolworths
Tagged Churn, closures, Employees, failure, Heritage, High Streets, History, Pound shops, Retail Change, Retail Nostalgia, South Africa, stores, Streetscape, Woolworths
1 Comment
Challenging Times in Food Retailing, continued
The pressures in the food retailing sector – especially for the ‘legacy’ operators – are well known and continue to build. The rise of the discounters (see the last post), the continuing growth of the internet and the consumer demand … Continue reading
Posted in Aldi, Asda, CMA, Competition, Competition and Markets Authority, Consumer Change, Discounters, Food Retailing, Internet shopping, Jack's, Lidl, Market Shares, Mergers, Networks, Store Closures, Tesco
Tagged Aldi, Asda, CMA, Discounters, Grocery, Jack's, Lidl, Market share, Mergers, Sainsbury, Tesco
2 Comments
“We’re in the Money”
A couple of weeks have gone by since the notion of a merger of Asda and Sainsbury began to be debated in the media. During that time I wondered whether to add to the coverage via this blog or to … Continue reading
Posted in Asda, Booker, CMA, Competition and Markets Authority, Consumers, Food Retailing, Government, Mergers, Policy, Retail Change, Retailers, Retailing, Sainsbury, Store Closures, Suppliers, Tesco, Wal-Mart
Tagged Asda, Booker, CMA, Competition, FOI, Job Losses, Market share, Retail, Sainsbury, Store Closures, Tesco, Wal-Mart
5 Comments
2000 and Counting
This just popped up in my Twitter timeline; a tweet from James Timpson, announcing that Timpson’s had just opened their 2000th store. Now I am pretty sure that Twitter timelines reflect personality traits (hello, Cambridge Analytica, I’ll save you the … Continue reading
Posted in Competition, Consumer Change, CVA, High Streets, Leadership, Retail Change, Retail Failure, Retailers, Service Quality, Store Closures, Timpsons, Towns, Turnaround
Tagged Customers, CVA, Ex-offenders, failure, High Street, Retail, Retail Employment, Service Quality, Success, Timpson
1 Comment
Trends in Retailing and Leisure in Scotland’s Towns and Cities
In late November a good audience gathered before breakfast in Glasgow for the Local Data Company/University of Stirling 5th Scottish Retail Summit, and heard presentations and discussions about trends in Scottish retailing and town centres. The infographic at the end … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Consumer Change, Convenience stores, Data, Food Retailing, High Streets, Institute for Retail Studies, Internet, Local Authorities, Local Data Company, Local Retailers, Places, Policy, Regeneration, Reinvention, Retail Planning, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Retailing, Secondary Locations, Shopping Centres, Small Towns, Store Closures, Tourism, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Trends, University of Stirling, Vacancies
Tagged Co-operatives, Convenience, Data, High Streets, Institute for Retail Studies, Internet, Leisure, Local Data Company, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Towns, Tourism, towns, University of Stirling, Vacancy
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Perth – Past, Present, Future
Last week I ventured north to the ‘Fair City’ of Perth for a presentation at a Scottish Civic Trust and Perth Civic Trust evening event on the theme of Perth: Past, Present and Future. I had been given the task … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Closure, Consumer Change, Consumers, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Independents, Online Retailing, Perth, Places, Public Realm, Reinvention, Retail Planning, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopfronts, Store Closures, Streets, Streetscapes, Town Centre Living, Town Centres, Understanding Scottish Places, Urban History
Tagged Architecture, Assets, Civic Trust, Future, High Streets, History, Perth, Retailing, Streetscapes, Town Planning, Urban History
2 Comments
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