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: Sustainability
Let them eat Turnips
Therese Coffey’s comments were crass, ill-informed, tin-eared and risible in many regards but did at least shine a light on aspects of our food supply chains. And in one small sense she has an unpalatable point; we’ve got used to … Continue reading
Posted in Agflation, Brexit, Consumers, distribution, European Retailers, European Union, Food, Food Quality, Food Retailing, Greenhouse, Pricing, Rationing, Retailers, Seasonality, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Vegatables
Tagged Brexit, Cheap Food, Cost of Living, Energy prices, European Single market, Food Chains, Media, Quality Food, Rationing, Retailing, Shortages, Tomatoes, Turnips, Weather
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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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At the Heart of Economic Transformation? The City Centre Recovery Task Force Report
There can be little doubt that the pandemic has affected city centres to a far greater extent than many places. City centre businesses and organisations depend on residents, visitors, tourists and workers for their footfall and trade. When lockdowns occurred, … Continue reading
Posted in Aberdeen, Cities, City Centres, Consumer Change, Dundee, Edinburgh, Employment practices, Footfall, Glasgow, Local Authorities, Lockdown, Pandemic, Place Principle, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Urban
Tagged City Centres, Covid-19, Data, Economic Recovery, Footfall, Pandemic, Productivity, Scotland, Scottish Cities Alliance, Scottish Government, Sustainability, Working from Home
2 Comments
Stirling – Still All at C
I had no intention of adding to my last post about the perverse decision of Stirling Council to go against official recommendation and permit a new ASDA superstore on a greenfield site further out from Stirling than any other retail … Continue reading
Posted in Asda, Car Dependency, Climate Emergency, Closure, East Kilbride, Employment, Food Retailing, High Streets, Local Authorities, Marks and Spencer, Out of Town, Place Principle, Places, Planning, Politicians, Retail Planning, Social Inequality, Spatial Planning, Stirling, Stirling Council, Sustainability, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged Asda, B&M, Car-dependency, Climate Emergency, Food Culture, Food retailing, Out of town retailing, Planning, Stirling, Stirling Council, Sustainability, Town Centres
2 Comments
Changing Scotland’s Towns
This afternoon (26th October) Scotland’s leading environmental regeneration delivery partner, the Green Action Trust, is hosting a virtual roundtable discussion on how Scotland can achieve long-term change. This takes the form of a conversation with the Scottish Government’s Minister for … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Climate Emergency, Community, community wealth building, Consumer Change, Localisation, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Out of Town, Places, Planning, Public Policy, Regeneration, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Social Renewal, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, Car Parking, Climate Emergency, community wealth building, COP26, Environment, Green Action Trust, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Non-domestic rates, Out of town impacts, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Taxation, Town Centre Action plan
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Scotland – The Recovery : A Turning or Tipping Point for Towns
Holyrood Events (@HolyroodEvents) have invited me to speak at a conference this week. As can be seen from the poster above, the conference is on “Scotland – The Recovery”. They have asked me to speak on the issue of towns … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Community, community wealth building, Covid19, Government, Healthy Living, Internet shopping, Local Authorities, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Online Retailing, Places, Recovery, Regeneration, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Social Inequality, Sustainability, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged Covid-19, Holyrood, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Recovery, Retail, Scotland, Social Inequality, Sustainability, Taxation, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centres, towns
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Towns, High Streets and Resilience: A Question for Policy?
“It is all too easy to talk about “bouncing back to where we were” without asking which “we” is counted and without asking whether “where we were” is a place to which a return is desirable”. (Vale, 2014, p198) Some … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Academics, CLES, Community, community wealth building, Covid19, Government, High Streets, Pandemic, Public Policy, Resilience, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Social Renewal, Sustainability, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, Academic papers, Bouncing Back, Community, community wealth building, Covid-19, High Streets, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Pandemic, Policy, Resilience, Retailing, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town Centres, Scotland's Towns, Scottish Government, Sustainability, Town Centre Action plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centres, Towns. Vulnerability, Urban Retail Systems
1 Comment
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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Stopping Doing Harm to our Town Centres
The Town Centre Action Plan Report (A New Future for Scotland’s Towns) has three types of recommendations. Two of these are reasonably uncontroversial – planning, engaging more local people property and data on towns on the one hand and funding … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Emergency, Community, Government, High Streets, Housing, Internet, Local Authorities, Offices, Out of Town, Places, Property, Public Policy, Rates, Regeneration, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Social Inequality, Social Justice, Social Renewal, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Tax, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged Business rates, Climate Emergency, Community, community wealth building, Housing, Local Authorities, Offices, Out of Town, Parking, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Social Renewal, Taxation, Town Centre Action plan, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres
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