Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Benefits of Collaboration

Posted on May 16, 2017 by

Last week I gave two presentations – well to be more exact I did that academic thing and did two versions of the same presentation.  The first was a presentation to a UKCGE workshop on Collaborative Doctorates; the audience was … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Collaboration, Competition and Markets Authority, Consumer Change, Data, ESRC, Local Data Company, PhD, Places, Retailing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Vending Machines and the Internet

Posted on November 28, 2016 by

I first encountered John Dawson when I was working in the City Council in Townsville, Northern Queensland.  I was on a four-month exchange as a student and had been asked to do some research on shopping centres.  As a consequence … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Automation, Consumer Lifestyle, Farm Shops, Online Retailing, Opening Hours, Restaurants, Singapore, Technology, Uncategorized, Vending Machines | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Place Matters: Local Environmental Quality and Charity Retailing

Posted on March 21, 2016 by

Last Tuesday was one of those days where I was sort of double-booked, and ended up doing two conference presentations, though I prefer to think of it as enhanced academic productivity. In the morning, I presented on the strategic role … Continue reading →

Posted in Charity Shops, Environmental Quality, Keep Scotland Beautiful, Places, Public Realm, Retail Change, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Sustainability, Towns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Social Spaces and Places

Posted on March 10, 2016 by

A number of my colleagues have at times questioned why I bother with this retail blog or engage with Twitter. They tend to view such activity as essentially pointless or potentially taking them away from their research and other activity. … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, BIDS, Community, Community Co-operatives, Community Development, Cooperatives, Development Trusts, High Streets, Places, Regeneration, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, USP | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Albert Gubay 1928-2016

Posted on January 28, 2016 by

Early in January, Albert Gubay died, aged 87. His is not a name that will necessarily be familiar to many people, but he was a true original in the field of retailing and more generally. Not many people amass a … Continue reading →

Posted in Albert Gubay, Discounters, Food Retailing, Historic Shops, History, Innovation, International Retailing, Kwik Save, Pricing, Retail History, Shoprite, Tesco, Three Guys, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Women Charged More on the High Street

Posted on January 25, 2016 by

Last week there was a media flurry about the The Times report that women are routinely charged more for similar or essentially the same items by some retailers. This “BIC for her” phenomenon seems to be more prevalent than thought. … Continue reading →

Posted in Brands, Consumers, Discriminatory Pricing, High Streets, Legislation, Pricing, Retailers, Sexism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Whose Responsibility is it Anyway?

Posted on November 26, 2015 by

A few weeks ago I took part in a workshop organised by the Stirling Management School’s Behavioural Science group and supported by SIRE (Scottish Institute for Research in Economics). The topic was consumer preferences, perceptions and decision-making, mainly in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavioural Economics, Consumer Change, Consumer Choice, Consumers, Food Retailing, Food Standards, Retailers, Retailing, Tax, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment