Tag Archives: closures

Goodbye 2020 – Hello 2021 and beyond

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Leigh Sparks

The Covid19 addled 2020 is behind us in calendar terms, though we are continuing to live through the lockdowns, and all their implications, at the start of what in normal times might be a brand new shiny year.  In a … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumers, Covid19, Employment, Essential Retailing, Food Retailing, Government, Independents, Local Retailers, Localisation, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Panic buying, Retail Change, Retailers, Retailing, Social Change, Social Inequality, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How is Coronavirus affecting the UK’s Retail Sector?

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

A couple of months ago, Professor Graeme Roy of the Fraser of Allander Institute invited me to try to answer the question posed at the head of this post.  He is part of / leading an ESRC funded ‘observatory’ (Coronavirus … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Cities, Competition, Consumer Change, Consumers, Covid19, Essential Retailing, Food Retailing, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Lockdown, Non-Essential Retailing, Office for National Statistics, Panic buying, Retail Change, Retail Sales, Retailers, Retailing, Sales, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Retail Armageddon – Non Food

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

In my last post, I considered some of the best and worst behaviours we have seen in food retailing during the COVID-19 crisis to date.  Now we have the Government lockdown and the splitting of retailing into essential and non-essential … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazon, Closure, Consumers, Covid19, CVA, Employment practices, Fashion, Government, Landlords, Online Retailing, Rents, Retail Change, Retailers, Retailing, Shopping Centres, Sports Direct, Suppliers, Uncategorized, Wetherspoons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

#Woolies10

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Leigh Sparks

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

HoF: House of Fools?

Posted on June 9, 2018 by Leigh Sparks

Thursday’s much trailed announcement that House of Fraser was aiming to close 31 of its 59 stores in the UK and was seeking large rent reductions on those that remain, all as part of a seemingly contested CVA, was the … Continue reading →

Posted in BHS, Buildings, Cardiff, Consumer Change, Costs, CVA, Department Stores, Edinburgh, High Streets, Historic Shops, Internet shopping, Jenners, John Lewis Partnership, Online Retailing, Oxford Street, Places, Retail Change, Retail Failure, Town & Country PLanning, Town Centres, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“No Town Immune”: Data and reporting

Posted on April 12, 2018 by Leigh Sparks

On Tuesday afternoon, I was contacted by a journalist (Stephen Naysmith) from The Herald about the upcoming Local Data Company/PwC report on high streets.  He sent me the (then) embargoed press release.  I attach it here for those interested and … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Closure, Data, Government, High Streets, Independents, Internet, Local Data Company, Online Retailing, Places, Retail Failure, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retailing, SNP, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Vacancies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

It’s life Jim, but not as we knew it

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Leigh Sparks

Being away for a few weeks has  advantages and disadvantages.  It does mean that I get to catch-up on trade press and newspaper reading in one batch when I return.  Reading a few weeks worth of these at one time … Continue reading →

Posted in Closure, Consumer Change, Government, International Retailing, Internet, Multichannel | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Online vs Offline: Like for Like?

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Leigh Sparks

So the received wisdom about Christmas is that it was an online one. Retailers with good online offers – or perhaps more accurately  – compelling multi-channel approaches, did really well, and those without, well, did without, Thus the march onwards … Continue reading →

Posted in Catalogues, Christmas, Closure, Internet, Multichannel, Online Retailing, Sainsbury, Scottish Retail Sales, Tesco | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Bye, bye, Best Buy

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Leigh Sparks

It seems a lifetime ago, but is really only two or three years……Best Buy announcing that they were planning to open the first of their planned 200 out-of-town stores in the UK.  And then last week…… came their announcement saying … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Buy, Comet, Electrical Retailing, International Retailing, Internet shopping, Online Retailing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Summertime … … … and the retailing is (far from) easy

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Leigh Sparks

You know how it is … you go away for a few weeks and when you come back everything is sort of the same, but well also, sort of different. The British (maybe only Scottish) summer is of course a … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer Change, Consumers, High Streets, Market Shares, Places, Retail Economy, Retail Failure, Retailers | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment