Tag Archives: Design

Some more on Singapore’s Shophouse and Art-Deco Heritage

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Leigh Sparks

In the short time I had in Singapore this January, we decided to continue to seek out the old amongst the new. It was, as I noted last year in my piece on shophouses good to see pockets of old … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Deco, Branding, Cinemas, Design, Historic Shops, Places, Retail History, Singapore, Streetscapes, Tiles, Uncategorized, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Singapore Shophouses and Tiles

Posted on October 30, 2023 by Leigh Sparks

It was a pleasure to be back in Singapore at the end of September for our latest graduation of students from our partnership with SIM (Singapore Institute of Management). I am no great fan of monolithic corporate hotels, so arranged … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Azulejo, Design, Heritage, Historic Shops, Singapore, Streetscapes, Tiles, Uncategorized, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The architectural heritage of Montague Burton’s Art Deco shops

Posted on February 13, 2023 by Leigh Sparks

Anyone who follows me on Twitter will, over a number of years, probably have got fed up with pictures of storefronts and ghostsigns.  A common theme in this has been the architecture that is being lost – something that this … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art Deco, Burtons, Dublin, Halifax, Heritage, Historic Shops, Hull, Oxford Street, Places, Retail History, Uncategorized, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Departing Stores and Place Vandalism

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Leigh Sparks

“Loss of local identity is a powerful factor that can influence the social and economic wellbeing of a town. By preserving the fabric of distinctive historic buildings, particularly those as prominent as former department stores, residents can recover a sense … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Buildings, City Centres, Department Stores, Design, Edinburgh, Heritage, High Streets, Historic Shops, Marks and Spencer, Oxford Street, Places, Town Centres, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ghostsigns: A London Story

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Leigh Sparks

Anyone who follows me on twitter will have seen my fascination with ghostsigns and especially retail ones.  They have also featured at various points in this blog (for example Scotland, Montana, Dublin, London).  Most notably (for I am undoubtedly in … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Books, Buildings, Crowdfunding, Design, Ghost Signs, Heritage, High Streets, History, London, Retail History, Signage, Streetscapes, Town Centres | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Architecture of England’s Co-operative Movement

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

Over two and a half years ago I attended a seminar at the Engine Shed in Stirling called ‘Talking Shops’ and my blog discussion of the event can be found here.  In that post I noted the presentation by Lynn … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art Deco, Buildings, Community, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Corporate branding, Corporate History, Department Stores, Design, Historic Shops, History, Hull, Localisation, Places, Retail Change, Retailers, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Supermarket Nightmares: Keeping your Distance

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

In, what seems like an eternity ago.  I got into a degree of trouble for suggesting that food retailers, for good or bad, were ‘social engineers’ and we needed to recognise and understand the implications of this.  This was on … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Amazon Go, Behavioural Economics, Consumer Change, Consumer Choice, Consumers, Dark Stores, Design, Employment practices, Food Retailing, Food Standards Scotland, Health, Panic buying, Retail Change, Retailers, Social Inequality, Supermarket, Uncategorized, University of Stirling, Well being | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Quant (ifying) the Past

Posted on December 12, 2019 by Leigh Sparks

A weekend away in London, and a chance to take in some exhibitions and meet up with up friends.  The outcome; a great weekend but some contrasting cultural experiences.  Amongst the things we saw were the Tutankhamun exhibition at the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1960s, Bazaar, Books, Clothes, Exhibitions, Fashion, History, Mary Quant, Pop-Up Shops, Uncategorized, Wholesaling | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Retail Focused Funded PhD Available – Suburban Mobility: Shopping and Older People

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Leigh Sparks

A fully funded three year PhD is available for Autumn 2019 start. This research project explores features of the retail environment that enable older people to use local neighbourhood and high street shops as well as participate and keep mobile in … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Ageing, Architecture, Community, Consumers, Design, Health, Healthy Ageing, High Streets, Older consumers, PhD, Places, Planning, Public Realm, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopping, Streets, Streetscapes, Town Centre Living, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, University of Stirling | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Orkney – the Second Leg

Posted on June 18, 2018 by Leigh Sparks

Our recent visit to Orkney was not meant to be about retailing or shops, but inevitably just wandering around Stromness and Kirkwall one can’t help but look at the retailing.  As I noted in the earlier blog, the overwhelming sense … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art Deco, Environmental Quality, Ghost Signs, High Streets, Historic Shops, History, Orkney, Places, Planning, Post Offices, Regeneration, Retail History, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopfronts, Signage, Small Towns, Streets, Streetscapes, Stromness, Towns | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment