Author: Leigh Sparks
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April 2020 -new journal article published (Journal Articles page) on Twenty-One Years of Going Shopping and Marketing History
January 2022 – removal of some redundant pages, reordering of some material, the addition of some new pages (under Commentaries), and some changes to some of the text throughout
Top Posts & Pages
- About Leigh Sparks and this Blog
- Logistics and Retail Management 5th Edition
- Retail change and why we fell in love with supermarkets?
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- Orkney - the Second Leg
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
- Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
- Checkout the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
- Predicting the Post-Covid Retail Landscape: presentation for Scottish Grocers Federation Cross Party Group
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Tag Archives: Design
Ghostsigns: A London Story
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 Advertising, Book, Crowdfunding, Design, Ghost Signs, Ghostsigns, Heritage, High Streets, History, London, Photography, Signs, Streetscapes, Urban History
2 Comments
The Architecture of England’s Co-operative Movement
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 Architecture, Book, Buildings, Co-operatives, Community, Design, Historic England, Historic Shops, History, Retailing, Ships in the Sky, Talking Shops
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Quant (ifying) the Past
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 1960s, Bazaar, Clothing, Design, Exhibition Shops, Fashion, King's Road, Mary Quant, Retail History, Retailing, Shopping, Tutankhamun, V&A Museum
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Retail Focused Funded PhD Available – Suburban Mobility: Shopping and Older People
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 Access, Ageing, Community, Consumers, Design, Health, High Streets, Mobility, Neighbourhoods, Older People, PhD, PhD. Retail, Places, Shopping, University of Stirling
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Orkney – the Second Leg
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 Art Deco, Design, Fascias, Fugaccia, Ghostsigns, History, Orkney, Retail History, Retail Stores, Shopfronts, Soda Fountain, Stromness
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Tiles and Sardines
For those who catch up with me on Twitter, a few weeks ago we had a long weekend in Lisbon – no, not for Eurovision – and I said I would do a post on retail things of interest we … Continue reading
Posted in 3D Printing, Architecture, Azulejo, Cooperatives, Fish, Food Retailing, Historic Shops, History, Lisbon, Markets, Producers, Retail History, Sardines, Shopfronts, Streetscapes, Urban History
Tagged Azulejo, Design, Escher, IKEA, Lisbon, Markets, Producers Associations, Restaurants, Retail History, Sardines, Shops, Tiles
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“Argos catalogues – a fascinating historical archive”
Rather to my surprise, in the eight or so years this blog has been in existence I seem not to have mentioned my collection of Argos catalogues, except tangentially. Built up and in-filled after an initial donation some 20 years … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Argos, Brands, Catalogues, Consumer Change, Corporate History, Design, History, Milton Keynes, Pricing, Products, Research, Retail brands, Retail Change, Retail History, Retailers, Social Change
Tagged Argos, Catalogues, Consumer change, Design, History, Price, Products, Retail Change, Social Change
3 Comments
Dublin’s Fair City
Every two years the conference of the European Association for Education and Research in Commercial Distribution (EAERCD) comes around. Now in its 19th incarnation, this academic conference attracts retail scholars from across the globe to present and discuss their latest … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Architecture, Art Deco, Buildings, Burtons, Convenience stores, Corporate History, Dublin, EAERCD, Ghost Signs, Heritage, Historic Shops, History, Markets, Retail History, Shopfronts, Spar, Tobacco, Urban History
Tagged Arcades, Architecture, Art Deco, Burtons, Design, Dublin, Fascias, Ghost Signs, Heritage, History, Markets, Shops, Spar
3 Comments
And now for some good news: Dixons Carphone and Dyson Openings
As promised, after my rather pessimistic review of some recent retail stories in the last blog, I want to turn to something a little more positive. The stories below that caught my attention are in one way the other side … Continue reading
Posted in BrickMeetsClick, Consumer Lifestyle, Design, Dixons Carphone, Dyson, Electronics, Engineering, Experiential, Flagship, London, Multichannel, Oxford Street, Pop-Up Shops, Space, Tesco
Tagged Carphone Warehouse, Design, Dyson, Entertainment, Flagship, London, Oxford Street, pop-up stores, Tesco
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