Tag Archives: Design

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a 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

Tiles and Sardines

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Leigh Sparks

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Argos catalogues – a fascinating historical archive”

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Leigh Sparks

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 , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Dublin’s Fair City

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Leigh Sparks

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

And now for some good news: Dixons Carphone and Dyson Openings

Posted on July 15, 2016 by Leigh Sparks

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 , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Wonder of Woolies – continued

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Leigh Sparks

Just before Christmas I found myself in Brixton – as one does – and in wandering the streets passed by the H&M. As you might see from my photograph below, it is housed in a fine building. My immediate reaction … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books, Buildings, High Streets, Historic Shops, Property, Public Realm, Retail History, Shopfronts, Streetscapes, Urban History, Woolworths | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments