Author: Leigh Sparks
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February 2023 – New piece for The Conversation on online retailing (see commentaries tab)
January 2023 – Roll over of some areas for new year, plus The Conversation piece on Christmas trading updates published (see commentaries tab) and main posts
December 2022 – End of year tidying up and re-arrangement, including link to EDAS podcast on places and towns (see presentations tab)
April 2022 -new journal article published (Journal Articles page) on Twenty-One Years of Going Shopping and Marketing History
Top Posts & Pages
- The Buttercup Dairy Company
- Retail change and why we fell in love with supermarkets?
- Logistics and Retail Management 5th Edition
- A (Retail) Sense of Place
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
- London's Welsh Dairies: The Welsh Milk Trade
- Oxford Street, Hull and Beyond
- Strange Things in Self-Service
- Urban Logistics and Retailing
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
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Tag Archives: Edinburgh
Departing Stores and Place Vandalism
“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 Architecture, Buildings, C20 Society, City Centres, Demolition, Department Stores, Design, Edinburgh, Heritage, High Streets, Hull, Jenners, Marks and Spencer, Oxford Street, Place Vandalism, Places, Retailing, Three Ships, Town Centres, Urban History
4 Comments
St James Quarter – curating and change
Last week saw the opening of parts of the St James Quarter in Edinburgh. Conceived a long time ago, and without any conception of the possibilities and impact of a global pandemic, the centre is in some ways of a … Continue reading
Posted in Aberdeen, BIDS, City Centres, Edinburgh, John Lewis Partnership, Pandemic, Retailers, Scotland, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scottish Retailing, Shopping Centres, St James Quarter, Uncategorized
Tagged Aberdeen, Aberdeen Inspired, BIDs, City Centres, Commuting, Edinburgh, John Lewis, Pandemic, Princes St, Retail Change, St James Quarter, Tourism
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Shopping Centres and Town Centres in Scotland
The significance of shopping centres across Scotland is undeniable and has been the subject of interest for Scotland’s Towns Partnership (with REVO and DWF LLP), as this blog has noted before. Last week the same partners brought together a range … Continue reading
Posted in Consumer Change, Edinburgh, Government, Local Authorities, Malls, Paisley, Places, Regeneration, Reinvention, Retail Change, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Shopping Centres, SNIB, Social value, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban, Vacancies
Tagged Edinburgh, Local Authorities, New river, Public Private Partnership, Retail Property, Revo, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish National Investment Bank, Shopping Centres, Social value, Town Centrres
4 Comments
Scotland: Housing to 2040
On a regular basis I get emails offering content for this blog. Most are ‘cold calls’ selling some product/service or other. Unless they are from a company/person I already know in some way, they get rather short shrift. Just before … Continue reading
Clicks and Mortar by Amazon
Last Friday afternoon I attended a launch of the new Amazon inspired and supported Clicks and Mortar store in the Waverley Mall, Edinburgh. This is the third such store and the first in Scotland; ten are planned in total over … Continue reading
Posted in Amazon, Amazon Clicks and Mortar, Brands, Edinburgh, Entrepreneurship, Independents, Internet shopping, Malls, Online Retailing, Pop Up Shops, Pop-Up Shops, Reinvention, Retail brands, Retail Change, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Retailing, Shopping Centres, Small Shops, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Vacancies, Waverley Mall
Tagged Amazon, Clicks and Mortar, Digital Retailing, Edinburgh, Entrepreneurship, Experiments, Learning, Online, Physical Retailing, Pop-Up Shops, Small Retailers, Waverley Mall
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HoF: House of Fools?
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 Cardiff, closures, CVA, Department Stores, Edinburgh, History, House of Fraser, Jenners, management, Rates
2 Comments
Traditions and Ghosts in Scotland’s Shops
Anyone following my twitter feed (@sparks_stirling) will have encountered my fascination and interest in ghost signs. It has also been included in some musings from me and a guest contribution to this blog. I had a previous tendency to focus … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Architecture, Buildings, Edinburgh, Fife, Ghost Signs, Heritage, Historic Shops, History, Places, Retail History, Royal Mile, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopfronts, Streetscapes, Urban History
Tagged Culross, Edinburgh, Ghost Signs, Historic Environment Scotland, Historic Shops, Retail, Scotland, Shop Fronts, St Andrews
1 Comment
Gardens and Gin
I sometimes wonder what visitors make of Scotland. When I first moved up we did a lot of the tourist things, as people and family visited, but as life goes on it is all too easy to look to further … Continue reading
Posted in Alcohol, Architecture, Buildings, Community, Distillery, Edinburgh, Festivals, Gardens, Gin, Historic Shops, Royal Mile, Scotland Food and Drink, Spaces, Urban History
Tagged Distillery Tours, Edinburgh, Gardens, Gin, Pickerings, Royal Mile, Walking Tours
2 Comments
World Towns Leadership Summit 2016
The next two days will see almost 200 delegates from across the world and the UK assemble in Edinburgh for the inaugural World Towns Leadership Summit. Stemming from an initial idea from the International Downtown Association, picked up by the … Continue reading
Posted in ATCM, BIDS, Bids Scotland, Downtown, Government, IDA, Leadership, Places, Policy, Public Realm, Relationships, Scotland, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Urban, World Towns Agreement, WTLS16
Tagged Edinburgh, Places, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, towns, Urban, World Towns Agreement, World Towns Leadership Summit
1 Comment
Where’s the Beef?
I don’t think I’ve eaten horse … well not knowingly. I’ve tried my fair share of the weird and wonderful in my travels (rattlesnake, alligator, zebra, warthog, various of Bambi’s relatives, squirrel, assorted insects), and some of it has been … Continue reading
Posted in Consumers, Diet and Health, Doughnuts, Food, Food Quality, Labelling, Local Retailers, Retail Parks, Slow Food, Supply Chains, Tax
Tagged Beef, Edinburgh, Horse, Kripy Kreme, Labels, Quality, Supply chains, Value
4 Comments
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