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
- Personal Announcement: FRSE
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- Retail Branding: it's not (just) private label
- Scotland's Shops and Shopfronts: history and future?
- Locavore's Bigger Plan
- Economic Trends in the Retail Sector, Great Britain: 1989 to 2021
- Strange Things in Self-Service
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
- Internet sales as a percentage of retail sales in the UK
- The Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels
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Tag Archives: High Streets
Independent Thinking – interview with Alexandra Forrest
In late last October I presented at a session here at the University of Stirling on Retailing, towns and healthy ageing. After my presentation I got into conversation with one of the audience members, Alexandra Forrest, as she had been … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Consumers, Creative Places, Entrepreneurship, Healthy Ageing, Independents, Places, Retail Planning, Retailers, Retailing, Small Shops, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged Active travel, Ageing, Community Action, Entrepreneurs, High Streets, Independent Retailing, Planning, Retailing, Shopkeepers, Taxation, Town Centres
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E-commerce: economic growth and empowerment of women and girls
This evening (18 January) I am a member of a panel at an online Royal Society of Arts (RSA) event looking at the topic of female growth and empowerment in the field of e-commerce. The invitation came from Ann-Maree Morrison … Continue reading
Posted in Amazon, Climate Emergency, e-commerce, Education, Entrepreneurship, High Streets, Independents, Internet, Internet shopping, Multichannel, Office for National Statistics, Online Retailing, Retailers, Retailing, Small Shops, Town Centres
Tagged Climate Emergency, e-commerce, High Streets, Online retailing, Retail, RSA, Women
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The Conversation: UK Retailers Christmas Trading Updates
The University of Stirling is a supporter of The Conversation and I published a piece there on the 12th January about the recent UK retailer trading updates from Christmas. I reblog it below. The starting point for the piece was … Continue reading
Posted in Aldi, Christmas, City Centres, Consumer Change, Consumers, Cost of Living, Covid19, Discounters, Grocery, High Streets, Independents, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Market Shares, Marks and Spencer, Next, Retailers, Retailing, The Conversation, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged B&M, Brexit, Christmas, Consumers, Cost of Living, Covid, Credit, Discounters, Health and wellbeing, High Streets, Local, Next, Online, Retailing, Shoppers, spending, The Conversation, towns, Trading Updates, Value
1 Comment
Scotland’s Towns Conference 2022
Three long years after the last such event, we were finally able to host Scotland’s Towns Conference in person. On Wednesday 16th November a sell-out crowd of over 220 people made their way to the impressive Centrestage in Kilmarnock (Scotland’s … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Community Assets, community wealth building, Creative Places, Digital, High Streets, Land Use Planning, Local Authorities, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Places, Retail Change, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Streets, Streetscapes, town centre first, Town Centre Living, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Climate Emergency, Community, community wealth building, Creative Towns, Digital Towns, Enterprising Communities, High Street Heroes, High Streets, National Planning Framework 4, NPF4, Places, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Towns Conference, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Streetscapes, Town Centre Living, Town Centres
2 Comments
Retailing, Towns and Healthy Ageing
Today (27th October), the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC-UK) and the University of Stirling are hosting an (online and physical) event on “How can retailers keep us healthy?” with an emphasis on Spending with Dementia – making the high streets … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Consumer Change, Consumers, Cost of Living, Covid19, Diaries, Health, Healthy Ageing, Healthy Living, High Streets, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Places, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Retailing, Shopping, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged Climate Emergency, Cost-of-Living, Covid, Dementia, Healthy Ageing, High Streets, Personal Data, Places, Policy, Retail, Shopping, Town Centres, towns, Transport
3 Comments
Avenues to the Past: Stirling’s Historic Streets
This post is about an exhibition that has already closed. Sorry about that, but I did not get to see it until its penultimate day. It had only a three-week life, so I hope you forgive me. Avenues to the … Continue reading
Posted in Arcades, Architecture, Buildings, City Centres, Exhibitions, High Streets, Historic Shops, Places, Retailers, Stirling, Streets, Streetscapes, Town Centres, Towns, Urban History
Tagged Arcades, Architecture, Buildings, Exhibition, High Streets, History, Made in Stirling, Stirling, Streetscapes, Town Centres
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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
Giving Evidence to the Economy and Fair Work Committee on Town Centres and Retail
The Scottish Parliament’s Economy and Fair Work Committee’s call for written evidence for its inquiry into town centre and retail expired on the 16th March and they are now into oral evidence. The Committee posed two questions in its opening … Continue reading
Posted in "We" towns, 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Car Use Reduction, Climate Emergency, community wealth building, Consumer Change, Convenience, Decentralisation, Government, High Streets, Internet shopping, New Future for Scotland's Towns, NPF4, Place Based Investment Programme, Place Principle, Planning, Retail Change, Retailing, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Sustainable Development, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Car Use Reduction, community wealth building, Convenience, High Streets, internet shopping, Out of Town, Out of town impacts, Public Sector, Retail, Scotland, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottich Government, Scottish Parliament, Town Centre Action plan, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres
6 Comments
2021 : the stirlingretail.com year in retrospect
My reflections this time last year noted that in the ten years of running this blog, 2020 had seen it attract the most visitors in a year. 2020 saw more than 70% more visitors than any previous year. Well, the … Continue reading
Posted in Aberdeen, Cooperative Tokens, Covid19, Food Retailing, History, John Lewis Partnership, New Future for Scotland's Towns, Pandemic, Public Policy, Retail Change, Retail History, Retail Policy, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Retailing, Social Renewal, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged A New Future for Scotland's Towns, Covid-19, Food retailing, High Streets, Retail, Retail Change, Retail History, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centres, towns, University of Stirling
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