Author: Leigh Sparks
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March 2021 – Personal Biography redesigned and updated
January 2021 – Updates of Media Commentary and Journal Articles page structures
October 2020 – Additions of recent articles in Social Science & Medicine and Marketing Theory to the Journal Article section
Top Posts & Pages
- "Soaring Vacancies" : perhaps or perhaps not?
- Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
- The Great Re-Awakening?
- Locavore's Bigger Plan
- Retail Sales in Great Britain, January 2021
- Ten years on stirlingretail.com
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- La Dolce Vita - or perhaps not
- Aberdeen, No More?
- The Place for Older Consumers
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Tag Archives: independents
“Soaring Vacancies” : perhaps or perhaps not?
The end of last week saw headlines about the number of vacant shops in Scotland. Typical Scottish newspaper examples included: The Herald The Scotsman So, something of a downer to end the first week out of lockdown in Scotland and … Continue reading
Posted in BRC, Consumers, Covid19, Data, Independents, Local Data Company, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Pandemic, Places, Rates, Rents, Retail Change, Retailers, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Retailing, Shop Numbers, Shopping, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Vacancies
Tagged British Retail Consortium, Consumer Confidence, Consumers, Covid-19, Data, independents, Local Data Company, Lockdown, Pandemic, Retailing, Scotland, Shops, Vacancies
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Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
In July of each year I have recorded the Grcery Market Share of leading retailers in Great Britain as shown by Kantar data. This has been going on since 1997 and I have mentioned this series in this blog before … Continue reading
Posted in Asda, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Covid19, Discounters, Food Retailing, Home Delivery, Independents, Internet shopping, Kantar, Lidl, Localisation, Lockdown, Market Shares, Ocado, Online Retailing, Retail Change, Retail Sales, Retailers, Retailing, Tesco, Uncategorized, Wal-Mart
Tagged Aldi, Asda, Co-operatives, Concentration Ratio, Covid-19, Food retailing, Home Delivery, independents, internet retailing, Kantar Worldpanel, Lidl, Lockdown, Market share, Ocado, Tesco, UK Grocery
1 Comment
Shops: More or Less (and #IndieHour)
This blog has a number of recurring themes – or nightmares. Most of them are focused around the themes of the mis-use of data, the lack of reaction about the structural change underway across retailing and the unwillingness of many … Continue reading
Posted in #IndieHour, Collaboration, Consumers, High Streets, Independents, Internet shopping, Landlords, Online Retailing, Reinvention, Relationships, Rents, Retail Change, Retailers, Small Shops, Start-ups, Towns, Uncategorized, University of Stirling, Vibrancy
Tagged #IndieHour, Consumers, Costs, independents, Landlords, Online, Retail, Retail growth, Space, stores
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The Multiplier and the Glue: Locally owned convenience stores and the local economy
Longer term readers of this blog will possibly recall a long standing interest in the impacts of small convenience stores on the local economy. This has taken the form of some discussion about what may be termed ‘the local multiplier’. … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Community, Consumers, Convenience stores, Customer Service, Independents, Local Multiplier, Local Retailers, Relationships, Retail Economy, Retailers, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Local Retailer, Uncategorized, University of Stirling
Tagged Communities, Consumers, Convenience stores, Economic Impact, independents, Local Economy, Local Multiplier, Locally-owned, Retailing, Scotland, Scottish Grocers Federation, Services, Social impact
2 Comments
Return to Sender? Deposit Return Schemes
I am in the fortunate position of being able to get involved in two Scottish Parliament Cross Party Groups; one on Towns and Town Centres linked to Scotland’s Towns Partnership, and one on Independent Convenience Stores linked to the Scottish … Continue reading
Posted in Community Grocer, Consumer Lifestyle, Convenience stores, Deposit Return Scheme, Food Retailing, Government, Keep Scotland Beautiful, Legislation, Local Retailers, Public Realm, Regulation, Retailers, Retailing, Returns, Reverse Vending, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Small Shops, Uncategorized, Vending Machines
Tagged Convenience stores, Deposit Return Scheme, independents, Recycling, Reverse Vending, Scotland, Scottish Gr, Small shops
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Efficiency or Idiocy?
For some time it has been apparent that Dave Lewis has been determined to address the ‘bloat’ in Tesco and cut back on all sorts of things. In the big picture out have gone most of the diversifications of the … Continue reading
Posted in Boots, Competition, Consumer Change, Consumers, Costs, Customer Service, distribution, Food Retailing, Local Retailers, Pharmacy, Plastic Bags, Retailers, Self-checkout, Stirling, Tax, Tesco, Uncategorized
Tagged Boots, Butchers, Consumers, Cost-cutting, distribution, Efficiency, Fishmongers, independents, Plastic, Prescriptions, Self-checkout, Service, Tax, Tesco
8 Comments
Shops opening and expanding, queues outside: the High Street picture that’s not making the national news
I recently had an exchange with Iain Nicholson around media coverage of the high street. it followed my recent diatribe about data. I have known Iain for a few years and admired the work he has been doing in towns … Continue reading
Posted in Car Parking, Consumers, Creative Places, Government, High Streets, Independents, Local Retailers, Localisation, Oxfordshire, Places, Planning, Policy, Producers, Record stores, Retail Diversity, Retail Economy, Retailers, Small Shops, Small Towns, Spaces, town centre first, Town Centres, Towns, Vacancies
Tagged #indie, #morethanretail, Authors, Car Parking, Comics, Diversity, independents, Oxford Etsy, Oxfordshire, Planning, Positive Places, Rates, Records, Shops, town centre first, Town Centres, Town Teams, Vacancies
3 Comments
Fake Shops and some other retail news
Everyone pretty much agrees these days that we are living in an era of ‘fake news’, or outright lies as it would be better called. You know the sort of things – £350m per week to spend on the NHS, … Continue reading
Posted in BHS, Brands, Employment, High Streets, Independents, Local Retailers, Places, Retail Failure, Sainsbury, Store Closures, Tesco, Town Centres, Waterstones
Tagged BHS, Bookshops, Brands, Employment, High Streets, independents, Passing-off, Philip Green, towns, Vacant Shops, Waterstones
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Pontypool vs Penarth: Rugby and The High Street and Town of 1951
This post has been ready for some time, but I thought I would publish it today, as it is National Sporting Heritage Day. If you are reading this on the 30th in Stirling then the University is hosting a pop-up … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Community, Cooperatives, Design, High Streets, Independents, Local Retailers, Places, Retail History, Rugby Union, Small Shops, Towns, Urban History
Tagged Advertising, Co-operatives, Communities, High Streets, independents, Local, Retail History, Rugby Programmes, Small Businesses, towns
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