Author: Leigh Sparks
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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
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- Discount Food Stores in the UK: Kwik Save and Shoprite
- Axe Stores (this is a description not an instruction)
- Retail Branding: it's not (just) private label
- Season's Greetings 2022
- Logistics and Retail Management 5th Edition
- 2022: the stirlingretail.com year in retrospect
- It's Incredible
- Have You Heard of Sanders Bros?
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
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Tag Archives: Marks and Spencer
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
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Oxford Street, Hull and Beyond
I have never really understood the fascination with Oxford Street as the retail heart of the UK. I get that there are some great buildings, but as a shopping street, though not a great streetscape, it has never worked for … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Campaigns, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Department Stores, Historic Shops, History, Hull, Marks and Spencer, Oxford Street, Places, Regeneration, Retail History, Streetscapes, Town Centres, Towns, Urban History
Tagged Alan Boyson, Architecture, Buildings, Cooperative Group, Department Stores, Heritage, History, Marks and Spencer, Modernism, Murals, Oxford Street, Retail, Ships in the Sky, Streetscapes, Town Centres
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Turning Around another Supertanker; Marks and Spencer
It has been a while since I have written about Tesco, Marmite excepting, and the last few times I did, I used the analogy of a supertanker and the relative slowness at which lumbering retail giants see their strategies take … Continue reading
A quiet few weeks in retailing (not)
The last few weeks have been really quiet in retailing – no, just kidding. What with Brexit – and the uncertainty it has generated – beginning to take hold in the markets, the unfolding BHS and Sports Direct scandals putting … Continue reading
Posted in administration, Asda, Brexit, Discounters, Food Retailing, Lidl, Marks and Spencer, My Local, Netto, Sainsbury, Sports Direct
Tagged administration, Asda, BHS, Discounters, Food retailing, Marks and Spencer, Netto, Retailing, Sainsbury
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Asa Briggs and Marks and Spencer
The other week the eminent social historian Asa Briggs died. Despite my not being an historian this was a name I knew. I came across his work when I wanted to look at aspects of the social history of the … Continue reading
Marks and Sparks
In the dim and distant past, when I first arrived at the University of Stirling, I was one of number of research follows and assistants involved in establishing the Institute for Retail Studies under the leadership of John Dawson. One … Continue reading
Sustainable Development by Retailers in Europe
In 1987 I went to Poland at the invitation of the British Academy/Polish Academy of Sciences. It was an interesting trip and we even published some quick reflections on the retailing we encountered in Warsaw and Krakow (see here). Fast … Continue reading
Thoughts on Tesco and M&S
The obvious cheap shot, unresisted by a number on social media so far today, is that whilst Tesco have revealed their Trading Statement for the last 19 weeks, we need to wait a while to see if these figures are … Continue reading
Multi-channel Vision?
In my catch-up from being away, I saw a piece in Retail Week (7 September 2012, p32-34, M&S’s multichannel vision) which I wanted to read and consider at more length. Years ago, some of us were asked about the effects … Continue reading
Posted in Consumer Change, Design, Marks and Spencer, Multichannel
Tagged e-commerce, Marks and Spencer, Multichannel, store design, technology
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Easter, Tesco and M&S
Another month, another set of Scottish retail sales figures, another disast… Oh, hang on, these weren’t the worst figures ever; which makes quite a nice change. The headline figures were actually not so bad; well at first glance. But, look … Continue reading
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