The Monday Piece - John Cooper Clarke Tour

This week's Monday Piece is on John Cooper Clarke tour! Nick and I spent Saturday evening at The Courtyard Theatre in Hereford, watching John Cooper Clarke. I'm a long time fan of his and can't get enough of his kooky humour and naughty writing! He was a little wobbly (no surprises there) but definitely on form. He recited lots of his classics as well as some stand up, singing and story telling - he's a class act and a real punk rocker entertainer, I recommend checking out the tour as it stretches across the country and well into next year :).

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The Monday Piece - Worldwide Department Stores

This week's Monday Piece is on worldwide department stores! Whether you’re a dedicated shopaholic or not, department stores are world renowned because of their goods, sense of luxury and their architectural appeal, becoming tourist attractions in their own right. But the question is, which ones have stood the test of time as the world's most popular department stores?

 

Property experts Stokemont.com wanted to answer this question by collating a core list of 47 of the world’s most famous stores and recording the number of Instagram hashtags, TikTok views and average global search trend data, assigning an overall popularity score, in order to rank the most popular stores.

Some of the key findings include:

 

Macy’s in New York just beats Seattle’s Nordstrom in the battle for top spot.

The UK and US dominate the top five with the most popular global department stores.

The UK’s flagship department stores, Selfridges and Harrods, rank strongly in third and fourth as the world's most popular department stores

Macy’s, New York unsurprisingly tops the list as the most popular global department store with a final score of 9.65, with 118,300,000 TikTok views (1st in category) and 14,200,000 average monthly searches globally (1st in category) and 1,231,000 (3rd in category) for Instagram hashtags. 

Macy’s was closely followed by Nordstrom in Seattle (9.58), and Selfridges, London with a final popularity rank of 8.96. 

Overall, in the top 10, 4 were in the US and 2 were in the UK. When reviewing the entire data set, the US and the UK had 6 department stores respectively, followed by Germany and Italy with 5. Where do you love to shop? I was in Harrods last week picking out a few birthday treats :).

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The Monday Piece - ByRuby Christmas Feast

This week's Monday Piece is on ByRuby Christmas feast! Christmas is fast approaching and diaries are filling up with plans to ensure we savour every precious moment of the festive season amongst friends and family this year, but with that comes the anxieties of providing a Christmas meal for one and all. Cue ByRuby’s wholesome, home cooked Christmas bundle - the perfect ingredient for keeping your cool this Christmas! Simply eliminate the stress of grappling for that last turkey only to then forget the brussel sprouts, followed by that frazzled feeling over hours of preparation and cooking, all while you could be spending such a special time catching up on missed moments with your loved ones and making up for last years lost Christmas, or celebrations barely acknowledged due to the pandemic. 

Leiths trained chef, Ruby Bell and her close friend and business partner Milly Bagot, met whilst working together for family owned business, Finns of Chelsea, where Ruby was head chef. Witnessing first hand so many customers buying ready-made meals for dinner, the pair realised there was a business opportunity here, which appealed to a wide audience, from mums, to health conscious young adults, time poor career men and women and those stocking the freezer for ad hoc moments, as well as those wanting a stress free way to entertain - especially at Christmas! Not only has the duo prepared a Christmas feast for those planning a wholesome, delicious Christmas dinner, they also offer a variety of 15 carefully curated seasonal dishes, so there’s something seriously special for everyone. Christmas Feast Bundle (2021)

 • Free Range Herb Fed Bronze Turkey Breast With Bacon and Cranberry Stuffing • Organic Rhug Estate Pigs In Blankets • Ruby's Best Brussels With Bacon • Ruby's Super Special Roast Potatoes • Honey Roasted Parsnips & Carrots • Christmas Gravy • Ruby Red Cranberry Sauce • Cranberry and Sage Stuffing 

The Bundle will come in either a ‘Feast for 4’ or a ‘Feast for 8’, or alternatively each dish can be bought separately (buying the bundle comes with a 5% saving). This is such a fantastic idea, any stress taken out of Christmas is a yes from me :).

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