Crowded Supermarkets

[devon_metro]

Thanks to jonmorris0844 for persuading me to finally register for Quick Check at Waitrose. Just got back from the Marylebone branch where I registered at the Welcome Desk and was given a scanner straight away. I felt a bit like a secret agent nipping around the shop and had to resist the urge to shoot at people with the scanner

Went straight to the priority lane and got to skip the 15-odd person queue. Woman at till took the scanner and I paid and was ready to go. Brilliant.

Sainsbury's have a similar system. Reminds me of the days of 'Shop&Go' at Safeway.

Ah how Morrisons have ruined them.

 

[WestCoast]

Sainsbury's have a similar system. Reminds me of the days of 'Shop&Go' at Safeway.

Ah how Morrisons have ruined them.

When I think about it that was some takeover. Morrisons were a reasonably small chain, they had around 100 stores mostly in the North of England.

When they bought Safeway, they acquired almost 500 stores! Although they sold off many of those including all of the "convenience stores" - they still more than trebled in size after the takeover! They went from about 100 to 350 almost overnight!

Safeway were under performing at the time, Morrison's offer to buy sparked a bit of contest in the end between the big players like Tesco and others but in the end the Competition Commission decided Morrisons was best to have it.

 

[HST Power]

Sainsbury's have a similar system. Reminds me of the days of 'Shop&Go' at Safeway.

Ah how Morrisons have ruined them.

I agree. I used to live next to a Safeway that was quite good, for price and quality.

 

[tempests1]

Reading all these post's reminds me why I do online supermarket shopping! last time I had the misfortune to go in Tesco's some elderly couple managed to ram their trolley as they were not looking where they were going into my stationary one whilst my one year old son was sat in it. slightly off post the thing that winds me up is the Garages with a mini supermarket attached and no pay at pump facility. Say I have just filled up with a tank of diesel, I then have to queue up behind loads of people who it seems have massive filled up baskets and are not purchasing any fuel. Grrrr! I apprieciate that Tesco's etc have brought many benefits such as lower cost shopping, however when all of the local shops have been put out of business by them will we regret this when we are stood in massive queue's just to buy a magazine, & a drink?

 

[jon0844]

If you keep lowering prices, something has to give - whether that's the poor supplier to Tesco, or the local shops going out of business.

Now, in some cases, a Tesco can help local shops as it brings more people to the area - but not always, and Tesco has diversified into so many things that I am not sure how many people would still gain rather than lose trade.

I know that when our magazine was put into Tesco, we had to pay £800 a week for it to get the shelf space. And that was just a handful of Extra stores, not every single Tesco store. In the end, after taking out the distribution costs, we made a tiny amount of profit. But, luckily for us, it was at least a profit as some people can and do make a loss by selling through Tesco.

 

[rail-britain]

I agree. I used to live next to a Safeway that was quite good, for price and quality.

That must have been a few years ago!

 

[HST Power]

That must have been a few years ago!

It was indeed.

 

[37372]

I haven't read through the whole thread but how about those people that go to the take out snacks section of the supermarket and spend AGES staring at the sandwiches. It's not a life and death decision (unless you're allergic) so just grab something that looks nice and make room for others!

 

[HST Power]

I haven't read through the whole thread but how about those people that go to the take out snacks section of the supermarket and spend AGES staring at the sandwiches. It's not a life and death decision (unless you're allergic) so just grab something that looks nice and make room for others!

Some of the sandwiches in M&S baffle me. The contents just look horrible. I get a tuna and cucumber and some crisps and get out of there!

 

[route101]

I need to try this out! Sadly, the only branch anywhere near me is Byers Road And I don't see them opening a Coatbridge store any time soon

Can't say i ever remember doing that with the Safeway scanners (when I was old enough to get away with it!)

Waitrose in Coatbridge, it get snubbed big time.
Theres one opening up in Newton Mearns at Greenlaw . Not really that easy from Coatbridge.

 

[Hydro]

I haven't read through the whole thread but how about those people that go to the take out snacks section of the supermarket and spend AGES staring at the sandwiches. It's not a life and death decision (unless you're allergic) so just grab something that looks nice and make room for others!

Easier said than done. I don't like tomato, or mustard. Most things that look nice to me have either or both of these hiding somewhere inside so an inspection is needed. Tomato can be picked off but that normally means semi-destroying the sandwich to get it out of there. I wish they'd do a BLT without the T, or a roast beef and onion without mustard.

 

[HST Power]

For me it's either tuna and cucumber, cheese and pickle or wild red salmon and cucumber. The salmon ones are surprisingly nice.

 

[Hydro]

Marks and Expenses did an awesome gammon and apple chutney special edition one before Christmas. Legendary sammich.

 

[route101]

Easier said than done. I don't like tomato, or mustard. Most things that look nice to me have either or both of these hiding somewhere inside so an inspection is needed. Tomato can be picked off but that normally means semi-destroying the sandwich to get it out of there. I wish they'd do a BLT without the T, or a roast beef and onion without mustard.

Same i hate Tomatoes ! Dont mind Mustard . Was at my local Morrisons today and the petrol station was qued out .

 

[SS4]

Quite often there is poor design in supermarkets designed to funnel rather than flow - you should see the reduced section at asda for congestion.

I tend to avoid sandwiches on the grounds of preferring my food hot and it's a nice treat when I find a bacon sandwich lying around (same thing happened to me on XC managed to get breakfast leftovers (bacon) instead of lunchtime fare (cold))

 

[WestCoast]

Same i hate Tomatoes ! Dont mind Mustard . Was at my local Morrisons today and the petrol station was qued out .

One thing I quite like about ASDA petrol stations (don't like the store much) is that they are usually the cheapest (at least in my area) and you either have to pay at the pump or pay when driving out - no one can do their weekly shopping with their car parked at the pump.
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Some of the sandwiches in M&S baffle me. The contents just look horrible. I get a tuna and cucumber and some crisps and get out of there!

If I ever had to grab a sandwhich, I always thought that Boots stocked some quite nice ones, the one in Manchester City Centre also stocks Waitrose food-to-go now! The nicest cheaper sandwiches are in Aldi Manchester City Centre, far better than some of the absolutely horrible cheaper ones in Tesco.

 

[HST Power]

far better than some of the absolutely horrible cheaper ones in Tesco.

That's the whole problem with Tesco. It's cheap, but with good reason!

 

[WestCoast]

That's the whole problem with Tesco. It's cheap, but with good reason!

Well, that is true to an extent, but I've generally found that their "Finest" branded ranges are quite good, but obviously you pay more for those products. I've always thought that ASDA was worse than Tesco anyway - full of junk food.

I mentioned this earlier in the thread that for basic foods, many of the supermarkets share a common supplier anyway. A lot of the tinned goods, cereals, confectionery e.t.c is made in the same place. Plus, for basic goods I really don't see the point of paying more than you have to. I see people paying top-whack for branded cleaning products in Booths - why?!

I can see the point of paying more for certain items though. For meats and fish, our family has always gone to the excellent local fishmonger and butcher, who can offer top quality stuff which is better than some of the stuff out of M&S! It takes longer but it's definitely worth it! To be honest, it wouldn't matter if I was absolutely loaded with cash, I'd still shop around!
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Has the forum got some detection software? I've got Tesco.com banners appearing everywhere!

 

[SS4]

Has the forum got some detection software? I've got Tesco.com banners appearing everywhere!

Not here, the text ads are for Jobs, tfl and logo design. Flash ads are blocked (for bandwidth reasons) and I'm yet to see an image ad today

 

[WestCoast]

Not here, the text ads are for Jobs, tfl and logo design. Flash ads are blocked (for bandwidth reasons) and I'm yet to see an image ad today

Yes, I've got flash ads alternating between Tesco, GROUPON and Thomson Holidays!

 

[HST Power]

There's an advert for SNCB, some train company, on the forum.

 

[me123]

Same i hate Tomatoes ! Dont mind Mustard . Was at my local Morrisons today and the petrol station was qued out .

That'll be thanks to "Fuel Britannia", 6p off a litre of fuel when you spend £40 or more in store. Brings people in, takes longer to process, and there'll be plenty of people who've not brought their receipts in with them holding the whole thing up even more!
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Some of the sandwiches in M&S baffle me. The contents just look horrible. I get a tuna and cucumber and some crisps and get out of there!

I can't say I've ever had a bad sandwich out of M&S. Very good, and very generous, fillings. And a very wide range too; there really is something for everyone. Their Christmas ones are just phenomenal; so good that I don't mind the fact that they're on the shelves in October!

 

[90019]

Not here, the text ads are for Jobs, tfl and logo design. Flash ads are blocked (for bandwidth reasons) and I'm yet to see an image ad today

I got an advert for Bank of Scotland yesterday.
But it was in German

 

[LE Greys]

Well, that is true to an extent, but I've generally found that their "Finest" branded ranges are quite good, but obviously you pay more for those products. I've always thought that ASDA was worse than Tesco anyway - full of junk food.

I mentioned this earlier in the thread that for basic foods, many of the supermarkets share a common supplier anyway. A lot of the tinned goods, cereals, confectionery e.t.c is made in the same place. Plus, for basic goods I really don't see the point of paying more than you have to. I see people paying top-whack for branded cleaning products in Booths - why?!

I can see the point of paying more for certain items though. For meats and fish, our family has always gone to the excellent local fishmonger and butcher, who can offer top quality stuff which is better than some of the stuff out of M&S! It takes longer but it's definitely worth it! To be honest, it wouldn't matter if I was absolutely loaded with cash, I'd still shop around!

In terms of the quality/price balance, I used to go for Waiterose (because their own-brand stuff is fairly good and not that expensive) until I finally found somewhere with a Co-op. Since they absorbed Somerfield, they've spread a little, and the stuff they produce is OK. Useful, but rare down south.

BTW (and off the subject) we still get our milk delivered. It's very nice milk, but costs about four times the supermarket price. Anyone else still get milk from a milkman rather than a shop? (There's also an interesting railway angle in the milk trains that once ran.)

 

[thefab444]

We had milk delivered for a few months a while back but found it tasted of detergent so switched back to supermarket milk.

 

[LE Greys]

We had milk delivered for a few months a while back but found it tasted of detergent so switched back to supermarket milk.

Bottle-washers did a bad job of rinsing out. We used to have ours nicked on a regular basis, but that's stopped happening recently.

 

[HST Power]

I'm going to resurrect my old post about trolley power sliding!

Who still does it? And who's made themselves look completely stupid doing it, like me?!

 

[red circle]

Well, that is true to an extent, but I've generally found that their "Finest" branded ranges are quite good, but obviously you pay more for those products. I've always thought that ASDA was worse than Tesco anyway - full of junk food.

I mentioned this earlier in the thread that for basic foods, many of the supermarkets share a common supplier anyway. A lot of the tinned goods, cereals, confectionery e.t.c is made in the same place. Plus, for basic goods I really don't see the point of paying more than you have to. I see people paying top-whack for branded cleaning products in Booths - why?!

I can see the point of paying more for certain items though. For meats and fish, our family has always gone to the excellent local fishmonger and butcher, who can offer top quality stuff which is better than some of the stuff out of M&S! It takes longer but it's definitely worth it! To be honest, it wouldn't matter if I was absolutely loaded with cash, I'd still shop around!
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Has the forum got some detection software? I've got Tesco.com banners appearing everywhere!

Try the spagbol test,first brown the mince ,use any supermarket mince and you will spend ten minutes boiling off the water they have pumped it full of.Ibuy all of my meat from the butchers and all of my bread from the bakers and believe me you can taste the difference and it works out cheaper.

 

[strange6]

Try the spagbol test,first brown the mince ,use any supermarket mince and you will spend ten minutes boiling off the water they have pumped it full of.Ibuy all of my meat from the butchers and all of my bread from the bakers and believe me you can taste the difference and it works out cheaper.

I worked for a major meat company for some 2 years. I know where you're comng from with the mince but they don't pump it with water. Most of them use frozen beef trims (can be years old) so you would get a lot of water released when cooking due to the damaged cell membranes within the meat releasing their water

 

[BrummyBoy]

I'm going to resurrect my old post about trolley power sliding!

Who still does it? And who's made themselves look completely stupid doing it, like me?!

I must admit i do it on a regular basis, i find it to be quite addictive.