Tesco - the supermarket that's eating Britain

I know I'm lucky right now to not have to shop at Tesco if I don't want to. When I lived in Exmouth, it was that or Somerfield and Somerfield was just a small, town centre shop with terrible selection.

When we lived in Kendal it was either Morrisons or Asda, both of which I also hate, and Newcastle was either Tesco or Asda.

I adore Waitrose but can't afford to shop there regularly. Plus there isn't one that close to me. But even they aren't 100% squeaky clean.

I have to say though that what bothers me about some people's reaction to the spread of supermarket power is just a shrug of the shoulders as if it's a done deal. It may be a done deal in some places. But that can actually be turned around. It may be close to a done deal in other places but it could be prevented. I do believe that in the vast majority of the UK, you can make a difference, be it big or small gestures, and that's what counts. But I fully admit that this is a pet issue of mine!

I hate Tesco, but have no other option. For those of us living out in the country, it's tough. I do get my fruit and veg at a small greengrocer, and try to buy my fish in the local market, but small village shops are sadly a thing of the past.

I heard a story on NPR a while ago when they were talking to people who choose to shop at Wal-Mart. I was surprised how many people who shop there actually don't want to. When that's the only store for 60 miles (or more!), they don't really have much choice. It's their only option since the family owned businesses have had to close due to the competition. Living in Baltimore made it difficult for me to wrap my brain around the lifestyle of those living in central Kansas and hearing this helped me understand why people would shop there.

That being said, there are plenty of people who have the choice and as Balmerhon said, they just shrug their shoulders as if they have no ability to make a difference (i.e. my parents). I'm sure they're happy I'm gone so they can do their Wal-Mart shopping in peace!

And they've been under investigation by the Competition Commission for quite some time!

more here on that:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/article1400633.ece

Our city centre only has a Tesco and a M&S. The nearest Sainsbury's is a brisk 25-min walk away. In an ideal world I'd do my shopping at local shops, but there aren't any in the centre. And again, in an ideal world I'd spend more than the 1 hr it takes me from home to Tesco and back on shopping for groceries, but in that ideal world I'd also work 3 days a week, 5 hrs a day, get paid bucketloads and never get hung over.

When I was a kid, the block near my house  (in the burbs of North London) had the following shops...

Greengrocer
Butcher
Sweet shop
Fishmonger

My mum and nan knew the people who ran the shops, and knew they were buying fresh, good qualify produce.  There was a small tesco, where we'd go to get groceries such as canned goods.

Other than the odd specialist shop, such as the Italian deli or the kosher butcher, these shops simply don't exist anymore.  It is partly because people made the choice back in the late 80's to go with convenience over qualify or service, but it is mainly because, as a large lobbying industry, supermarkets have been able to source cheap goods and drive small shops out of the market.

(Turned 30...reminiscing about the past...great!!!)

Vicky

I'd also like to not to be hungover ever.  That would certainly be ideal!

Are people really choosing Sainsbury's because it is a superior option to Tesco?  We don't care for our local Sainsbury's at all.  It's more expensive than Tesco and all of the produce, baked goods, meat and fish seem to be of a lesser quality.  Additionally, we quite resent having organic and free-trade products forced upon me, as we feel that are at Sainsbury's.  If I want them I'll buy them, but I don't always want them (for various reasons) and I can't always afford them. 

Our local farmer's market is only open in the middle of the day on Wednesday, so that's out.  And the nearest butcher is about a 30-45 minute walk away. 

I use Sainsburys for a few reasons. It's convenient, it's better quality than our Tesco (our Tesco seems to sell produce that goes off almost instantly), and I collect Nectar points. I use Waitrose when I can, but they don't take AmEx which is how I collect airmiles. I actually find Waitrose to be reasonable as long as you stick with their own-brand, etc. - I did about a month of weekly shops there just out of curiosity and didn't find that my bill went up at all.

I send dh to the farmer's market or else arrange my day off to coincide with it (I work one Saturday a month so I get that time back at my discretion) but like so many, we've lost nearly all of our small shops except for a very posh and overpriced butcher.

I think it's really interesting how different stores within a chain are set up. I actually find that I have to actively search for free range chicken at our Sainsbury's but find that I have to search for conventional veg. at the Waitrose near my work but not the Waitrose near home. It does my head in sometimes!

Oh!  I remembered.  One thing that we do go out of our way to get from Sainsbury's are free-range/Freedom chickens.  They are so much better than the standard grocery store variety that we refuse to go back.  Only Tesco doesn't sell them.

Sainsburys is by far the best in Taunton. It's very good here in Exeter though there's a larger Tesco that I think just upsized to 'Extra' status. It was such a zoo, though, that I refused to go there for that reason alone. And then when all this other stuff came to light, it made the decision easier.

When I lived in Reading, the closest Sainsburys was awful and the Tesco fab.

You just can't win!

We have a very nice Sainsbury's less than 10 min walk from us.  We also have an Asda a bit farther away.  Tesco is about a 15 minute drive away and I hate going there but they carry things I can't get anywhere else (like cream corn) so I will go there about 3 times per year. 

I shop at Sainsbury's because it is the lesser of evils in my neighbourhood.  I would love to shop in the high street in our village but the hours are 10-5 and sorry, I work.  If the high street shops actually want to stay afloat, they need to change their hours. Having said  that, I made a special trip home at lunch today to buy dog food from the local pet store.  The owner is one of my GirlGuide Dads and because I only buy dog food every once in a while, it is worth it to me to go there.  For green grocer and butcher, not so much. 

That's actually a very good point MrsPink. As wonderful as it would be for everyone to have weekends/evenings off, that just doesn't work for most people anymore. Local shops need to change and adapt to the needs of their customers and I think working longer hours is one thing many mom and pop shops refuse to do.

Our local corner shop is a good example of adapting though. They are open 3 - 10. Why? Because the majority of the people living in this area are students. Early opening hours simply aren't necessary for students! It annoys me, because I inevitably want milk at 9 a.m. but I can't blame the shop for gearing themselves to majority.

I was just in Palm Springs and on the news Tesco was opening a branch in either Riverside or Coachella Valley.  Guess its payback for Wal-Mart coming over here!

I would love to shop in the high street in our village but the hours are 10-5 and sorry, I work.  If the high street shops actually want to stay afloat, they need to change their hours.  

This is an excellent point. I'm a student so I'm able to run errands during the day, but I'm always wondering how people who work can get anything done during the week.

I heard a story on NPR a while ago when they were talking to people who choose to shop at Wal-Mart. I was surprised how many people who shop there actually don't want to. When that's the only store for 60 miles (or more!), they don't really have much choice. It's their only option since the family owned businesses have had to close due to the competition. Living in Baltimore made it difficult for me to wrap my brain around the lifestyle of those living in central Kansas and hearing this helped me understand why people would shop there.

There are only two supermarkets in the small town where I live: Wal-Mart Supercenter and a smaller, local chain. I've been having to go out of my way lately to stop shopping at Wal-Mart. The smaller supermarket here in town has poor selection and poorer prices, but I'm trying to shop there. I've also been making an effort to do some grocery shopping on one of my three weekly trips to the city (45 minutes - hour drive), even if it's just so I can get to a Kroger or Super Target.

It's really tough when you have so little choice in the matter, but I'm finding phasing out Wal-Mart can be done.

(Sorry I have nothing to say about Tesco. I shopped there a couple of times while I was visiting the UK. If I had been there for a longer period of time, I definitely would have researched the best place for grocery-shopping.)