On 26 Mar 2010 at 12:57pm Prick Stein wrote:
I'm suprised that no one has been on here whipping up anti expansionist hysteria about the proposed extension to Waitrose (as outlined in Viva Islington this week!). Is this down to shear unadulterated snobbery against Tesco by the chattering classes because it serves cheaper food to less well off people?! The anti-Tesco mob are obviously anti-working class snobs, it's class war thats all it is!
On 26 Mar 2010 at 1:36pm Old Cynic wrote:
I didn't see that......
Another sweeping generalisation from you Prick - you do make me laugh!
Ill go and look and once Im agitated enough Ill post!
On 26 Mar 2010 at 3:38pm Happy Shopper wrote:
Looks like they are expanding by opening new stores, not expanding the ones they already have. Can't see that will effect Lewes in any way at all. Furthermore, anti Tesco expansion does not necessarily mean anti Tesco.
On 26 Mar 2010 at 3:57pm Down and Out wrote:
Tesco have got a planning application in, whereas Waitrose have said they've paid a deposit on the land in case they ever want to expand in future, so there's a wee bit of a difference. But, hey, don't let that stop you talking cock as per, Prick.
On 26 Mar 2010 at 4:52pm baby boomer wrote:
I see that Kings church have moved out of their present site (where Tescos intend to expand to) and the new Kings church site (behind carpet right) is almost ready.
Do Tescos and kings church know something we dont ?
On 26 Mar 2010 at 7:21pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Perhaps they'll build us a branch of John Lewis!
On 26 Mar 2010 at 8:25pm jackson wrote:
waitrose are planning to use the old Wenban Smith site as parking.
thats what the boys at Wenbans told me anyhow.
On 26 Mar 2010 at 8:25pm Hay Nonnie Mouse. wrote:
I unashamedly love Waitrose, at least the staff have manners and talk to you like a human being nit something they are about to sweep under the shelving. I may not have a lot of money but it's well spent in Waitrose.
Even on Christmas eve wne it wa heaving, 2 members of staff sttill found time to help me find things, and with a smile. I'd love it if they could expand.
On 27 Mar 2010 at 8:39am sad wrote:
i have certain tribal loyalty to the first posting here; what he/she is forgetting though is that it is supermarkets such as Tescos that have totally cheated the working class.
Traditional cooking skills and a handed down understanding of nutritional balance have been lost within a generation by the supermarkets' manipulation of deceptively cheap food with all its additives and empty food value. The ability to taste and even recognise good simple food has been lost because of this cynical manipulation.
Believe me it's the working classes that have lost their birthright and been sold a pup. Now who's eating their erstwhile simple seasonal fresh food - often homegrown and home reared? - the middle classes of course. And take a glance at the menus in London clubs......
It makes me very angry - all the more so when I see so many unhealthy, obese consumers of supermarket crap.
I'm not even sure it's fixable. Tesco's weapons are just too honed and manipulative in terms of maintaining their grip on the market they largely control.
And make no mistake; although I trust Waitrose food more - though not their pricing -Wairose is in somes ways just as potent an enemy of change. They want our money too and because of their friendlier food policies they are probably even more dangerous as a monopoly up against independents battling within the healthier food market.
It all makes me sad and angry!!
On 27 Mar 2010 at 10:36am Sherlock wrote:
Excellent post 'sad'. Like you, I'm afraid it may be too late.
On 27 Mar 2010 at 10:48am bazm wrote:
Perhaps going off-topic but I can recall the days before supermarkets where the working class had to put up with queues, poor service, poor quality food and limited choices. Anyone remember buying 'seconds' of potatoes (bruised and stringy), processed cheese or bruised chickens?
It wasn't all wonderful before the supermarkets.
Anyway, I enjoy watching the obese & ugly in the aisles with the occasional domestic!
On 27 Mar 2010 at 11:30am Careful Shopper. wrote:
I remember those days well bazm....
I thought I was pretty supermarket savvy until I saw a TV programme about how they get us to part with our cash.
Little things like the milk usually being right at the back of the supermarket so you have to trail past the more expensive items...
Waitrose wins for me as it seems cleaner,and is definately more friendly than Tesco.
I am a bottom shelf searcher,as items that are just as good,and often cheaper are usually lurking at the bottom.
This is especially true in Tescos wine aisles.
On 27 Mar 2010 at 9:22pm Old Cynic wrote:
Sad, remove the rose tinted specs - being working class was not that romantic, we didnt have allotments and chickens in the yard! I grew up in a working class household before supermarkets were that common. My mam had no idea of 'nutritional value' - but rather what was cheap and readily available. If it came in a tin, great, it saved time! Traditional cooking standards my arse, stuff got boiled! Dad said "if its brown its done if its black its fu@ked'!! Shopping took hours trailing about the high street from shop to shop looking for the cheapest stuff, standing in ques and chopping the balck bits of veggies. . When supermarkets came along it was BLOODY GREAT! Cheap, decent food all in one place!! Mam didn't feel manipulated and was savvy enough to do balance her shopping between the supermarket and the local grocers.
Which is exactly what I, and many others do now....we cant turn the clock back but we can be savvy and spread our shopping just like my old Mam did.
On 28 Mar 2010 at 6:22am SHS wrote:
Sad's comment "It makes me very angry - all the more so when I see so many unhealthy, obese consumers of supermarket crap" seems to imply that the supermarkets are now responsible for the obesity and general poor health of the population! Many of these people are like that because thanks to short-sighted govt policy they are paid a handsome sum not to work but to sit at home watching giant plasma TV screens. I think Old Cynic's comment is a welcome addition to the debate and something I was not aware of. Perhaps it's the wealthy middle classes that need educating, not the so-called working classes (ridiculous term).
On 28 Mar 2010 at 11:34am bazm wrote:
Ha ha Old Cynic - your Mum went to the same cookery classes as mine. Boil everything or fry it crisp! Also, all meals were predictable depending on the day of the week- Monday left over bits of brisket padded out with bread - yuk. Even now - by habit - I remash potatoes on my plate trying to destroy hidden lumps!! You also forget that everything was normally purchased on tick in a little booklet that was paid off when your Dad brought home the weekly cash. Those corner shops had it made then.
And I'm referring to late 1950s early 60s just before Sainsburys took off.
On 28 Mar 2010 at 12:36pm Sherlock wrote:
Bazm - you just brought back the submerged memory of mashing potatoes to destroy the hidden lumps. It made me shudder.
On 28 Mar 2010 at 1:04pm i love shopping wrote:
I remember being dragged round Lewes by my mum circa 1970. We'd go up the top of town to the butchers on the corner which had that smell that will stay with me till my dieing day and a foot deep of sawdust on the floor which i made patterns in with my feet.
Then off to Liptons or Tescos then to the fruit and veg shop (not sure if that was where Bills is now). So not only were we getting fresh fish and meat plus the veggies and fruit, we were getting excercise walking back home to malling with it all.
On 28 Mar 2010 at 1:05pm Careful Shopper wrote:
Mondays was Shepherds Pie.Made with the leftover lamb from the Sunday Roast.I used to have the job of mincing the lamb with a Spong mincer attached to the table.Fridays was always fish.Usually vivid yellow dyed haddock which tasted lovely...
Sunday afternoons my Mum did a tea for my Grandparents.Tinned pear halves (height of luxury) a homemade cake ( I loved poppy seedy cake) and celery which was eaten with salt and vinegar.
During the war my Grandparents came down from London to run the Volunteer pub and they used to have plates of winkles (needles provided) whelks and cockles and mussels and jellied eels on the bar.
Before Safeways shopping was done in Liptons and Priceright.(Where Bills is now)
Meat was cooked to death,always,and I can remember our first roast chicken which was very expensive and a complete treat.It also tasted amazing.
My Mum was also fond of cooking liver,which I still love now....
On 28 Mar 2010 at 2:14pm Old cynic wrote:
Hearts stuffed with sage and onion stuffing the thought of which brings me out in a cold sweat even now! And don't even mention tripe, nolird in milk till it took on the consistency of wet cardboard, and tapiocaaaaaaaagh!
On 28 Mar 2010 at 2:54pm Sherlock wrote:
We used to have a 'special tea' when my Mum and Dad's friends came round every other month. Then they'd go over to them the next month - which i liked because they had Kraft cheese triangles. They were banned at home as 'not proper cheese'.
On 28 Mar 2010 at 4:10pm 50 something. wrote:
I remember when white sliced bread first became available...It seemed so posh!
On 29 Mar 2010 at 10:08am Down and Out wrote:
Incidentally Waitrose have just started selling Supermousse again. Tastes just as bad as it did in 1976. Yum!
On 30 Mar 2010 at 11:07pm James wrote:
Waitrose think they are something special. Do not believe all the hype that they pay farmers a fair and realistic price for their produce. All they do is tie them into long and exclusive selling contracts (They can only sell to Waitrose/John Lewis) Then they procede to rip the heart out of the business until the farmer cannot function independently, then Waitrose/John Lewis employ the farmer once they have ripped them off for their business.
They call their staff "Partners" and give them a yearly bonus, payable as a percentage of their yearly wage. This is a nice cover up to hide the fact that they are paying peanuts all year round to their "Partners"
They are an overpriced. Why in Tesco can you buy eg, Fairy liquid at £1.10 yet in Waitrose it would be £1.40 ????
On 31 Mar 2010 at 11:49am Dripping Pan Stan wrote:
I'd happily pay an extra 20-30p on most items just to avoid the hell-hole that is Tesco. The staff are surly and unhelpful at best and some of the patrons look like they've just walked in from a velour tracksuit convention with their screaming chav brood running riot.
I'm in a position to pay for better service and take a step away from the awful subhumans and fully intend to do it.
On 31 Mar 2010 at 12:16pm Lower class wrote:
Well aren't you the lucky one Stan, others aren't obviously as important or up their own arses as you are. Maybe you should f**k off back to London.
On 31 Mar 2010 at 1:30pm Prick Stein wrote:
Stan you are a t w*t! Suprised you dont shop at M&S you snob
On 31 Mar 2010 at 2:10pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
You may well have a point, James, but how do you account for the fact that the staff in Waitrose are all much more cheerful and helpful than in Tescos?
And Fairy liquid is dear in Waitrose because they don't sell much of it. Wiatrose shoppers have dishwashers, doncha know! 
On 31 Mar 2010 at 2:57pm Dripping Pan Stan wrote:
Lower Class and Prick Stein,
Resorting to insults really does show your lack of class.
I do shop in M&S when I'm near one and it's convenient - they do lovely food and wine.
I suspect you just call anyone a snob who has the temerity to earn over the national average and be proud of what they've achieved in life. You just come across a bitter people who probably need to look at themselves to see the real issue.
On 31 Mar 2010 at 5:39pm James wrote:
The "Partners" in Waitrose are more cheerful and helpful than in Tesco.
I have never had any problem with anyone in Tesco, I always find them helpful, and more often than not, normal. Waitrose "Partners are Bullied by Management (I know this for a fact) If you look in Waitrose there are CCTV cameras everywhere watching the every move of all employees. Waitrose brainwash their Partners into living the Waitrose way.
It may look all nice and rosy from the outside. Scratch below the surface and it is awful.
On 31 Mar 2010 at 6:17pm Sherlock wrote:
You may be right James. But I've noticed that the same people working at Waitrose who previously worked at Safeway and then Morrison do seem a lot more relaxed and happier when they're working. Perhaps someone who works at Waitrose could tell us what it's really like.
On 31 Mar 2010 at 6:46pm Dripping Pan Stan wrote:
James,
If by 'normal' you mean a grunting, hung shouldered, disinterested yoof then you're spot on.
I'm not sure I see the issue with the cameras on the staff, they are there to do a job and if they get caught slacking the management have evidence to back it up. They want their employees to do things their way? Again nothing wrong with that as they pay thew wages. Have you got some kind of grievance with them as your rant sounds like it's ignoring logic to a certain extent?
On 31 Mar 2010 at 10:19pm Brixtonbelle wrote:
I still prefer Sainsburys or the Co oP to all the rest
On 1 Apr 2010 at 11:59am James wrote:
Sherlock, I have told you what it is really like! Safeway were a good company to be a Manager for as were Morrisons to a degree. Go into Waitrose and find out how many of the Safeway managers are still there.
I will tell you that When it was announced Waitrose were buying the shop, Five managers transferred to other Morrisons stores. Since Waitrose took over Myself and Three other Managers have left. If I wanted Brainwashing and constant bullying I would join the foreign legion.
John Lewis are a cult not a company.