On 22 Apr 2011 at 9:10pm jrsussex wrote:
Just read the report on the trouble in the Stokes Croft are of Bristol by those that are against the arrival of a Tesco's Express in their area. A local stated that those involved in the excessive violence were not actually "locals", which happens far too often at protests.
I totally support the objections to the Tesco Express brand, and their ilk, because I do believe it forces even more small retailers out of business. it is sheer greed on behalf of the large corporations. However I do not believe violent demonstration is the best way to further an argument. I shall watch with interest because the finest form of protest is not to use the facility and it will eventually go away if it is non-profit making. Will the locals refuse to shop there and continue to support their local shops?
On 22 Apr 2011 at 9:44pm Deelite wrote:
Am very much hoping that violent demonstrations and riots might provide some relief from the irrelevant tedium of the Royal Wedding on Friday.
On 23 Apr 2011 at 5:59am Tescos shopper wrote:
JRSussex....the vast majority of people in or around Lewes use, and like Tescos. The high street is generally expensive, inapropriate to ones needs and far too up market for most people.
Just because a few do-gooders don't like Tescos, why should they spoil it for the people who do want it. You and your fellow 2CV driving comrades can carry on buying your balls of hand woven hemp string at £30 a pop in the high street, and i'll keep shopping at Tescos.
This is 2011 now, not 1960. Shopping trends and lifestyles change...who knows, in 50 years time, all shopping may be done on line or the high street might be back in fashion. In the meantime, bring on Tescos.
On 23 Apr 2011 at 6:34am MC wrote:
Is jrs against Tescos per se or, as I'd understood it just talking about Tescos Express?
On 23 Apr 2011 at 12:10pm Twinky wrote:
Not sure its all about the sheer greed of large corporations etc etc: the town centre shops have to put up a good show if they are to survive. Some of our town centre shops are good, some are pretty hopeless, lets be honest. OK Tescos is cheap and easy to park, but the Laines in Brighton is absolutely heaving today: individual shops can perfectly well survive if they find their niche. If all they can do is compete with Tesco on price, that's a non starter.
On 23 Apr 2011 at 4:56pm Mr Forks wrote:
I hate Tesco, Sainsburys in newhaven is fine tho!
On 23 Apr 2011 at 6:09pm Old Cynic wrote:
Tesco is lazy, no concept of customer care, staff training is hopeless and some of their employees are downright rude and seemingly bored out of their skulls - i sometimes feel Im a hindrance to their conversations.
On 23 Apr 2011 at 7:15pm Mr Forks wrote:
I agree, Sainsburys at Newhaven is a comparative delight, the staff are friendly, prices reasonable and customers less trashy!
On 23 Apr 2011 at 10:41pm jrsussex wrote:
MC - Thanks for reading my post properly and yes it is Tesco Express I object to, not the larger stoes. I use all of the supermarkets at varying time but do not buy all our needs from them. I do my best to support local shops by, for example buying bread, vegetables and fish etc from local retailers.
Tesco Shopper - Take note, read a post properly and understand it before answering. The large supermarkets already have the lion's share of the market. I think it is greed when they then open smaller stores targeting the smaller traders thereby killing them off. Having been in the retail business for more than 30 years (licensed trade) I know that it is practically impossible for the small retailer to fight the might of the large companies, they simply do not have the purchasing power to compete on pricing.
On 24 Apr 2011 at 9:03am Vesbod wrote:
I try to use ALL THE STORES, so as to support them all, especially local shops. We need a balanced economy, so try and spend a bit here, and a bit there...
On 25 Apr 2011 at 7:41am Clifford wrote:
Tescos shopper wrote: 'JRSussex.... You and your fellow 2CV driving comrades can carry on buying your balls of hand woven hemp string at £30 a pop in the high street.'
One of the most amusing things I've read on here for some time. If there is anyone who can't be put in the 'hand woven hemp string' category it's JRS. You're obviously a newcomer to thee pages Tescos shopper.
On 25 Apr 2011 at 8:21am Harold wrote:
Who remembers when tesco and other supermarkets(I count three) were driven out of town by that giant company ` Safeway` , at least one of the worms turned.....
On 25 Apr 2011 at 9:03am MC wrote:
Jrs is more of an old jaguar type of person.
On 25 Apr 2011 at 12:10pm jrsussex wrote:
MC - You've weighed me up nicely as has Clifford
On 26 Apr 2011 at 9:42am Christian Law wrote:
The problem over the weekend was the daft rule that shops over a certain floorspace footage aren't allowed to open on Easter Sunday, meaning Tescos and Waitrose were closed. Having forgot this, had to do a mad dash out of town to find small shops that were still open selling BBQables. However it also highlighted how many smaller convenience shops there used to be serving the local community which have since closed up for good. When Tescos and their ilk replace everything local, they leave a big hole when shut. Get rid of the boutique cafes and bring back the newsagents etc, I for one wholly support them.
On 26 Apr 2011 at 10:05am Ed Can Do wrote:
Old Cynic wrote:
"Tesco is lazy, no concept of customer care, staff training is hopeless and some of their employees are downright rude and seemingly bored out of their skulls - i sometimes feel Im a hindrance to their conversations. "
So why do you still shop there then?
On 26 Apr 2011 at 11:35am Mystic Mog wrote:
TS. You say "The high street is generally expensive, inappropriate to ones needs and far too up market for most people."
Although this is a poor predictable characterture of Lewes' shops, it is the Tesco's of the world that has contributed to the High street shops changing or closing. Also there is obviously a demand for these ??inappropriate and up market? shops that you deride otherwise they would not be there. It is called economics.
If you tried some of the local, appropriate, shops you will often find them cheaper than the multiples.
On 26 Apr 2011 at 12:29pm tescos shopper wrote:
Why would i need to try the high street shops Moggy ? I can get everything i need from my local supermarkets, I can park for free and i don't have to march round town with countless different bags from different shops.....it's all under one roof.
It's each to their own Mog...you carry on using the independants and ill carry on using the supermarkets. Lewes high street has very very little to offer me or my family...and i know many people in the same boat.
On 26 Apr 2011 at 12:45pm MC wrote:
The fish in The Riverside is both fresher and less expensive than Tescos. For me getting the staples once every few weeks from a supermarket and regular shops for fresh stuff at the smaller independent shops works well. As I have found that the supermarkets have taken all of the joy out of shopping I tend to shop for staples online now.
It will be sad day when there are no independent butchers, grocers and fishmongers but if you shop only at Tescos that's what you'll make happen. And then *all* lewes high street will be full of shops run as non-profitable hobbies by well-off women with time on their hands.
On 26 Apr 2011 at 4:05pm Tescos shopper wrote:
I don't eat fish MC so that's another reason not to go there.
Please tell me where i can "nip down the highstreet" (after driving round for an hour looking for a parking place) and buy a cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, a pineapple and the usual fresh fruit and veg. Please don't say Bill's because i can't afford to shop there.
On 26 Apr 2011 at 5:23pm MC wrote:
No it is very sad that only greengrocers left is the one at the top of the town near Frank Richards to butchers. I don't know whether there have ever been any in the centre but if so I imagine that it will have been supermarkets and the high rent lots in the high street command now that saw them off.
The centre of town could really do with a decent greengrocer.
On 26 Apr 2011 at 6:55pm Tescos shopper wrote:
There was one years ago on the site where Bills is now....and possibly next to the old Tescos but that was in the 70's.
The problem is MC, lifestyles have changed now. Most people want everything under one roof and "sod" the consequences. My parents are both in their late 60's and would hate to go back to the old high street shopping like we used to do. Infact most people i know think the high street a complete pain in the 'arris and don't go there unless they have to.
It's not just the supermarkets (i would still go there whether it was Tescos, Asda, Waitrose etc etc so it's not just a Tesco thing) who are to blame for the demise of the high street. Parking limitations and costs, sky high business rates, our cr@p chamber of commerce and a generally changing "audience" have all contributed. No doubt that the chains have had some input but, especially when times are hard, people will go for the cheaper options in supermarkets....and i don't care what anyone says, the high street is a lot more expensive.
On 26 Apr 2011 at 9:33pm MC wrote:
I think you have loads of points that I entirely agree with (although if you liked fish... it *is* cheaper and better at the Riverside).
However my take is slightly different as I think there is a growing realisation about what we have lost and what we are loosing,
Strolling around various small shops in a town centre buzzing with people and no cars, families, kids of all ages playing, buskers, the smell of coffee and baking bread wafting from various doorways, places to sit, being able to see and smell the goods, chatting to friends and the shop-keepers, buying fresh local produce that tastes good.
or....
Drive to large impersonal shed on the fringe of a town. Buy packaged goods from anywhere, don't care where, no taste, not smelling, not chatting, not feeling, as quick as possible, miserable check out girl, back to the car, drive home. TV, quick meal.
I know Tescos is cheaper (although I also know that it is only cheap if you chose what to buy carefully, like any virtual monopoly is has you by the goolies) but the quality of life it brings with is is so cheap it is demeaned.
In the end perhaps it is down to usage of time, maybe more than money even? Tescos enables us to shop quick and allows you to have time for other things. Then the equation starts to become are those other things more important that what you've lost. I value the cohesion that a close community brings so much that I think there are few things more important that the stability and healthiness engendered by easy contact between community members. You can't get easier, simpler, less encumbered or engineered meetings than whilst shopping for necessities in a lively and vibrant town centre.
Cliffe High Street (with so few cars, hurrah!) is still lively and vibrant but it is becoming more exclusive as the useful shops diminish for all the reasons you've stated above.
But thank goodness for the Gardeners, although unfortunately there it does require the regulars money and a drug to reach a normal everyday level of uninhibited sociability... now there's no decent shopping in the centre of Lewes. :-)
On 27 Apr 2011 at 8:50am Old Cynic wrote:
Ed I generally don't I dislike Tescos but on occasion I callin and I'm shocked at how poor customer service is compared to Waitrose and Sainsburys
On 27 Apr 2011 at 9:57am Grocer wrote:
The grocers that used to be next to Tesco's was run/owned by Bill of Bill's I believe, tis what Bill's became.