Me, Motorway service areas, I use motorways a lot but there are plenty of better places to stop. I have seen queues of cars waiting to get into them at busy times, madness. The final straw (many years ago) was arriving at a MSA just after a couple of bus loads of people.
High streets either have, or will, become deserted during the day and no go areas full of binge drinkers by night.
We have a huge under cover shopping area, shopping shed, and outlet mall at Livingston, about 15 miles away, it makes the Trafford centre look like a corner shop. Edinburgh, Perth Stirling, and Falkirk are all 30 minutes, and Glasgow is 50 a minute drive. Barcelona is only two hours away, plenty of options.
I don't think I will miss any retailer, there are always alternatives. I have no problem with distance, the journey is part of any experience, and there is always the online and delivered to the door option......until the power cut, IT meltdown, severe weather event, etc.
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Oh retailers! I was all prepared with a list of forum users (and now, no doubt, they are so too prepared likewiseish). A very short list, incidentally.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 09:21
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I wouldn't miss anybody if I had a Mark IV Lee Enfield and they were less that 400 yards away.
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Well all keep moving then. Thought about emigrating to the states? Texas maybe?
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 09:35
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>> Oh retailers! I was all prepared with a list of forum users
Like Crankcase, When I first saw the thread title, I thought the same.
The problem is, that the 4 or 5 posters who I sometimes wish would shut up and go away, are also, when behaving themselves, the most interesting and prolific posters.
If we lost them, although it would be a much quieter place, it would also be more dull.
Statement of the blooming obvious - I know.
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>>If we lost them, although it would be a much quieter place, it would also be more dull<<
Shouldn't that be duller, Dunc.
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>> >> Oh retailers! I was all prepared with a list of forum users
>>
>> Like Crankcase, When I first saw the thread title, I thought the same.
>>
I am surprised at the lack thread drift on this one. We seem to be a well mannered lot. :-)
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>> >> >> Oh retailers! I was all prepared with a list of forum users
>> >>
>> >> Like Crankcase, When I first saw the thread title, I thought the same.
>> >>
>>
>> I am surprised at the lack thread drift on this one. We seem to be
>> a well mannered lot. :-)
Chicken I would call it.
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Retailers I wouldn't miss? TBH most of them have now gone. I have a terribly vicious streak in me that would like to see Tesco fold in a spectacular and messy manner.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 09:27
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>> I have a terribly
>> vicious streak in me that would like to see Tesco fold in a spectacular and
>> messy manner.
>>
Amen to that.
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I dont hold any particular affection for any shops. I have little time for the concept of the 'High Street' as it is an old fashioned concept that worked when most people lived in or near the town but as suburbia grew you then had to drive into town - this then changed by having out of town stores and the shops came back closer to the suburbs and with free parking. Some worry about the effect on the high street but it is a dying concept and will eventually fail.
I almost never enter a town centre to buy anything, maybe once a year if I have to. The shops that will survive are the ones with the right goods at the right price and the most easily accessible. Unlike some, I dont care who is selling me something so long as I want it and the price is right.
Last edited by: FoR on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 09:38
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>>I almost never enter a town centre to buy anything, maybe once a year if I have to. The shops that will survive are the ones with the right goods at the right price and the most easily accessible. Unlike some, I dont care who is selling me something so long as I want it and the price is right<<
^ I'm with this geezer, I went into town once last year, to buy a new camera, and that was only because Jessops wouldn't do a px on my 'old' G2, so I found an indie that would.
I usually buy 'stuff' from Amazon or Ebay, who I have had exemplary service from over the years.
With my brain and superior intelligence, I should really set up an on-line business, and run it from Tenerife.
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>> I dont hold any particular affection for any shops.
>>
I don't hold any particular dislike for any shops.
What's to dislike about a shop? If I did dislike one then I would simply go elsewhere. There are plenty to choose from!
I certainly do not go into West End (London) shops and pay their silly prices, but enough people do, so they keep going.
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Tesco will outlive most other UK retailers.
Argos, Morrisons and M&S will be gone much before then (possibly bought out by asset strippers).
M&S's current share price is pegged by takeover prospects. Argos Home Retail group share price has dropped ten pounds from an all time high of £11.23 to £1.23 today.
British Airways thought it was getting a good deal merging with Iberia to form IAG. That will turn out to be an albatross around its neck (just as occupying the former Virgin Megastores and Zavvi stores proved to be for HMV).
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The Reading Virgin Megastore/Zavvi is now METRO Bank.
We were in our local HMV only this weekend to buy a copy of The Killing III on DVD (no blue rays in there, strangely). It was a spur of the moment purchase, as we'd finished series 2 the day before and were desperate for more. An internet supplier would not have been able to do a same day delivery, so I'll miss HMV for things like that. Incidentally we've already finished series 3. Brilliant TV. Hoping for a series 4.
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I agree with you ON, I wouldn't miss most retailers either. I think a lot of people bemoaning the loss of High Street retailers have rose tints on, to varying degrees.
In HMV's case, cast your mind back 20 years, before internet shopping and the electronic music download. If I wanted an album I had to either get on a bus into town, or go by car where idiotic council traffic policies would make my life deliberately difficult, and that's without traffic wardens watching me like a hawk and give me a ticket for even the most minor transgression. I would then go to HMV and pay £13-£16 for a chart CD, knowing that in the US and other markets which I had no access to, I would have paid half as much for the same thing.
Today there is no need to visit the town centres made deliberately difficult and unpleasant by decades of short sighted council policies. I can click my mouse a few times, and get what I want either electronically in the case of music, or delivered to my door next day in the case of physical items. I can order from anywhere in the world if I don't mind waiting a few more days for delivery, and the item costs less because the competition is more immediate and easily accessible..
Retailers like HMV had it very good for a long time. They had a captive audience which they did very nicely out of. The internet changed it all, and not before time.
Last edited by: DP on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 09:30
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Mrs ON is into craft work, sewing, jewellery making, etc. She buys most of her materials online from the USA, it is far cheaper than the UK suppliers even with the delivery charges, (which are often cheaper than UK ones). Guess which suppliers will fold first.
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>> Mrs ON is into craft work, sewing, jewellery making, etc. She buys most of her materials
>> online from the USA, it is far cheaper than the UK suppliers even with the delivery charges,
>> (which are often cheaper than UK ones). Guess which suppliers will fold first.
A year or so ago, I needed a carb service kit and some other small bits for a petrol strimmer I was rebuilding for a friend. Local mower shop wanted £30 for the bits, all bar one of them being a pattern part. US mower shop on eBay wanted £16 including delivery - all genuine parts.
I would have paid a couple of quid extra, but not almost double. The US order was on my doormat two days later.
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Shops that deserve to go:
W H Smug
Halfords
Boots
Currys
Post Office
All suffer from the same desease - staff failure to realise that their most important task is to sell stuff to customers.
Indifference to queues.
You could see the writing on the wall for Focus ages before it collapsed - lots of staff, but no one on the tills.
B&Q have the right idea - they have taken in the old joke about "Going to be in a queue" and switch more tills into action whenever they see anyone waiting.
Result - customers return. With all the others, I breathe a sigh of relief and try to go somewhere else next time.
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>>Local mower shop wanted £30 for the bits, all bar one of them being a pattern part.
rent, rates, energy, minimum wages, employer NI, taxes, elf & safety, EU bureacracy, + , +, ....
They all add up. SE England is a basket case. Even the financial services sector is not secure. As I type, the back office functions of a major City employer are in the planning stages of being moved to Ireland. Redundancy notices likely to be issued in 6 months time.
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Can't say I would miss any retailer .except Aldi for their £8.99 Workwear trousers...
The M&S outlet shop 8 miles away is useful..
Clarks shoes on line service is brilliant - and so are the sale prices.. (I want Goretex lining and proper grippy soles for the inevitable rain/ice as I walk c 20 miles a week)
Last edited by: madf on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 10:24
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Wetherspoons.
The McDonalds of ther licensed trade.
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The headlong rush to do everything online means a loss of serendipity, which to me is a big part of shopping.
When wandering around for my Christmas purchases for Mrs C, for example, I go into most shops in town and look at most things, and usually come home with packages and parcels of things I had no idea existed unless I'd stumbled over them. Online is brilliant - as long as you know pretty well what you what you want, but the casual browsing experience isn't anything like so rich as physical goods you can pick up, put down, and wander over to the next shelf where entirely unrelated items live.
This is also why I find that going into the library and wandering the shelves until something catches my eye is far more enjoyable than searching the catalogue for a specific title, and then just picking it up. No fun whatsoever.
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>> Wetherspoons.
>>
>> The McDonalds of ther licensed trade.
>>
Would you care to expand upon your detestation of W'spoons?
Good choice of beers. Well kept. Good basic food. Very sensible prices.
Apart from the occasional scruffy bloke, what's to dislike?
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>> >> Wetherspoons.
There's not much wrong with the few Wetherspoons that I've been into. The beer is good and very reasonably priced, the staff always seem to be pleasant and the food is as good, if not better, than you might expect in the pub further up the road.
The only downside is their popularity. I don't think it would be for me after 8pm on a Saturday night.
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>> Would you care to expand upon your detestation of W'spoons?
>>
I don't detest the places themselves; you have listed their advantages to those for whom cheapness is more important than atmosphere, and I concede that a bad pint is very rare. I detest their predictability and sameness.
I also take a dim view of their encouraging people to drink alcohol at breakfast time, and killing off independent cafes by undercutting them.
Wetherspoons have done for independent free house pubs what Tesco have done for independent grocers. Call me a snob if you like, couldn't give a monkeys, but part of the appeal of pubs to me is that they're all different. Wetherspoons aren't.
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>
>> Wetherspoons
The food is not very savoury and the clientele is worse. Yes they sell average beer in average condition at a good price. Drinking beer in a pub is not about price unless you are a p-sshead, its about atmosphere as well, Wivvies has none at all.
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>> >
>> >> Wetherspoons
The few Wetherspoons that I've set foot in have been fine. Decent food, decent staff, a good choice of well kept beer - and I know a good pint from a bad one!
It must be disappointing that the one in your area lacks atmosphere; the couple I've been in have plenty. It's just a pity they're so far away.
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>> It must be disappointing that the one all in your area lacks atmosphere; the couple I've
>> been in have plenty. It's just a pity they're so far away.
>>
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I've only been into one Wetherspoons (The William Henry in Weymouth) and would happily go back. Decent pub grub, promptly and courteously served, at a very fair price. I know they are not all good.
Last edited by: DP on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 14:56
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Wetherspoons is good for a good quality pint and a meal at a good price. I often visit Wetherspoons if I am travelling. I know I won't get food poisoning.
As a night out pub they are crap though. Good beer selection but they have all the atmosphere of a doctors waiting room only wetherspoons the people are probably older!
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Two or three weatherspoons within five minutes of the office.
Good food and beer. While I agree they don't have the atmosphere of a proper boozer they're very good for after work get togethers re-unions etc. PLenty of seating and no music etc so even the oldies who are hard of hearing can keep up.
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>> I often visit Wetherspoons if I am travelling. I know I won't get food poisoning.
I was in a local one and watched a member of staff drop the scampi off a plate, pick it up and serve it to the customer. I guess the quality's down to staff.
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>> >> >
>> >> >> Wetherspoons
Pubs tend to have a cross section of people in them or depending on where you are a fair chunk of people who have similar outlooks. I want my pub to be a comfortable place to be...so ambience etc, together with the product (food/drink).
If you have too many people of any given extreme, it can put one off. It does me anyway.
So too many brash yuppies...would be a 'no-no'....
....as would too many of life's no hopers...and that to me is Wetherspoons.
Maybe i'm tarnished with the London ones, I haven't ventured back in to one for years now.
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Wetherspoons is fine - they do a good pint at a good price - Drinking Leffe brown at less than 2.5o a pint ??? Food is industrialized but it's cheap. You get what you pay for, they might be all that's left soon.
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Amazing.... it's as if I live in a different country to most of the doubters. Why would anyone wish to see financial ruin and harm to any business... all it does is reduces choice... not only choice of goods but choice of purchase method and timing.
And what's with all this negativity about shopping experiences. It's as if many folks set out with a warfare mentality from the moment they leave home... travel issues... parking issues... queues... poor service??? Seems you get what you wish for.
Re HMV deserving to fail because they charged £13 for a CD 20yrs ago. Even if that was the price then what a bargain for a CD that you can still reach for and blast out Nirvana In Utero from the stereo (of course if you bought Kate Bush The Red Shoes then it's your own fault) when that £13 meal from the same period is long forgotten and those cheap £13 jeans have been in landfill for 19yrs.
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all it
>> does is reduces choice...
Which is exactly what a lot of the businesses mentioned have done, by squeezing out the opposition. More annoying is the fact that every high street ends up as Same-land.
In the case of Wetherspoons, what started off as a good idea has morphed into a soul-less pastiche of what I for one consider a "real" pub to be like. They may well serve real ale, but that's about their only saving grace as far as I'm concerned. Even then, according to a friend of mine who owns a well-established brewery in the North East, just like the supermarkets they squeeze their suppliers to death. Apparently there's no money in selling beer to them, the only advantage is that your brand can get a wider recognition.
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>>
>> Why would anyone wish to see financial ruin and harm to any business...
>>
If it is wasting resources it should fail, and allow the resources to be used by a more efficient company. That's how capitalism works.
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>> And what's with all this negativity about shopping experiences. It's as if many folks set
>> out with a warfare mentality from the moment they leave home... travel issues... parking issues...
>> queues... poor service??? Seems you get what you wish for.
>>
That is true, anyone who has been to the USA and experienced real service would despair of most retailers in the UK. The "Ya all come back now", and "Have a nice day" does get a bit wearing after a while, but it is worth it for the service provided.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 12:47
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American "service culture" is overhyped and disappearing faster than the ice cap. I wanted to murder the rude, unhelpful stupid knownothing in Best Buy Las Vegas for example.
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>> rude, unhelpful stupid knownothing in Best Buy Las Vegas for example.
>>
Lucky you. What kind of service did you expect you would get at Best Buy Las Vegas?
;)
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As an example, I have just ordered two 4 packs of AA Duracell "Stay charged" rechargeable batteries from Amazon. (For SWMBO's fancy camera).
The price is reasonable, delivery is free: all I have to do is sit in the warmth of our house and wait for Liz the postie to hand them to me.
What's not to like?
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>>>allow the resources to be used by a more efficient company.
You mean to allow the legal, financial and asset stripping folks to get their profits while we get painted window hoardings on closed shops or another 99p outlet.
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Boots - for middle aged women who don't know they are being mugged (in my opinion of course)
Maplin - over priced and I know where to get everything much cheaper, in the days before the internet and Tandy still existed I used to love Maplin. These days every time I go in the prices seem mad.
Halfords - for the same reason as above, just too expensive, I can get everything from cheaper from a local indie shop or Euro Car Parts.
BHS - They own part of the building of the Manchester Arndale, its falling down and needs recladding but Philip Green refuses to smarten it up. The entire shop looks dated. It really really deserves to go bust.
Co-Op food shops - Being a Manchester based chain I should support them, but again their prices are beyond a joke. They can't even compete with Tesco Express yet alone the bargain stores.
High street currys - I would miss the bigger ones and PCWORLD but their old Dixons stores are too small and offer a too limited range. When I worked in one, I had to actually interrupt a sales man because he was telling a load of blatant lies to a customer and I knew it would back fire.
As for online shopping there is often a need to get things on the same day, but thankfully my supplier also has a retail store I can pick things up from, at pretty much Amazon prices.
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There is a common denominator with all this - the cost to the smallish retailer of having a presence in the High St. Its enormous.
But, fast forward ten years, there will be no newspapers or magazines so no need to go to the local newsagent. So they will be gone.
Hairdressers should stay in business but how long before there is a salon in your Tesco?
High Streets will be deserted, boarded up and tumbleweed blowing through them.
Many of the people who were employed in these low paid jobs will not be able to get another job as they will be unable to travel to the out of town Amazon depot. So they will go on to claiming benefits.
Its going to be survival of the fittest and once Tesco has their monopoly we will all be crying out at their huge prices. But no where else to buy.
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If a lot more retailers do fail, landlords will have no option but to reduce rent so smaller chains might thrive.
My local Tesco already has a salon. It looks horrible, it look bland and not a pleasant place to have your hair cut. I will stick to my three mile drive to the one I normally use (there are many much closer but I am stuck in my ways!).
You do have a point about jobs though, we really do need to start creating more basic level jobs in the UK.
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WH Smith.
What are they for? I'm surprised they didn't bow out the same time as Woolworths.
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>>>High Streets will be deserted, boarded up and tumbleweed blowing through them.
Indeed that is the way current trends seem to lead us and a great shame.
I'm pleased my teens have always enjoyed the town/city/high street shopping experience and that is still where they spend 75% of their money. The bus trip there/shopping experience/lunch out has been a very good social/learning/business/life experience for them over the years and far better than being reclusive bedroom internet warriors developing social issues.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 11:40
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>>I'm pleased my teens have always enjoyed the town/city/high street shopping experience and that is still where they spend 75% of their money.
>>
I'm pleased that in my teens I was able to walk down a brightly lit High Street and window shop in brightly lit shop windows. Not much enjoyment peering through security shutters and checking what is happening behind you.
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>>>I'm pleased that in my teens I was able to walk down a brightly lit High Street and window shop in brightly lit shop windows. Not much enjoyment peering through security shutters and checking what is happening behind you.
Yes the habit of making the high street a no-go zone for cars has made this a real issue.
Anyway I'm just off to the shops. Towel rail from Homebase so I can fit it in an hours time, taking faulty 2mth old trainers back to SportsDirect (sending them back if bought online would have been a nightmare), Tesco for half price shower gel & diesel, Co-Op for a cider offer they have at the moment and local Post Office for lottery ticket, Radio Times (if there are queues there it will be due to hopeless customers not staff) plus a superb locally made pork and pickle pie.
Alfa b-road drive playing CD bought in HMV, bit of fresh air plus supporting village/town shops and their staff. What's not to like?
Last edited by: Fenlander on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 12:24
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" Who wouldn't you miss?"
Bruce Forsythe.
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.
Last edited by: Clk Sec on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 13:26
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>>sending them back if bought online would have been a nightmare<<
How d'ya work that one out then? - I bought a Roberts unologic wireless from Amazon late last week.
Received it on Saturday, decided I didn't like it so after a few clicks I printed out a pre-paid label and the missus dropped it orf at the PO on Monday morning.
The replacement, a Pure one classic series 11 was delivered this morning and that'll be going back tomorrow while I wait for a Roberts Ecologic 3 to be delivered, perhaps I should have gorn to a shoppe n' checked em all out first.
(And then bought it from Amazon)
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BT.
Scottish Power.
Apart from Tesco, I can't really think of any high street shop that I have to use that I know is going to be unpleasant.
Interesting you mention Maplin, Rattle - they are expensive for computer stuff but I grabbed a bunch of circuit components for a decent price there last week, and a 3TB external disk for £99 the week before.
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All big supermarkets are the same they are there to make money.Buy one get one free,the one free goes in the bin according to a new report regarding food wastage.
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>> All big supermarkets are the same
At least in the local Asda you can still get a cheap coffee in the cafe - Tescos have gone Costa.
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>> Tescos have gone Costa.
>>
Only temporarily. As soon as the public get hooked on the "artisan Harris+Hoole" chain, that will get rolled out in to Tesco.
www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jan/08/tesco-chief-harris-and-hoole
".... Tesco's chief executive, Philip Clarke, has offered a detailed explanation of the supermarket's investment in the coffee shop business Harris + Hoole, which has the appearance of an independent company ....
Clarke said H+H outlets would appear in Tesco stores "when the Tolleys are ready" ...."
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...Tesco for half price shower gel & diesel...
If you buy branded diesel the detergent's already in it.
};---)
I think Maplin is great for exactly the same reason that Dixons is depressing: the people who work there.
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>>....and local Post Office for lottery ticket.
>>
Good luck!
The prizes should hopefully revert to normal tonight.
Last Saturday was by far the worse payouts I can ever recall.
Must have been lots of winners who were well disappointed with the number of ££s they got.
There were however over 900,000 winners.
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>> in the days before the internet and Tandy still existed
Ah, but they do, Rattle, albeit online only these days. I only learned of this myself a couple of weeks ago:
www.tandyonline.co.uk
Just the sight of that logo takes me back :-)
Maplin are not as unreasonably priced as they used to be. I bought a decent wireless keyboard and mouse set from them a couple of weeks ago for £20, for example. I'm also still chugging through my box of 100 AA batteries I bought for a tenner in the summer. Really enjoyable store to browse in as well.
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I do enjoy Maplin to browse in and they do have some good electronics components, but unless its just a very cheap item RS have better stocks and prices.
I am not really sure Niche maplin have now. My problem with it is my nearest one is in the city centre which involves either paying for a bus, tram or parking to get there so I only visit when I am in the area anyway. If Maplin was on my door step then I would probably pay their prices just for the convience but its not.
I will have a look at that Tandy website it might be interesting. I used to enjoy buying those old hand written circuit books and mess about blowing up ICs when my experiments went a bit wrong!
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>> Maplin are not as unreasonably priced as they used to be. I bought a decent wireless keyboard and mouse set from them a couple of weeks ago for £20, for example
I bought same (Logitech) from Staples for £12. However, this was over a year back and can't comment on latest price. But usually these becomes cheaper time.
I find Maplin almost always more expensive. Their only USP is that they stock some specialized products which are somewhat difficult to get from other high street vendors.
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Best wireless desktop I've had was an Aldi special at around £12. Brand either Medion or Tevion.
No special drivers so self installing and even the mouse batteries last months.
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The common factor in all these collapses is high property prices and rents.. and rents payable quarterly in advance and no short leases.. just long ones.
Mainly the UK pension funds at fault.
As the current Government is doing its best to finish what G Brown started - kill off pension funds - we are likely to see a significant change in the next decade.
(A corollary of killing off pension funds is the Government loses the captive buyer for gilts...)
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This is an "own brand" job, and despite that, the receiver is plugged into a computer under the stairs and I can use the keyboard and mouse from the sofa more than 3m from the wall. My old Logitech set claimed up to 5m range, but struggled to do 2.5m in clear line of sight, whichever frequency you set it to.
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Lots of "who wouldn't I miss" mentions here. Judging from our local town, the only things left shortly will be a few charity shops, poundland things and coffee shops. But, also have a good market twice a week. Problem is that if many stores disappear, people will stop going into town and there will be fewer customers for the charity shops, poundland things and coffee shops so why not close them also?, so there will be nowt left. And if people aren't there for the remaining shops, will the market survive?
One thing I would say that might help traders in town centres is for councils to reduce/remove parking charges - when you've done an hour's shopping and are then faced with £5 parking charge it doesn't help!
Personally, I hate "shopping" but one has to accompany SWMBO once in a while, and a Jessops, HMV, WHS (for nice books), Waterstones and the odd "spanner" shop to browse does help!
P
"spanner shop" is things like Jessops, Maplins, Tandy, Jacobs, etc where there are nice bits of new/secondhand, well made "machinery" or books/maps, camping equipment, satnavs, cameras, etc!.
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I'm surprised at the dislike of Tesco through this thread.
Is this the old British trait of knocking someone that does well?
I don't like or dislike them, and rarely spend money in their stores, but you have to admire the way they have grown the business globally to be what it is today. They have wobbled a bit in the last year, but appear to have quickly recognized and corrected some of those issues.
They took a real flyer when they decided to offer internet grocery shopping. It worked and others had to follow suit - the UK now has the most advanced and developed internet grocery shopping services in the world.
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>> I'm surprised at the dislike of Tesco through this thread.
>>
>> Is this the old British trait of knocking someone that does well?
>>
>> I don't like or dislike them, and rarely spend money in their stores, but you
>> have to admire the way they have grown the business globally to be what it
>> is today. They have wobbled a bit in the last year, but appear to have
>> quickly recognized and corrected some of those issues.
Its a distinctly nasty place to shop and they have questionable business and social ethics. Therefore I exercise my right not to shop there.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 19:06
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>> Its a distinctly nasty place to shop and they have questionable business and social ethics.
>> Therefore I exercise my right not to shop there.
Thats what I don't get. You dislike Tesco, therefore chose not to use them. Perfectly logical to me, however, Tesco appear to be one of the most disliked retailers - its the one people always moan about be it for price, state of the stores, ethics etc so why do they do so well?
I would assume that most people who have access to a Tesco also have access to other choices, yet they still do well.
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>> questionable business and social ethics.
>>
such as?
>> Therefore I exercise my right not to shop there.
>>
Apart from Waitrose/John-Lewis, where else do you shop?
Tesco employs over 500,000 people, ranks in the top five world's largest retailers, and contributes substantially to the British economy, and pays a very nice dividend to your pension fund.
www.digitallook.com/companyresearch/10091/Tesco/company_research.html
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>>Its a distinctly nasty place to shop
You mean its a supermarket? Or is there something I've missed?
>>they have questionable business and social ethics
I don't know one way or the other about their social ethics, but their business ethics would appear to be rock solid and spot on to me - maximise shareholder value? Not only should they do that, they can be prosecuted if they do not.
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>> >>Its a distinctly nasty place to shop
>>
>> You mean its a supermarket? Or is there something I've missed?
Yes, you have. They are not all like Tesco.
>> >>they have questionable business and social ethics
>>
>> I don't know one way or the other about their social ethics, but their business
>> ethics would appear to be rock solid and spot on to me - maximise shareholder
>> value? Not only should they do that, they can be prosecuted if they do not.
Well I don't approve of their "land banking" nor do I approve of buying up shops in shopping centres then leaving it derelict because the council refused their planning application. Thats both business and social ethics that I don't approve of. I suppose you were happy with RBOS business ethics right up to the moment they crashed.
And maximising shareholder value at the expense of other things, NOT a legal requirement. And yes i know my SOX.
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>>I suppose you were happy with RBOS business ethics right up to the moment they crashed.
I was perfectly happy with their ethics. Their capabilities rather disappointed me though.
>> yes i know my SOX.
But presumably not that SOX is not about adhering to any UK law?
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And you know quite well that that Tesco, as trading in the US, have to be SOX compliant even in their business and ethical dealings the UK where its not applicable.
But SOX fits in quite well with accepted UK legal business and ethics.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 21:16
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You're arguing in circles, as you so often do; You understood my point quite well and you're just making noise around the edges.
And if it matters, SOX is around compliance, not ethics.
I am perfectly happy with Tesco's business ethics. I know nothing about their social ethics. A company has a legal duty to maximize shareholder value, and risks being prosecuted if it does not do so without good explanation.
Save your pedantry.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 21:28
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>> You're arguing in circles, as you so often do;
>>
Classic Zero going round in circles here (after stating that "Tesco gross profit margin for 2011 was 5.4%" ):
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=9059&v=f
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Oh I see you have run out of your own ideas again and can only rely on past quotes. Your life must be desperately short of originality. How did you survive before a search box?
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>> They took a real flyer when they decided to offer internet grocery shopping. It worked and others had to follow suit
Tesco's first attempt at online shopping to see if it was popular and would work was not efficient. But proved it would work. The orders were taken centrally and faxed to the store for someone to pick the order and then have it delivered. It didn't link into the stock system of the delivering store etc....
Today of course it does link in with the stock system. I used it for a while but they used to deliver products close to use by dates... they don't anymore apparently but I do more small shops. Takes more time etc. but means we don't waste much and you don't need to plan so far ahead. I don't live far from the shop(s).
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In 1966 I had a Saturday Job in Tescos in Ilford. My main job was to pick the items customers had ordered over the phone for delivery by bike (the sort with a metal basket on the front }
There are truly no new ideas
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Anyone remember Victor Value? Lord I could tell you some tales behind the scenes there. I think thats where I first learned to unlove Tesco.
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>> I'm surprised at the dislike of Tesco through this thread.
>>
Ask any dairy farmer... in fact any farmer... about Tesco. As most of you know I deliver to farms for a living and you're far safer bringing badger protection into the conversation than mentioning you shop at Tesco.
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Free parking at the Stockport branch of Maplin, Rattle. Of course you would have to negotiate the M60 and Portwood Roundabout, but it must be worth a go surely.
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>> Free parking at the Stockport branch of Maplin, Rattle. Of course you would have to
>> negotiate the M60 and Portwood Roundabout, but it must be worth a go surely.
>
Free at Regent Road, Salford as well, Rattolicus. Much bigger store than Oxford Road.>
Although I do use Oxford Road 'cos I can park in Chester Street free and you can't...so there !
Ted
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>> Ah, but they do, Rattle, albeit online only these days. I only learned of this
>> myself a couple of weeks ago:
>>
>> www.tandyonline.co.uk
>>
>>
There is still a Tandy shop in Milford Haven. I could never see how they survived, all there stuff seemed to be overpriced and under-speced.
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Does Tandy still sell the pack of stickers that say "this car is protected by a Radio Shack security system" ??
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Councils have been making life difficult for people to go to their town centres to shop for years, and if you've had the audacity to take your car, you've been treated as both a social pariah and a cash cow. It's no wonder people prefer out of town retail parks and the internet.
As someone who hails from Oxford, this is especially noticeable to me. Second only to Wokingham which is in a perpetual state of being dug up and having roads closed. I don't honestly know how the shops there manage to stay afloat.
Last edited by: DP on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 19:19
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>>Councils have been making life difficult for people to go to their town centres to shop for years, and if you've had the audacity to take your car, you've been treated as both a social pariah and a cash cow. It's no wonder people prefer out of town retail parks and the internet.
As someone who hails from Oxford, this is especially noticeable to me. Second only to Wokingham which is in a perpetual state of being dug up and having roads closed. I don't honestly know how the shops there manage to stay afloat<<
Ye could well be talking about any town in Cornwall there effendi, or indeed any town/city in England today.
I suppose things are a little more relaxed in small foreign countries, like Wales.
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Would anyone here of the 'councils make it hard' persuasion like to suggest how they could make it easier? The short-stay parking in my town is 50p for one hour or 80p for two: hardly exploitation pricing - especially if you visit one of the shops, including Waitrose, that'll refund your ticket. If it were free if would be permanently clogged with office workers who'd park there all day, which certainly wouldn't help the traders.
Where we were pre-move, you could park free for 15 minutes, or for 30 minutes in an on-street bay for 20p. Easy, and fair, because you could do what you came for, move on and give someone else a go. So who are these exploitative councils, and what should they do differently?
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There are parking restrictions, yellow lines and so on in the two nearest small towns, but there isn't much enforcement. I often forget to display the parking token thing in one of the towns, but nothing ever happens. Well, I got a ticket once, explained I'd forgotten to display the thing and they let me off.
Basically there's a bit more empty space in the country so it isn't defended in the same fierce way as it is in London where you have to jump through hoops and pay through the nose just to exist, let alone park your motor for a couple of hours.
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When I park in a side street behind a few grotty shops near Isleworth Staion in the wonderful borough of Hounslow I have to feed the meter at a rate of £2 an hour.
I suspect the price is a deterrent to parkers from the nearby college.
I am very familar with Oxford and its parking charges etc.
I fully understand the need to keep cars out of the centre.
The Oxford council needs to get its act together re park and ride.
I suspect, but only suspect the vast majority of cars approach from the London side of the city. The park and ride is very very often full (London commuters by coach ?) so the next P & Rs are miles away and poorly sign posted.
Welcome to Oxford. They know that the hoards of visitors will still come so they appear not to care.
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Despite being poverty stricken, the town where I work has a good selection of shops - lots of little one man band stores - there is a small Tesco and even smaller Asda - has a town centre Argos as well. I think it's a struggle for them though. Free parking around Christmas - rigorously patrolled other times. Car-Parks are packed with workers cars over Christmas which rather defeats the object.
Last edited by: R.P. on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 20:35
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>>Ye could well be talking about any town in Cornwall there <<
Oh I dont know, ive found towns in the SW to be somewhat easier to get about aside from Barnstaple whos road system was clearly designed by someone who has never driven a car.
There was a park and ride and Salcombe years ago, parked in a field on the edge of town and regular buses back all day, quite cheap at the time - is it still running anyone know? It was a very useful service.
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I attended a town centre planning / crisis meeting in the town of Kirkintilloch.
Traditional story, small long established high st shops, no passing trade, customers heading to big supermarkets and out of town centres.
I am no good with linking to google maps but Kirkie has a main street about a mile long, and then a bypass road that links one end to the other.
I suggested the main st be made one way, with parking bays the full length of the main st on one side, a maximum of one hour free parking. This would encourage customers to nip into town, visit a few small shops and away again.
Council dismissed the idea.
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I'd miss Tesco actually even though i hate the place.
Only this week stocked up with around a £100 worth of Ariel washing liguid all at half price, only ever buy their bogoff or half price offers, hopefully they made only a few pence on the items and with any luck a slight loss.
Only just used up the last lot from around 12 years ago.
Town centre i wouldn't miss, as many have said the councils have made it as difficult as possible for people with cars (and money) to shop, thats fine by us the internets brilliant, sit here in the warm a few calicks and its on the way, and cheaper.
Amazon couldn't be easier to deal with if goods are faulty if they tried, whats not to like.
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>> hopefully they made only a few pence on the items and with any luck a slight loss.
Why?
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Why?, because the sheer greed of the company disgusts me, finger in every pie, some astronomical profits yet the figures are often 'disappointing'.
Will they never have enough.
They disgust me almost as much as some luvvies, who despite being multi millionaires commanding huge fees for their film appearances can't resist getting their mugs onto adverts for perfumes, kerching.
Will THEY ever have enough.
Don't get me wrong, i'm far from envious the complete opposite of that, i have a very comfortable life and content with my hard earned lot, its the sheer greed of already wildly rich people and some of these companies that never ceases to astound and sicken me.
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I have the same mentality with Tesco. My fun trick is to buy something very cheap that is on offer at my local express and then pay with my debit card :D.
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>>my fun trick is to buy something very cheap that is on offer at my local express and then pay with my debit card
Gosh, you are a wild one. Talk about fun.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 21:52
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>> I have the same mentality with Tesco. My fun trick is to buy something very
>> cheap that is on offer at my local express and then pay with my debit
>> card :D.
>>
You'll probably find that the supplier is funding the promotion, so it won't impact Tesco in the slightest...other than keeping their market share up ;-)
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>>Why?, because the sheer greed of the company disgusts me
What do you believe is the functionality of a company beyond making money and growing?
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A company of this size and power takes on or rather it should take on a responsibility to the communities it trades with, both its suppiers and its customers and the customers support network of existing shops and services.
That responsibilty doesn't mean driving in Panzer like over established economies, it means making ethical and reasonable advances where there is scope for such.
If people are happy to service such a beast with their money, then presumably they'll be happy when the only place to get any of their shopping or services is this ruthless merciless global giant with all the implications that has.
There's room for us with a bit of sense and reserve, it doesn't need this aggressive unstoppable force.
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>>should take on a responsibility to the communities it trades with
Other than for PR purposes, why should they do that?
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>> Other than for PR purposes, why should they do that?
>>
It could possibly be a decent honourable moral way to behave? you never know given a bit of an example its remotely possible (though won't be holding me breath) that our politicians could even be embarrased enough to take note.
With huge wealth comes power comes responsibility, it should be used wisely not solely in the worshipping need of mammon.
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"If people are happy to service such a beast with their money, then presumably they'll be happy when the only place to get any of their shopping or services is this ruthless merciless global giant with all the implications that has.
There's room for us with a bit of sense and reserve, it doesn't need this aggressive unstoppable force."
GB, Why is Tesco any worse than, say, Asda, Sains, Waitrose etc?
Don't know owt about any of them really, except that we buy stuff at them (mainly Sains, occasionally Tesco and Waitrose, never Asda 'cos MrsW doesn't like them for some reason)but just interested in why you think Tesco is so bad?
Just asking,
P
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>> GB, Why is Tesco any worse than, say, Asda, Sains, Waitrose etc?
Check out the horse burgers.......
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>> Check out the horse burgers....... >.
Nothing to do with Tesco.
Something to do with the Irish manufacturing plant.
Shi* happens to the best of companies.
brandfailures.blogspot.co.uk/
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Of its its to do with Tescos, they bought them in, cheap. Very cheap. You buy cheap you get rubbish
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 29 Jan 13 at 00:51
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Crikey, worse than I thought - thought it was horse meat not horse excrement. Never had that in France, I don't think............ but then again...........
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 29 Jan 13 at 00:51
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>> Of its its to do with Tescos, they bought them in, cheap. Very cheap. You
>> buy cheap you get rubbish.
>>
Using that logic, it is nothing to do with Tesco, but it is the consumer who bought the cheap burgers who are at fault.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 29 Jan 13 at 00:51
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You are going round in circles again John H.
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Tesco missed a trick. They should have re-packaged them and flogged 'em off to McDonalds.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you....
the SHERGAR-BURGER!!!
I'll get me coat.....
Edit.... beaten to the punchline on t'other thread dammit.
Last edited by: Harleyman on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 23:29
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>> What do you believe is the functionality of a company beyond making money and growing?
>>
If that's their only priority..you can't blame some people for not liking it.
P.R. comes in to it..........brand image...........ethics.....if only to keep the customer sweet, so they'll use you again.
Why all the organic stuff nowadays, the humane treatment of animals..etc....because that's what the consumer wants...and the consumer has the money in his/her pocket.
'P' off the consumer and you'll lose market share. 'P' them off enough and it could be curtains.
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>> 'P' off the consumer and you'll lose market share. 'P' them off enough and it
>> could be curtains.
tinyurl.com/arfh3bx
Why did Starbucks agree to 'donate' £10M to HMR?....Goodness of their Hearts?
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>> Why did Starbucks agree to 'donate' £10M to HMR?....Goodness of their Hearts?
>>
No. Because, as the Guardian said: "Starbucks' voluntary payments 'could mean less tax overall' "
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>>
>> If that's their only priority..you can't blame some people for not liking it.
>>
>>
Yet they continue to grow.
www.digitallook.com/companyresearch/10091/Tesco/company_research.html
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learn to read properly that which you post.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 15 Jan 13 at 23:16
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>> learn to read properly that which you post.
>>
yet more mysteries of Zero's circular thinking.
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The meat industry wouldn't warrant wider public scrutiny without revealing some facts that would make a lot of consumers very uncomfortable. This is not a Tesco issue.
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Shergarburger...very funny...
I am fortunate to live in a lovely N Yorks market town with a decent butcher.I wouldn't dream of buying any meat products from a supermarket. And that includes the £5 supermarket chicken which i rarely eat anyway.
The butcher has delicious burgers, beef, pork & chilli, venison at 80p each. Fresh every day. All we need is a good fruit & veg shop, but the local supermarket scuppered that.
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>> All we need is a good fruit & veg shop, but the local supermarket scuppered that.
>>
No, the supermarket didn't scupper it.
The local residents who used the supermarket instead of the independent greengrocer scuppered it.
They scuppered it themselves. QED.
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Sadly all too true Dunc.
I realise I pay more at the butchers than the supermarket but it is worth it IMHO having eaten their meat elsewhere. Fortunately, many in my local community feel the same way.
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>> questionable business and social ethics
How do you define "ethics"?
At least with Tesco (or any private business) you have a choice not to use them if you don't like them.
But for govt. organizations, like HMRC (e.g. recent Child Benefit changes) you don't have a choice even if they behave unethically.
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>> But for govt. organizations, like HMRC (e.g. recent Child Benefit changes) you don't
>> have a choice even if they behave unethically.
HMRCs shortcomings are in the area of competence rather than ethics.
- Opted out of child benefit as per the new policy.
- Received a confirmation e-mail immediately, which was nice and efficient. A week later, I received another e-mail saying that a small payment (£33 IIRC) would go in on the normal January payment date, but we didn't need to do anything (just keep a note for tax purposes).
- On the normal payment date, the full amount was paid in to our account.
They are completely, and utterly useless.
Last edited by: DP on Wed 16 Jan 13 at 11:40
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>> HMRCs shortcomings are in the area of competence rather than ethics.
Well, I was talking of the law itself. Single income family with £60k income won't get it yet double income family with combined £49k + £49k will continue to get it. How ethical is that?
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Surely there is a difference between unethical and wrong or unfair?
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That's Tory party policy, not HMRC behaviour.
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Neither: it's the inability of the Tax system to catch up with couples. The tax system is based on individual adults...
And has been for at least a decade.
Families as defined as "man and wife or partner" do not exist for tax purposes - but do for benefit purposes.
That's down to the segregation of the different systems for decades and the non integration of them when joined... It's a system thing and dumb planning.
Last edited by: madf on Wed 16 Jan 13 at 14:46
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>> That's down to the segregation of the different systems for decades and the non integration
>> of them when joined... It's a system thing and dumb planning.
>>
Which is entirely down to, and at the whim, of political party policy. HMRC can't make its own system up. The Tories have lumbered us with this latest shambles. Labour have lumbered us with even more.
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Who wouldn't you miss? - Crankcase
