supermarkets... do you agree with them/use them?

[monkeemayhem]

Don't know if this is in the right place, but here goes... I own a small retail business in a small coastal town and we have a massive ASDA superstore opening here in late autumn. It will be the 1st one of the "big name" superstores in this town and for a 30mile radius. I'm very worried about how its opening will affect my business, i'm hoping a good amount of people will still value the local, friendly shop.
I don't agree with the way they use bully tactics to force farmers into selling their goods at ridiculously low prices or how they have spread into so many different businesses (mobiles, loans, etc), the loyalty cards they give you collect so much information on you- they could even tell when a womans period would be just from their weekly shop. They are making all towns look the same as they close down independant shops. its pretty frightening.
Do any of you value the independent high street traders who offer a more personal shopping experience or doesn't it matter as long as your goods are cheap?

[bobtheturkey]

your scaring me im sure there is a tesco shopping bag under my bed :(

[flipflop104]

Well I like supermartkets as they're reasonably priced and everything you want is all under one roof. I like the "idea" of a butchers, bakers, grocery, fruit and veg shops but theyre never all together so it make shopping very inconvenient

[dot.hawkes]

If there is Bob do not throw it out, you get extra clubcard points now if u reuse them, and by reuse them i mean take them back to Tescos and try to not rip them as you fill them with shopping for the second time : )

[monkeemayhem]

thaks for your opinion flipflop104. The supermarkets are taking over this country and we are blinded by their pile it high and sell it cheap methods. They are so popular because we have become a lazy nation who want to take the easy option in all we do including parking 200 yards away from a shop to save walking far.

[kimbro44]

I can understand your worry however i do tend to go to my supermarket rather than my local store only for the fact of the price difference. I went to my local store the other day and the thing i bought was nearly 50p dearer than my supermarket which makes a difference when you are shopping on a budget.

[kimbro44]

Also just to add where i live we have 3 supermarkets but also about 5 small local stores which have been going years so they must still be doing a decent trade so hopefully your store will be ok too !

[feebee]

The small local shops are too expensive, that's why most people use the supermarkets.

[beejaybee]

A lot of small shops have closed in our town . The latest was the greengocer which I really miss. I can see a few more being affected before the year`s out as Wilkinson`s are opening up.

[monkeemayhem]

hi kimbro, I totally understand if pepole are on a budget then it makes sense to buy your goods as cheap as you can. But the reason the item was 50p dearer in the local shop was they would have bought the item in at say a dozen at a time, whereas the supermarket would have bought in thousands at a time to get it cheaper. Local shops tend to employ people full time unlike supermarkets who have hundreds of part time staff (who pay lower tax and paye). Is the sake of 50p worth losing the individuality of your high street?

[CheekyChops]

But it's not a difference of 50p when you are doing a weekly or monthly shop, it is 50p per item (on somethings, not all) which can add up to quite a substantial amount.

Also, small shops dont have the variety you get at a supermarket, obviously they don't have the floor space to offer as many different thinks so there is not as much choice.

I actually work part-time in a small Londis shop (no full-timers btw) but I still do my shopping at Tescos.

[monkeemayhem]

might aswell close me shop down now then eh? just as I thought money is king in this world. God help us all in 50 years from now when we are all on the tesco payroll- they may even be running the flippin' country... VOTE TESCOS.

[dot.hawkes]

I do know that a small store that sells tobacco makes more money on the small cigarette shelves than on the rest of the store, or at least it used to be the case. (by that I mean profit per square foot)

[monkeemayhem]

so I should stick a couple of shelves of ciggies up and that'll save me letting go 2 members of full time staff then?

[kuhugaq]

They'll clean you out i'm afraid.There,s just no competion any more.sad case of economics.

[kuhugaq]

oops! spelling lol

[dot.hawkes]

i am sorry but I have never heard of full time staff working in a small shop, usually it is under 16 hours to save the storekeeper the hassle of NI and tax, and then if it is only a few staff, no holiday pay or sick pay.

[monkeemayhem]

Dot, My trade is not something anyone can do, it takes months (even years) of training to get a novice to the standard of being able to take and complete orders. So to have many part time staff would mean constant labour intensive training and major distruption to the running of my business.

[ermintrude35]

...monkeemayham...this is exactly what is happening in the town where I live...are you in Pwllheli by any chance because the similarities are uncanny?....

[kuhugaq]

Your small time monkeemayhem.Times running out.Period.

[noxlumos]

Hi, I don't see that' it's the demise of your shop necessarily. If people go out of business it's usually because they are inflexible and can't diversify, so.... diversify, and make ASDA opening work FOR you, not against you.There are lots of reasons certain people will shop with you a certain times and some of the pitfalls of shoping at ASDA are huge store to wander round when you need less than say 20 things, huge queues, some older people will probably like to remain where they've shopped for years, Mums with toddlers like the idea of a local sweet shop where they don't have to hoik their child in and out of a trolley or drag it around 30 acres of shop, you can cater to the local community with a weekly shop service for people who find it hard to get to the shops at all, then list isliterally endless and without knowing your product lines, location etc it would be impossible to say accurately what you could or couldn't do, but if you are savvy enough there's no need to go under and yeah dot's idea of a speciality tobacconist isn't a bad one, there's a small shop near us that's always heaving with people in after tobacco related stuff other than the mainstream Lambert and Butler.You know your area, you know your customers, something will work to your advantage.