Aldi Essential Item?

[malagabob]

Did a bit of shopping this morning at my local Aldi. Tilling out the checkout girl asked, is that an essential item? A 4 can pack of cider. Er yes I said. Am I buying before licensing time. Some supermarkets have this rule. No the girl said I have to ask and write a record of it. When did this come in. This morning she said.
It’s news to me.

[dannyk13]

bob, shops are only supposed to sell essential items, e.g food etc.

[ToraToraTora]

well I bought a load of booze with my Groceries in Aldi yesterday no questions asked. This is yet another piece of jobsworthery. These J Arthurs are absolutely loving it. We are allowed to buy groceries there is no specification that they must be "essential" - tough to define what that is anyway.

[Bobbisox1]

I got a bottle of wine with my Asda order that my daughter went for last night Danny? Not heard about this new restriction

[Purist]

If they are only supposed to sell essential items then they should cover/put away "unessential" items

[Jackdaw33]

There is no longer a licensing time in supermarkets. As far as I am aware non-essential items can be bought from shops selling essential items. All this sounds most odd.

[mushroom25]

round here, a 6-pack of white lightning and a giant bag of doritos constitutes a "substantial meal". so, very very essential i'd have said.

[dannyk13]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/11238488/what-shops-open-closed-england-essential-second-lockdown-coronavirus/

[SparklyKid]

Just bought a bottle of rum and twenty fags at local co-op, essential, I should coco.

[ToraToraTora]

this is Bow locks no way anyone would try and define what is essential because it varies to the person and household situation, eg are batteries essential? Cleaning products? Bog roll? This will just be local jobsworthery or poor training, or mis understanding of the rules.

[ToraToraTora]

most food is not "essential" so what only milk, bread and gruel? PMSL!

[Smowball]

That’s a new one on me! I’m not meant to be going out at all as I’m classed as vulnerable(asthma) so Mr Smow has been doing most shopping. But last few days when I know he’s been busy I’ve used the Co-op latest scheme - if you order by a certain time they will deliver that day. Not a whole weeks shop lol as they deliver on motorbikes but certainly a couple of carrier bags worth. And in fact they’ve delivered early both times. And yes there was wine in the shopping.

[dannyk13]

Smow, the constrictions do not apply to on line shopping.

[malagabob]

Unless it’s changed in Scotland Jackdaw. I had a bottle of wine taken off me when I tried to till it out. This was before 10am one morning. It was a fair while ago. I wasn’t dying for a drink, I stopped off to do shopping on the way to see family.

[DTCwordfan]

2 bottles of wine, a red pepper and a lightbulb pack. They questioned the latter - 'it's the only lightbulb I have'.....

[Jackdaw33]

I'm talking about England. Supermarkets can sell alcohol all the time that they are open.

[Sunk]

Aldi have stopped selling non essential items in their stores in Ireland. You cannot purchase anything from the middle aisles.

[Buenchico]

>>> There is no longer a licensing time in supermarkets.

Not true. While nearly all major supermarkets have either 24 hour licences, or licences that cover all of their opening hours, they still have to apply for such licences and can have their applications modified or refused by the local authority.

Malagabob hasn't told us which part of the UK he's in. In Wales, for example, supermarkets are prohibited from selling non-essential items.

[gingejbee]

All of TTT's PMSL would mean absorbant pants would be essential items, I'd guess.

[ToraToraTora]

exactly ginger, essential item for me perhaps but not generally considered essential!

[Ken4155]

There are at least 2 complete aisles of non essential goods in my local Aldi and neither were shut down when i visited last week. One of them is the booze aisle, the other is like a bric-a-brac stall, containing things such as clothes, screwdrivers sets, Thermos flasks, bathroom wall cabinets, etc.