Lidl Tops Waitrose To Become Uk's Seventh Biggest Grocer

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41011259

[Tilly2]

Cliché, I know but have to cut your coat according to your cloth. Shop where you like and can afford.

[Tilly2]

^but you^

[david small]

Preferably Waitrose for meat as they have their own farms. The quality is definitely discernible. Ours is by a ferry port so you get all types in there. Snobby not me, fussy maybe, I expect a certain standard, Waitrose mostly fulfills it.

[Tilly2]

We go to Waitrose for a treat. The whole works. Vouchers to spend, coupons to redeem, lunch in the cafe with the free newspaper and coffee. It's a day out for us. Sad, innit?

[david small]

Our Waitrose has no cafe.....shame.

[Tilly2]

Ours does. It's lovely! Expensive but lovely.

Full of yummy mummies and elderly, 'middle class' couples.

Okay, yah!

[237SJ]

"Waitrose for meat as they have their own farms" All supermarkets have their own farms. Not strickly speaking their own but they source from certain farms. Those farms are not exclusive though. My friend's family farm supplies to Tesco and M&S. Waitrose could well share their farm suppliers with many other supermarkets

[FinnyMick]

Seriously occurs to me that Waitrose is the supermarket equivalent of the Emperors new clothes.

[237SJ]

Waitrose are very good a telling people how fantastic they are and people are very good a believing it. Every now and again when there is a food scare - say something getting into the food chain that shouldn't have - and they list all of the supermarkets that are affected, Waitrose will be included along with Tesco, Asda etc because they all get their food from the same supplier.

[murraymints]

we don't have a Waitrose.. although I did shop there when I lived in St Albans

[murraymints]

and my regular Wetherspoon is very nice..lovely building..lovely period decor..superb staff and good food at reasonable prices..what's not to like ?

[sp1814]

FinnyMick

You wrote:

//I presume some think that J D Wetherspoon pubs are rubbish as they can undercut others. They are excellent value and continue to expand whilst other pubs are closing.//

It depends on the particular Weatherspoons.

There's one in Muswell Hill which is pretty fantastic. But others I have been to are complete toilet.

[FinnyMick]

I go to lots of Wetherspoons, most are excellent.

One in Lancaster is a bit scruffy.

[sp1814]

FinnyMick

One of the best things about Waitrose is their staff. I don't what they do behind the scenes, but they have by far the best trained staff of any supermarket I've been to.

Without exception, all the staff on the floor are smartly dressed, know about produce and are friendly. My guess is that they pay better, and there's that thing about staff in the John Lewis Group all being 'partners' in the company, so if the company does well, it reflects directly in their salary.

[jno]

I don't think Waitrose were involved in the horsemeat burgers?

[237SJ]

I was dispatched off to Waitrose a few years ago before Chrismas to obtain a smoked gammon ham. I was shown to the ham section and the staff guy didn't have a clue what a gammon was. I don't think there is one size fits all where customer service is concerned.

[-SharonA-]

I too prefer Aldi!!! Whoop whoop.

[jno]

I suspect they take on extra short-term staff before Christmas; many businesses do. There won't be time for a full indoctrination, though.

[237SJ]

I remember going into Waitrose in the summer and asking if they had any locally sourced sardines. I knew that I was about 2 weeks early but was hedging my bets. I was told that they had some frozen ones. I asked the guy behind the fish counter how old they were and he said "A year? I don't know for sure" Needless to say, I gave them a miss

[FinnyMick]

I remember when Aldi had no bar code readers. The till staff had to know the price of everything

they sold, impressive or what.

They were the best paid of any supermarket staff then