Supermarket Snobbery

chesky369

I think most people shop where it's easiest to get to, so convenience rather than snobbery is the guide. I live in West London, in what's supposed to be an affluent area, so I'm rather cheesed off that there isn't an Aldi, Netto,Lidl or Morrisons near me. Not a 'proper' Tesco either (just a little one). So it has to be Sainsburys, Waitrose or M&S. I'd love to have a broader range but there it goes.

And if I ever DO get to go to a Lidl, I guess I'll take my Waitrose carrier bag with me - and be labelled a snob!

mum2kathryn

chesky369 wrote: »

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And if I ever DO get to go to a Lidl, I guess I'll take my Waitrose carrier bag with me - and be labelled a snob!

The Waitrose reusable bags are better quality which is why I use mine at Aldi.

Not that I can do a full shop at Aldi, they don't do gluten free bread or pasta of any kind, much in the way of baking ingredients, blackcurrant cordial (as apposed to blackcurrant and apple), decent kid's yoghurts...

Never understood what the hype about M&S is - you can't buy much in the way of 'proper' food, mainly prepared stuff.

Daisygirl

I always go to Aldi/Lidl when I go that way as it were, but they are sadly a little way away from me so can only go once a week/fortnight when I'm going in that direction! I really do like shopping at these places, and Waitrose is only a couple of hundred yards away from the Lidl I go to - literally over a roundabout! So I generally go there first, then go afterwards to Waitrose to get papers and stuff I can't get at Lidl (plus go to our butcher on the way home as well!).

Most of our neighbours go to Waitrose all the time for their shopping - my next door neighbour in particular as they are always having 'guests' over and holding dinner parties etc!!!!! She has often said she doesn't like Morrisons at all, although she 'will' go to Tescos and Sainsbury's (at a push lol). When we had all that snow she wanted some things at the supermarket and as I was going to my (very local and tiny) Sainsbury's I gave her a lift (they didn't want to risk going the dangerous way down the hill in their car to Waitrose!) - we live in the country and we all rely on our cars & it's very hilly particularly one way we get in and out!

Sorry I digress!!!

She had to ask someone how the trollies worked with putting in a coin etc!!! of course Waitrose don't have coins for a deposit (I always use a token thingy when I get my trolley).

Needless to say she wouldn't be seen DEAD in a Lidl or Aldi!!!

kiwimama

You'll love this little story then... a good friend and her husband are in the process of deciding where their DS should attend school, Mrs Friend has her heart set on the very lovely public school (with fencing and kyaking on the sports list) with fees of £2k per term (or thereabouts) but they are not in the league of Drs / Lawyers etc etc so Mr Friend is trying to figure out how they can afford those fees plus nursery fees when bubba 2 comes along, Mr Friend tells Mrs Friend that she might have to consider shopping at Tesco instead of Waitrose and Mrs Friend stopped dead in her tracks, face paled and burst into tears.

Tee Hee at least she could see the funny side enough later on to tell me the story :-)

Aldi is such a faff with packing your groceries it really puts me off so I only go there for the odd bargain, but then I do love a good bargain :-)

Mado

kiwimama wrote: »

You'll love this little story then... a good friend and her husband are in the process of deciding where their DS should attend school, Mrs Friend has her heart set on the very lovely public school (with fencing and kyaking on the sports list) with fees of £2k per term (or thereabouts) but they are not in the league of Drs / Lawyers etc etc so Mr Friend is trying to figure out how they can afford those fees plus nursery fees when bubba 2 comes along, Mr Friend tells Mrs Friend that she might have to consider shopping at Tesco instead of Waitrose and Mrs Friend stopped dead in her tracks, face paled and burst into tears.

Tee Hee at least she could see the funny side enough later on to tell me the story :-)

Aldi is such a faff with packing your groceries it really puts me off so I only go there for the odd bargain, but then I do love a good bargain :-)

:eek:What on Earth are they eating in Waitrose???:eek:
Assuming 3 terms a year at 2k, you'd need to save £500/month in switching stores...:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
I use my canvas Waitrose bags everywhere and they are a common sight at the local market stall with very reasonable fruit and veg. Nothing to do with snobbery; they're just brilliant.:T

I don't have either Netto, Lidl or aldi near me. But I've been seen in poundland, and I even took 1 lady from the PA on a bargain hunt for the summer fete last year.

moonrakerz

Personally, I'd rather be seen shopping in Lidl than Tesco !

jenniewb

Well I don't shop in Aldi, Lidl or any of the other discount stores as they are always shut by 5pm, I cannot get to the supermarket before 9pm and quite often shop around 11pm (weekends included aside from Sunday where I don't shop at all as I am busy all day). Discount stores are not designed for everyone.

chelms38

I don't think as many worry about which supermarket/store they are seen in these days as most people have had to cut thier cloth accordingly in these penny pinching times.Personally it make me feel good if I have paid less for my food shopping and I don't care what other people think as they are the mugs paying over the odds.

Li0nhead

Well the ideal situation would be to go round every single supermarket/local shop/butcher/baker and pick up the product you love from each. Unfortunately none of us have time to do that.

So we all make that trade off between quality, price and convenience to suit our budget and time.

For an example of someone whos switched a woman in the daily mail that was a Sainsburys and M&S shopper did a good report on switching: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1248340/Ill-discount-Aldi-One-M-S-loyalist-swallows-pride-tries-shopping-Britains-budget-supermarkets.html

Having shopped in most supermarkets (every now and again i go somewhere different just to compare) I have to say for overall quality and price Aldi is best in my opinion. Still the range is not big enough so its a monthly big shop at one of the big 4 and a small weekly shop at aldi. Have to disagree with the Daily Mail woman though. The beans are not as good as Heinz in my opinion but for under half the price will do.
Savings wise i think on most items you could undercut Aldi by buying only Value/Basic/Simply lines but on most items i find Aldi at least matches the leading brand. So i think on a quality cost trade-off Aldi is currently the best place for me to shop. Ironically i went through a stage at one point of Shopping at Lidl but stopped when they started bringing in more named brands which were the same price as the big 4.

Patrick20

Where I live it works in reverse to what everyone else here is saying. I find that the wealthiest people in my area know how to handle their money better than the poorer folk. In the car park of the aldi and lidl in the town centre theres always really nice, expensive cars.