a month without supermarket - new challenge for 2011 starts at post 1013

amber03

Please remember that these supermarkets employ many people like myself. In this current climate i am grateful to have a job and work hard. I support my local shops and am pleased that many local shops survived having a supermarket built nearby, the supermarket i work for would not build a petrol station or have a pharmacy because there was a local chemist and petrol station on the same road. Many of the people who work in thes local stores pop into the supermarket and once a week i love visiting my local street market. I think i have posted a reply like this on another thread i dont want to upset anyone but when you have been working all day then come in and read people slating where you work it gets me mad.

anguk

amber - I do see your point and that's why I'm often torn when it comes to my feelings about supermarkets. For example Tesco are planning on building a huge double level store in my town (we already have a Tesco & Asda and the town isn't that big), this would bring many jobs into an ex-mining town which is good but our small high street is already full of empty shops, so many are closing because they can't compete with the supermarkets.

Asda is at the top of our small high street which already has a Boots and an independent chemist yet Asda has just recently added a pharmacy to the store, so they weren't bothered about local business. They did used to have a petrol station too but they were no cheaper than the other petrol stations in the town and they needed more parking spaces as they expanded so they pulled it down.

I feel like we're stuck between a rock and a hard place, as industries such as mining and steel works have closed down unemployment has gone up so we need the jobs supermarkets bring but at the same time local businesses are going bust because of the supermarkets.

amber03

Thanks for that anguk i get annoyed when supermarkets open nearly everywhere and feel for local businesess. Where i live the local shops are lovely ,quality of the food is good and are well supported by the local people.There needs to be a balance between the two. Love market day here some of the stalls have been here for years, problem is i buy more than i should and struggle home with heavy bags cos i've decided not to use the car as much, to save on petrol.

anguk

amber03 wrote: »

Thanks for that anguk i get annoyed when supermarkets open nearly everywhere and feel for local businesess. Where i live the local shops are lovely ,quality of the food is good and are well supported by the local people.There needs to be a balance between the two. Love market day here some of the stalls have been here for years, problem is i buy more than i should and struggle home with heavy bags cos i've decided not to use the car as much, to save on petrol.

Get yourself a shopping trolley, you can get loads in them and they're so much easier than carrying heavy bags.

Lakeland have got a jazzy one on sale:
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/on-the-%27mooove%27-shopping-trolley/F/keyword/trolley/product/22644

There's even a "Chic Shopper" club here on Old Style.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/146229

amber03

Think my kids would disown me if i bought one of these.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

amber03 wrote: »

Please remember that these supermarkets employ many people like myself. In this current climate i am grateful to have a job and work hard. I support my local shops and am pleased that many local shops survived having a supermarket built nearby, the supermarket i work for would not build a petrol station or have a pharmacy because there was a local chemist and petrol station on the same road. Many of the people who work in thes local stores pop into the supermarket and once a week i love visiting my local street market. I think i have posted a reply like this on another thread i dont want to upset anyone but when you have been working all day then come in and read people slating where you work it gets me mad.

Amber looking at it from the other side..... where i live there is only 4 houses, infront of some brown belt land... planning permission has been passed to have a supermarket and petrol station right at the entrance of our little road... basically our lives are going to be HELL with dangerous traffic flow going passed our access road, light, noise, etc.

Our house prices will drop like a sack of poo, they will be extremely hard to sell, life as we know it will vanish.. we will have delivery lorries in and out all night... so before you say you dont like what we are saying about supermarkets, please think about the HELL they cause to other people and businesses....

5 miles away tesco opened up in a local village, which we campaigned against, but it still went ahead... a day or two before they opened there were money off flers etc being pumped through every letterbox within miles, there was a little map showing where the new tesco was... they totally left out the main rroad running through the little local village where the independant shops were..

In the planning stage, they also said they would not undercut the local independant petrol stations on fuel prices..... the day they opened they were cheaper. but the local petrol stations could not afford to take them to court....

so for you to get your wages someone local is losing money and their business is going down the pan... possible a wrecked marraige due due to all the finanical strain.... so parden me for trying to support these people...

hex2

amber03 wrote: »

Think my kids would disown me if i bought one of these.

As a teenager I stopped shopping with my mum when she bought one. It saved her a fortune :rotfl:.

We are down to the last few coffee capsules. I have to get some tomorrow, fingers crossed for Makro otherwise it will have to be Mr. S.

Lily-Lu

Well, I think I can add 'suet' to my short list of 'difficult to find' products. I've had a look in a couple of local shops, but no luck as yet.
I'll keep searching though, because I have no intention of ever stepping inside a supermarket again and we can certainly live without it if it can't be found anywhere else:)

.......................................................................................

I know this isn't part of the original thread, but there has been some mention of supporting British companies, so I hope no one minds me straying a little, here.

I also lile to support British companies, but also try to support British manufacturing as well. Does anybody here know where I can find a comprehensive list of British companies and also a list of British manufacturers.
Unfortunately, the two don't mean the same thing. Lots of new and long standing companies have a lot of products made abroad because it's cheaper and a lot of goods bear no relation to the quality that was once had, because of this.
There's very little manufacturing done here compared to even 30 years ago, so it's not easy to find both in one place; but I do like to help support them where possible. If anyone can help with this, I'd be very grateful:)

sp1964_2

Can I add Farm Direct to the London suppliers? They order and collect food from farms and small businesses around London and then deliver in central London.I ordered milk, cheese,meat and veg and everything was very good quality and quite reasonably priced.They are based in Islington.

mama67

Lily-Lu wrote: »

Well, I think I can add 'suet' to my short list of 'difficult to find' products. I've had a look in a couple of local shops, but no luck as yet.
I'll keep searching though, because I have no intention of ever stepping inside a supermarket again and we can certainly live without it if it can't be found anywhere else:)

.......................................................................................

I know this isn't part of the original thread, but there has been some mention of supporting British companies, so I hope no one minds me straying a little, here.

I also lile to support British companies, but also try to support British manufacturing as well. Does anybody here know where I can find a comprehensive list of British companies and also a list of British manufacturers.
Unfortunately, the two don't mean the same thing. Lots of new and long standing companies have a lot of products made abroad because it's cheaper and a lot of goods bear no relation to the quality that was once had, because of this.
There's very little manufacturing done here compared to even 30 years ago, so it's not easy to find both in one place; but I do like to help support them where possible. If anyone can help with this, I'd be very grateful:)

have you tried a butcher for suet I've seen it for sale in a more older style traditional butchers shop