Cash & carry

kingofbeans

Hi,

I used to go to Holmes cash & carry on the newtownards road before it closed down. I always found it to be significantly cheaper than makro (which often seems to be more expensive than the supermarket!) =

I have read similar comments about Musgrave and had a look at the offers on their website and even the items on offer seem expensive!

Can anyone recommend a well priced cash and carry? Main thing I need are crisps/chocolate/sweets, but also (less importantly) general catering supplies.

Preferably in Belfast but can be almost anywhere in NI.

Thanks

Mr_Bun

I use Musgrave for some things for my catering/bakery business,but TBH I find the supermarkets are hard to beat for price.
Recently Tesco were selling Mars Bars 4 packs for £1 which would be the equivalent of £12 for a box of 48.No cash and carry could beat that:eek:
Flour is another example: you can't buy flour direct from a flour mill cheaper than you can for Tesco,16kg from them would cost just over £5 but from a mill/distibutor/cash and carry would be about £9:eek:
Most of what I buy from a cash and carry is stuff that can't be bought in a supermarket

kingofbeans

Thanks Mr Bun, seems I definitely need to compare cash and carry prices to the supermarkets.

For sweets, crisps etc I do know that Holmes used to be significantly cheaper than makro who seem very similar to musgrave now.

Does anyone have an experience or heard anything about the prices of smaller cash and carrys in NI? I can see a few on google maps but I just can't tell if they are any good and with the distances between them would find it difficult to check them all in person. Any comments appreciated.

GlynD

I did mystery shopping for Musgrave and know that they swallowed up at least some of the Holmes outlets - Crumlin Road Ind Est comes to mind. Their Duncrue warehouse is excellent but I didn't find anything to inspire me pricewise, often seeing better deals in Lidl, especially when you consider VAT. Of course if you're VAT registered that won't matter.

Mr_Bun

Where are these smaller cash and carrys?
I wasn't aware of any, other than the ones previously mentioned.

kingofbeans

There is Top Marks Cash & Carry BT12, B Walker coleraine, Agnew Cash & carry BT14, Grand Street cash and carry lisburn, and more.

My problem is that google shows these but there is little to no mention of them online, so I can't see if they are even still open or if they sell the right kind of things. I had assumed there must be some smaller cash and carrys around in NI.

warmhands.coldheart

kingofbeans wrote: »

Hi,

I used to go to Holmes cash & carry on the newtownards road before it closed down. I always found it to be significantly cheaper than makro ...........

Possibly a reason why they closed ??????? i.e. Too Cheap = NO Profit

Just a Thought !!

Mr_Bun

Afaik,all the Holmes ones were bought over by Musgrave.
They kept the Ballymena one open for a while but it is now closed.
Makro and Musgrave are definitely the biggest.
I couldn't see how any smaller ones could compete.