What's your favourite supermarket?

*max*

The day we finally get an Aldi in belfast, it'll be like all my birthdays and Christmases come at once. I'm terribly, disproportionately jealous of all you people in the mainland.

fierystormcloud

Other

I had to go for 'other' because I don't have a 'fave;' I like a number of stores, and the reasons I like them are different. And they all have pluses and minuses. I do my shopping at 5 different stores, and split it pretty much between the 5.

Here are the 5 stores I use.

ASDA:

Advantages:

Good prices, friendly staff, reasonable queueing times, decent quality food.

Disadvantages: Some of the stores look a bit dirty, and the fresh produce is not as good as some other stores...

MORRISONS:

Advantages:

Good and very good quality food, lots of choice. Some stuff you can't get from other stores.

Disadvantages:

Slow and miserable staff, who look like they don't want to be there, slow moving queues, never enough checkouts open. A bit overpriced.

ICELAND

Advantages

Decent quality food, reasonable prices. Lots of frozen food options, great for parties/buffets etc...

Disadvantages:

Staff a bit aloof, fresh produce is average, not much range on many types of food except Frozen food (Yes I know, the clue is in the name!)

SAINSBURY'S

Advantages

Good and very good quality food, lots of choice. Some stuff you can't get from Lidl and Asda. Staff usually friendly.

Disadvantages:

Not terribly cheap, some stuff a bit over-priced.

LIDL:

Advantages:

Their prices are very good, and the quality of most of their food is good or very good. Staff are quite nice and efficient.

Disadvantages: Whether you have 1 item or 91 items, you have to join the same queue(s) However, if there are more than 3 or 4 people at a till, they get someone else out to help and I don't usually wait more than 5 mins to get served. But then if I have one item and the 2 trolleys in front of me don't offer me a chance to go ahead of them, no other checkout operator comes out because the queue is only 3 people. This happens rarely though. They need a couple of self serve tills for people with only a basketful of shopping.

If I had to pick a fault with ALL of the stores, it would be that around 3 out of 5 times I go; the checkout operator seems to be having a conversation with a colleague, and it's hardly EVER work related.

suki1964

Lidl

Alex_NJ wrote: »

For pure quality I went with M&S. Everything they sell is divine.

However, for price and every day shopping I choose Aldi!

Hate to burst your bubble but I buy my poultry direct from Moy Park who supply EVERY supermarket listed. They hatch the chickens, deliver them to the farmers, they deliver the grain, they send in the chicken catchers and they process all the chickens. The farm that i live beside will be supplying all the supermarkets depending on demand. Could be tesco value last month, sainsburys this month, marks next. He gets the same money and the chickens are kept in the exact same conditions

And I only pay max £3 for a chicken previously destined for marks. Quite often I get them for 25pence

Same as when I worked for sainsburys. Often we would get produce packedged for marks , it all came from the same processors

jm2926

Lidl

Just now I mostly shop in -

ALDI
Good garden offers, nice bread, veg a bit mixed, meat not so good. Not sure of it's the calling off floor duty to tills, but meat always looks disorganised, oddly coloured etc. desserts fresh and frozen, excellent. Some of their own brands are urg. Excellent prices

Morrisons
Had a £2 off £30 shop voucher, spent £140. Mostly bought offers or/and premium stuff I can't get at aldi. Great pies and bakery, also speciality like salmon en-cruet.

LIDL
Really liked my old Lidl, new one slightly too far away, don't go often. Get meat when we go, they have more humus varieties than aldi but many less than morrisons.

Tesco
Hate them, too confusing/expensive/big. Horrible experience with the feeling of the shop trying to con you all the time. Too many tricked for me. Also feel thi has the least value for me as I don't buy their meat/veg as the meat is tough and veg/fruit never ripens.

Asda
Good bargains, stores too big, some scary clientele . Over the last year their beef/lamb roast offers have been excellent for cost and quality, but the customers make it a rare visit for me.

Gloomendoom

I only visit supermarkets under duress. My wife looks after that side of things.

Ames

Waitrose

Waitrose followed by M&S. Mainly because they're small and leave me in a lot less pain than the big ones (although Waitrose stopping the free coffee and a sit down at the end or halfway through has impacted on that). Plus the quality's better and I actually spend less because I'm not tempted by the offers the big ones put at the end of every aisle. When I'm not doing well and need to eat ready meals M&S are great - cheaper than the top end of Tesco/Asda and a lot nicer.

I've also figured out the best times to go for reductions which brings the cost right down.

I do like Aldi and Lidl but find that they don't often have the stuff I want (especially fresh fruit advertised deals), and I find them more stressful. I often have panic attacks at supermarket checkouts because I feel I'm in everyone's way and holding them up and this is intensified at Aldi because of the crap layout of the checkouts and not being able to pack things away as they come through, I get clumsy and take longer, which makes me panic more... Waitrose especially have enough staff that queues are rare.

And of course Waitrose is more ethical.

maman

Aldi

I'm an Aldi fan. Fortunately my local branch is excellent. I do go to other shops occasionally but increasingly Aldi is stocking everything I need.


Just had to comment how refreshing it is that every poster (so far) has spelled the names of the supermarkets properly. Do people really use nicknames for supermarkets in RL?

Anatidaephobia

Sainsbury's

I would love to say M&S because their quality is the best but it's too expensive for an everyday shop so I went for Sainsburys. For the most part, their prices are okay and quality is good, I also like the Nectar points and vouchers to maximise your points. It's also the biggest supermarket near me and is large and airy, easy to get around.

Asda is quite good too though I avoid certain items from there as quality not so good. I get certain things from Asda and certain things from Sainsburys.

Never shop in Morrisons, having always had problems when I've tried to in the past. They don't seem to stock specific items (basic things) I go looking for so I end up wandering around in circles trying to find something they don't even sell. Sometimes I do find what I'm looking for but it's £2.49 and I can get it for £1 in Sainsburys or £0.99 in Asda so I don't bother. Also, the aisles are badly designed, there are bottles and cans stacked at the end meaning that the space in the middle of the shop between two halves of an aisle is only wide enough for one trolley to get through at a time. Total nightmare when it's busy.

There's no Waitrose nearby, I've never shopped in Waitrose, and I've never even heard of Budgens.

geerex

Waitrose

Waitrose. There are far fewer poor smelly people, and it's all so civilised. Heaven!

Gavin83

Generally do the majority of my shopping in either Tesco, Sainsbury's or Morrisions depending on what route I'm taking home and how much I need, with Morrisons being the largest. I find them all similar on price and quality.

M&S is a step up in quality but also price. Have been known to do my weekly shopping here but it's a little out the way and because of the location of the store it's always busy.

Waitrose is in a different league for the quality of their produce but it's the most expensive. If I'm looking to cook something special I'll be going there.

I've always found the produce of Asda to be of an unacceptable quality with the meat not tasting as nice and the veg lacking in flavour.

I don't have an Aldi, Asda or Budgens near me. I've been in an Aldi and Asda and found the stores to be pretty dirty. Saying that they are cheap and I'd compare the quality to that of Tesco/Morrisons. I also went in a Budgens for the first time a few weeks ago and was really impressed. I can't remember how well priced they were though.

If you can't tell I really have no brand loyalty when it comes to supermarkets.