SUPERmarket or SuperMARKET?

Poll started 12th April: On Tuesday, Tesco announced record £2 Billion profits for a British company, and are expanding at an exponential rate. But where do you buy your groceries?

A. Stick to one major Supermarket – everything under one roof.


B. Shop around the Supermarkets – I know what’s cheap where.

C. The local shop/market – it’s cheaper and better produce

D. The local shop – You must support small, local businesses

E. Pick and Mix the cheapest – I’m a MoneySaving maniac

F. Wherever’s most convenient.

Vote here or click reply to discuss.
Former MSE team member
«1

Comments

  • Hmmmm. That's difficult. I use a mix of those answers. But I would say C/D/E (I know that probably doesn't help your research!). Fresh fruit and veg and meat I get from various greengrocers, stalls and local butchers where I live. There are a lot of specialist shops that sell spices and other ingredients that cost an arm and a leg in the supermarket. I also visit Farmer's Markets quite a lot.
    I only go to Tescos (and now Sainsbury's since a medium-sized is opening near me) to get household things like bleach and washing tablets etc. I find the excessive use of packaging in supermarkets very off putting. Give me local shops any day!!!
    :dance::j Take That 23/12/2007:j :dance:
  • Queenie
    Queenie Posts: 8,793 Forumite
    :eek: I'm in tears ... first time I've ever scored an "E" :(:(:(
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    PMS Pot: £57.53 Pigsback Pot: £23.00
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  • kansas_2
    kansas_2 Posts: 11 Forumite
    My choice is E....
    I used to be an avid shopper at Tesco, but tired of empty shelves! Most household products, plus the majority of groceries, are bought from Lidl. I buy my meat from the local market, where price and quality are unbeatable. Fresh veg/fruit is bought from my local farm shop.
    I only shop at Tesco or Sainsbury's for odd items like butter and milk.
    Dont you just love a bargain?
  • nalibz
    nalibz Posts: 2,724 Forumite
    kansas wrote:
    My choice is E....
    I used to be an avid shopper at Tesco, but tired of empty shelves! Most household products, plus the majority of groceries, are bought from Lidl. I buy my meat from the local market, where price and quality are unbeatable. Fresh veg/fruit is bought from my local farm shop.
    I only shop at Tesco or Sainsbury's for odd items like butter and milk.

    butter and milk arent that odd you know, they are found in most households :D
  • Queenie
    Queenie Posts: 8,793 Forumite
    nalibz wrote:
    butter and milk arent that odd you know, they are found in most households :D

    :rotfl: Cute! :rotfl:
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    PMS Pot: £57.53 Pigsback Pot: £23.00
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  • nalibz
    nalibz Posts: 2,724 Forumite
    Lol Queenie thanks for your post. Found it very useful!

    nalibz

    x
  • ianrob
    ianrob Posts: 25
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Sainsburys - poor customer service and complacency.

    My 1st email to their customer services:
    "We recently purchased a Morphy Richards kettle from our local Sainsburys store. The deal was Normal price £39-99 - offer price £34-99.
    However, a day later - the very same kettle - House of Fraser -
    Normal price £39-99 - offer price £20.

    Sainsburys response (in part) -
    "Thank you for your e-mail. I am sorry to hear that you were disappointed with the prices of our products, compared to those of our competitors. There seems to be a common belief that Sainsbury’s is an expensive store to shop at. In fact, this is not really the case. It is very useful for us to learn our customers’ thoughts on important matters like pricing. Your comments will be passed to our marketing teams responsible for pricing and I am sure they will be very interested to receive your opinions."

    My response:

    Thank you for your reply.
    I do not believe that you have addressed the issue. We have paid £15 more
    for a kettle at your store than we would of at one of your competitors -
    that is a massive 75% difference! In my view - that seems to support the
    idea that Sainsburys IS an expensive store!

    I believe that it is very poor customer service to just send what sounded
    like a standard reply.

    Any comments
  • KK
    KK Posts: 212 Forumite
    I buy at supermarkets mostly because it is quick and convenient. If I had a grocer's nearby (my local town and the next one 7 miles away don't have greengrocers anymore) I would definitely buy my veg there. The local market is on a day when I work, so I don't get a chance to go there. I sometimes buy meat and cheese from the farmer's market, but generally because they are small farms etc the products are expensive although normally excellent quality.

    I sometimes buy from the butchers, but basically can't stand the smell of fresh meat (I find it easier to buy it packaged from the supermarket) and we don't have a fishmongers anymore. There is no milkman that delivers to us as far as I know. I live in a medium sized town in Surrey and we are very poorly served apart from supermarkets.

    I shop either at Tesco (like the home delivery service) or at Asda, 'cos I never fail to be amazed at the prices and some of their products are excellent (Asda). I visit Morrison's once or so a week on the way home from work, but generally only for bread and milk and their excellent special offers. (especially on wine!) I am time poor and certainly not cash rich, but would love to shop more from local shops, but they just aren't around where I live without me going miles out of my way. My local shops are Sainsbury's, M&S (a food shop, NOT a supermarket) and Waitrose, none of which are big or very good. I am very frustrated at our local resources, even the deli which sold fresh fruit and veg closed down. We do have a shop that is primarily a butchers but sells all sorts of other local produce (a bit like a farmer's market). I guess supermarkets have just priced everyone out of business, even if mostly in terms of convenience rather than price.
  • cghadley
    cghadley Posts: 5 Forumite
    not only do i shop at tesco - i bought shares in them, they have done really well as well.. and I should get dividends as well.
    I was looking to buy shares in all major companies I use - eg Brit gas for Elec/Gas, etc - any ideas/thoughts..
    something missing
  • jonny
    jonny Posts: 4 Newbie
    KK wrote:
    I buy at supermarkets mostly because it is quick and convenient. If I had a grocer's nearby I would definitely buy my veg there. I sometimes buy meat and cheese from the farmer's market, but generally because they are small farms etc the products are expensive although normally excellent quality.

    we don't have a fishmongers anymore. There is no milkman that delivers to us as far as I know. I live in a medium sized town in Surrey and we are very poorly served apart from supermarkets.

    I shop either at Tesco (like the home delivery service) or at Asda, 'cos I never fail to be amazed at the prices and some of their products are excellent (Asda). I am time poor and certainly not cash rich, but would love to shop more from local shops, but they just aren't around where I live without me going miles out of my way. My local shops are Sainsbury's, M&S (a food shop, NOT a supermarket) and Waitrose, none of which are big or very good. I am very frustrated at our local resources, even the deli which sold fresh fruit and veg closed down. We do have a shop that is primarily a butchers but sells all sorts of other local produce (a bit like a farmer's market). I guess supermarkets have just priced everyone out of business, even if mostly in terms of convenience rather than price.
    What a great post. It sums everything up that is going on in this country and what is wrong in my opinion. I am a farmer who produces primarily beef. Most of this travels live 200 miles to a slaughter house to be then sent hundreds of miles to reach the shelves of that supermarket that made 2 billion. There are no local slaughterhouses left.
    I live near a small town that has a butcher left,but that's all. A couple of convenience stores and then we're off 12 miles down the road to Morrison's (not a patch on Safeway let me say).
    A huge problem, I feel, is that everyone is getting used to being able to buy most produce all year round. These items that are out of season in this country are being flown in at a big cost, not least in aviation fuel.
    Perhaps we need Jamie Oliver to start reminding us that it's OK to eat cabbage.
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