Sunday 11 December 2011

Fairplay? Highstreet Shopkeepers on Tesco


These are all genuine accounts from recent UK newspaper reports. Each features a quote from a small highstreet shopkeeper who either sees the writing on the wall or who are facing closure as a result of a Tesco store near them taking their customers or through Tesco undercutting them.

Shopkeeper 01
“We had lots of regular customers but we haven’t seen many of them for months - since the new [Tesco] store opened... We’re going to see if it picks up, but we are really worried we may have to close.”
Priti Patel, owner of Churwell Food Market for 16 years in Churwell, West Yorks. From “Churwell shopkeeper’s fears for future after Tesco opening”, Morley Observer & Advertiser, 13th Oct, 2011
Read more...
Shopkeeper 02
"Who’ll come and buy a pound of sausages from me when they’ve been to Tesco? It’ll kill us."
Melanie Fox, daughter of Derek the butcher whose family has traded for 200 years in Malton, Yorks [now threatened by a Tesco Superstore].
From Daily Mail article: ‘Don't let Tesco wreck my town says Selina Scott..’ 25th Nov, 2011
Read More...
Shopkeeper 03
“We have reduced the price of the shop. We are definitely selling up... It’s [the local Tesco] devastated us as a business... We go and sit in the Tesco car park and watch all the customers who used to come in to us go in and out of there all the time.”
Julia Moore owner for 20 years of Moore’s Grocers in Madeley, Telford.
From “Every little helps, "Telford shopkeeper to throw in the towel", Shropshire. Star, 21st Mar 2011
Read More...
There has been suggestion that a Tesco supermarket in Tenbury would "benefit Tenbury's shops"...  Is this the sort of "benefit" the town's food shops need?

5 comments:

  1. Polite Notice.

    We've had one individual offer-up threats to individual TF members on this blog recently. We exist in part to encourage debate about the CM site and to discuss proactive alternate options. We're happy to put up all perspectives as part of this debate but personal threats cross that line.

    The timings and contents of these threats have been passed to the local policing team. It's probably worth mentioning that we can trace-back communications to individual IP [computer] addresses at this point from this blog [whether anonymous or not].

    Further examples of such personal threats to TF members will now be fully investigated by the local policing team in the category of "Malicious Communications".

    Please do keep sending your thoughts and comments from whatever perspective on our posts though. As long as these don't result in personal threats then we're happy to publish them.

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  2. Have you seen Churwell Food Market, I'm not surprised people prefer Tesco.

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  3. So should we be blasting spar for price matching Tesco, who's going to shop elsewhere if they can get Tesco prices there?

    That is your concern isn't it, Tesco prices undercutting local prices?!?

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  4. Every Little Helps15 December 2011 at 12:48

    The Spar are price matching Tesco Express stores only and certain items only .The Express type stores are their convenience stores which are more expensive than the larger Tesco Superstores .Is the one proposed in Tenbury a large or Express type store ?

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  5. Sorry we can't see the link you include as it doesn't work [Look for yourself] re Churwell.. We suspect that the real issue is that large supermarkets of any denomination with large car parks encourage a quick "one stop shop" as opposed to lingering in the area and going off to other shops. Tesco's own figures suggest that around 60% of it's store's customers stay and do a one-stop-shop normally. If you allow for corporate spin and the fact that Tesco themselves pay for their own research [i.e. it's not wholly impartial] then we think that you could safely say that this 60% figure could quite easily be 70% [or more] normally shop at the superstore and then go home. As shopkeeper number 3 [above] says - it's much more convenient to do this in their own customers' experience as opposed to spreading custom around small adjacent highstreet businesses.

    Re Tesco and Spar - we think that the other commenter has helped explain that this practice refers to only a small percentage of Spar's lines and that it isn't matching Tesco superstore prices but rather the more expensive 'Express' type mini mart prices.. The conclusion being that many if not all of Tesco's superstore prices [on own brand goods] will likely substantially undercut both Spar equivalents as well as the majority of local highstreet food shops in the town still.

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