The Lemon Fool

Mike4 wrote:

AF62 wrote:

Mike4 wrote:Never mind the prices, I find myself quite uncomfortable on the odd occasion I go into one as almost none of the customers wear face coverings - unlike in Tesco where perhaps half do, or M&S/Waitrose where it is perhaps 75%.

Half the customers in Tesco wearing masks! Not round here they don’t.

Even in Waitrose it is only around 1/3rd do - and virtually none of the staff in any of the stores, including Waitrose and M&S.

Lol, where's that then? (In the broadest of terms?)

I'm in a posh(ish) bit of Wiltshire but even so, I'm constantly surprised by how many people around here still mask up to go in shops. And this was before Omicron pitched up on the scene.

Bedfordshire/ Cambridgeshire/ Hertfordshire - all around is similar, with the the only noticeable exceptions if you venture into major towns, where depending on the demographic it is significantly higher or lower.

Mike4 wrote:I'm in a posh(ish) bit of Wiltshire but even so, I'm constantly surprised by how many people around here still mask up to go in shops. And this was before Omicron pitched up on the scene.

I have worn my mask EVERY time I have been to the supermarket since the first lockdown (and on public transport as well)
Science aside, it makes me feel safer AND it is the decent thing to do

AF62 wrote:I have never seen a Lidl without an in-store bakery, even with the smallest stores, so it is pretty odd yours doesn’t.

Well, that's just how it is. Unless they've hidden it in the shed at the far end of the car park? No bakery smell in the store, no warm bread, and often nothing but a few manky white rolls beside the Mother's Pride. Definitely no bakery counter. I can't report on the state of the cakes and pastries, because I don't really like that sort of stuff so I don't tend to go looking for it.

As for selling sausage rolls, I am not sure why that would be the case, as my local Lidl has a far more ‘up-market’ clientele than Tesco and the other supermarkets.

Let's try that again. It's a downmarket store in a downbeaten area. A place where sourdough would be returned as inedible "because it hadn't been cooked properly". A place where Jack Daniels is the last word in refined drinking, and where aubergines are regarded as foreign muck. There are such places, but perhaps not where you live?

No yummy mummies slumming it, then. They're all in Waitrose, and every last one of them is wearing a mask. Me too, when I'm topping up with whatever my Tesco delivery didn't manage to bring.

BJ

Aaargh, black mark, Tesco. Instead of my usual New Zealand sauvignon, they've sent me something called Barefoot Pink Pinot Grigio, which apparently has cost me a mighty £4.59 per bottle. What in god's name do they think they're doing?

I've never tasted an adequate Californian wine in my entire life, and I'm not sure this is the price point at which to start changing my mind? Beyond twenty quid a bottle, maybe - but this looks like two buck chuck. As they say in California, sheeeeit.

BJ

bungeejumper wrote:Let's try that again. It's a downmarket store in a downbeaten area. A place where sourdough would be returned as inedible "because it hadn't been cooked properly". A place where Jack Daniels is the last word in refined drinking, and where aubergines are regarded as foreign muck. There are such places, but perhaps not where you live?

You are correct; the Lidl I use isn't a downmarket store in a downbeaten area. Perhaps trying a store in a different, more upmarket, area...

AF62 wrote:You are correct; the Lidl I use isn't a downmarket store in a downbeaten area. Perhaps trying a store in a different, more upmarket, area...

LOL, I'd have to drive a long way to find a Lidl that met that lofty criterion. Every Lidl store within a ten/fifteen mile range of Bath is in a fairly (ahem) low-rent location - Sainsburys and Waitrose have pretty much cornered the more comfortable postcodes. Even the mighty Tesco seems to have been banished to the distant horizon! (Although that's of little concern to me, because I have it all delivered anyway, so who cares?)

Doesn't alter the fact that Lidl definitely has its strengths. But right now, I don't fancy the covid risk in there.

BJ

bungeejumper wrote:

AF62 wrote:You are correct; the Lidl I use isn't a downmarket store in a downbeaten area. Perhaps trying a store in a different, more upmarket, area...

LOL, I'd have to drive a long way to find a Lidl that met that lofty criterion. Every Lidl store within a ten/fifteen mile range of Bath is in a fairly (ahem) low-rent location

The only Lidl store in Bath is on Lower Bristol Road, next to the M&S food hall (do they also choose low-rent locations?) and it does have an instore bakery.

AF62 wrote:The only Lidl store in Bath is on Lower Bristol Road, next to the M&S food hall (do they also choose low-rent locations?) and it does have an instore bakery.

It's a very mixed area (post-industrial building site these days) - why, they even had me as a resident once! But no, that's not the grotty Lidl branch I was talking about earlier. Nice try, though.

BJ

bungeejumper wrote:

AF62 wrote:The only Lidl store in Bath is on Lower Bristol Road, next to the M&S food hall (do they also choose low-rent locations?) and it does have an instore bakery.

It's a very mixed area (post-industrial building site these days) - why, they even had me as a resident once! But no, that's not the grotty Lidl branch I was talking about earlier. Nice try, though.

BJ

But that is the only Lidl anywhere near Bath? The nearest others are in Bristol or towns surrounding Bath.

AF62 wrote:But that is the only Lidl anywhere near Bath? The nearest others are in Bristol or towns surrounding Bath.

Okay Sherlock, suppose you stop trying to stalk me? This is getting a bit creepy. Leave it out, please.

Why, some of us might even remember when this thread was about a wine offer at Tescos.....

BJ

AF62 wrote:But that is the only Lidl anywhere near Bath? The nearest others are in Bristol or towns surrounding Bath.

Methinks "near Bath" might be a euphemism for somewhere the rest of us would call Wiltshire.

Or something.

bungeejumper wrote:I was, however, interested enough to sign out from my account to see whether non-CCers were being told the same thing as me? And they are. But surely that is going to leave a lot of non-cardholders feeling as though a glass door has been banged in their faces?

leaving aside the "yet another orgainsation with my details" possible concerns... and I suppose "yet another piece of plastic to carry around", whats the downside then to getting a free (aiui) clubcard and availaing yourself of the offer.

Its not so much a glass door slammed in the face as a requirement to just open the glass door ?

didds

bungeejumper wrote: Every Lidl store within a ten/fifteen mile range of Bath is in a fairly (ahem) low-rent location

BJ

come to you-Know-Where!

UncleEbenezer wrote:

AF62 wrote:But that is the only Lidl anywhere near Bath? The nearest others are in Bristol or towns surrounding Bath.

Methinks "near Bath" might be a euphemism for somewhere the rest of us would call Wiltshire.

Or something.

So Bristol...