Panic Buying Again!

[AsleepInYorkshire]

It were drizzlin' , so went to the local co-op/COOP/CO-OP whatever
Which wasn't busy.

We've got a local CO-OP which was once a pub. It's bob on. Does what it says on the tin. The big problem we've got is Morrisons is only 300yds away and the COOP is about three times that. Plus we have a "family discount" card for Morrison's.

Merry Xmas Aleister

AiY

[PinkDalek]

It were drizzlin' , so went to the local co-op/COOP/CO-OP whatever
Which wasn't busy.

We ventured out late to a local M&S food hall which closes at midnight. Relatively calm, as one would expect, but, horror of horrors, no parsnips until 7am tomorrow. Bought some more booze instead which, along what we already have, should see us through to the next London Social pencilled in for 2023.

Unlike our local Sainsbury's, which is always full of those who are apparently exempt from wearing face coverings, where I visited mid-day. Couldn't get near the parsnips so gave up (and bought some booze).

[bungeejumper]

It were drizzlin' , so went to the local co-op/COOP/CO-OP whatever
Which wasn't busy.

Our local Co-op's like that all the time. Mind you, they'll do you a very good price on last month's carrots or a slightly whiffy cauliflower. And their Pot Noodle selection is unrivalled.

BJ

[redsturgeon]

We are obviously the champion panic buyers around these parts.

John

[AleisterCrowley]

It were drizzlin' , so went to the local co-op/COOP/CO-OP whatever
Which wasn't busy.

Our local Co-op's like that all the time. Mind you, they'll do you a very good price on last month's carrots or a slightly whiffy cauliflower. And their Pot Noodle selection is unrivalled.

BJ

The Co-op in the village is pretty good actually- nice staff and a reasonable selection for the size. When I lived in Slough it was difficult to buy 'real' food after 4pm on a Sunday, but the Co-op is open 7am-10pm, 7 days a week -which is handy.
It's noticeably more expensive than Sainsburys for fresh meat/veg etc, but one pays for the convenience..

[AleisterCrowley]

..Couldn't get near the parsnips so gave up (and bought some booze).

Interesting fact

The Russian for parsnip is пастернак - 'pasternak'

So that famous novel Doctor Zhivago was written by Boris Parsnip

[Mike4]

Anecdote of my own...

Thought I'd call in at the big(ish) M&S Foodhall on the A4 into Reading yesterday as I was passing, but just in time noticed a queue to get in snaking around the car park and about 100 yards long. Amazing! Even the shop attached to the petrol station opposite had a queue of about 15 people waitng to get in. This was about 3.00pm.

[Mike4]

It were drizzlin' , so went to the local co-op/COOP/CO-OP whatever
Which wasn't busy.

Our local Co-op's like that all the time. Mind you, they'll do you a very good price on last month's carrots or a slightly whiffy cauliflower. And their Pot Noodle selection is unrivalled.

BJ

My co-op in Hungerford is well stocked and very nice, except for their lines in fresh meat and fresh fish. Neither ever seems to taste of very much and always disappoints. I've learned to avoid. I dunno how they manage this.

Apart from that it is a great shop. Decent staff and open until 10pm every day. One one of the Co-op directors was on the radio a year or so back saying how their goal is for everyone local to treat the shop as their giant personal fridge so they don't have to do a big weekly shopping expedition. He was quite right, I call in several times a week and rarely do a "big shop" nowadays.

Edit to add, oh and yes, the vegetables always manage to look faintly tired....

[AleisterCrowley]

Anecdote of my own...

Thought I'd call in at the big(ish) M&S Foodhall on the A4 into Reading yesterday as I was passing, but just in time noticed a queue to get in snaking around the car park and about 100 yards long. Amazing! Even the shop attached to the petrol station opposite had a queue of about 15 people waitng to get in. This was about 3.00pm.

I didn't know there was one coming in from the west - or were you over east and coming in via Woodley?

[Mike4]

Anecdote of my own...

Thought I'd call in at the big(ish) M&S Foodhall on the A4 into Reading yesterday as I was passing, but just in time noticed a queue to get in snaking around the car park and about 100 yards long. Amazing! Even the shop attached to the petrol station opposite had a queue of about 15 people waitng to get in. This was about 3.00pm.

I didn't know there was one coming in from the west - or were you over east and coming in via Woodley?

Yes the Woodley one...

And that Sainbury's you mentioned earlier at Calcot, that was built when I lived in Tilehurst in the early 80s. The car park is huge but the marked out spaces always seem particularly cramped. Do you notice this too? I reckon they are about 4" or 6" narrower than newer supermarket car park spaces!

[bungeejumper]

The Co-op in the village is pretty good actually- nice staff and a reasonable selection for the size. When I lived in Slough it was difficult to buy 'real' food after 4pm on a Sunday, but the Co-op is open 7am-10pm, 7 days a week -which is handy.
It's noticeably more expensive than Sainsburys for fresh meat/veg etc, but one pays for the convenience..

I am a big fan of Co-ops and Spars in villages, where they have an essential role to play. They cater for the non-drivers, the less affluent, and the rest of us whenever we run out of something and can't be @rsed to drive to the supermarket. They also serve as social meeting points, not that that's an easy matter these days. And as charging stations for PAYG phones and PAYG gas meter keys. And somewhere to shelter when you're waiting for the bus in the rain.

Ours had to close because it was - frankly - appallingly run. Agreed, it's always a struggle for a small shopkeeper to guess in advance how many cauliflowers he can sell in the next fortnight, and he can't get fresh meat in bulk, so he pays top dollar all the way for pre-packaged stuff. But once you get high prices and iffy availability, the rot sets in and people tend to drift elsewhere.

These places can also get blown off the map by a local petrol station or a garden centre setting up a shop of its own. But conversely, WFH must have brought them some new business. Some owners just manage it better than others, and ours just wasn't born for the task. A pity.

BJ

[AleisterCrowley]

...

Yes the Woodley one...

And that Sainbury's you mentioned earlier at Calcot, that was built when I lived in Tilehurst in the early 80s. The car park is huge but the marked out spaces always seem particularly cramped. Do you notice this too? I reckon they are about 4" or 6" narrower than newer supermarket car park spaces!

Well, I don't drive, but the car park always seems to be a bit of a mess. It's not pedestrian friendly so I have to watch out for people reversing out and not looking. Of course there's a big IKEA down the hill from there now, so the traffic is worse (and a Porsche dealer, in case you want a new 911 and meatballs after doing the Sainsbury's shop)
I'm sure you know about them, but there are an Aldi and Lidl next to each other on the A4 just before you get into Calcot - about 100yds after the Burghfield turn heading west, near the George and Dragon. Getting the bus up there is one of my 'treats' (what a sad life...)

[PinkDalek]

... Edit to add, oh and yes, the vegetables always manage to look faintly tired....

That's no way to describe your fellow shoppers. Some of us may feel offended.

PD
Tired of Tier 4

[redsturgeon]

... Edit to add, oh and yes, the vegetables always manage to look faintly tired....

That's no way to describe your fellow shoppers. Some of us may feel offended.

PD
Tired of Tier 4

PD never to be accused of missing a chance to rehash an old spitting image joke!

I was feeling pea'd off myself now you mention it.

John

[tjh290633]

I have just been through our village twice, taking Mrs TJH to her hairdresser and fetching her back. Queues at the Greengrocer and the Post Office, but the CooP seemed to be queue free. People walking along with big sticks of brussels sprouts.

Nearly time to head for the pub and our booked meal.

TJH

[redsturgeon]

Drove into the city today to leave my car for it's MOT. The station and city centre were both really quiet, back to levels of the first lockdown in March.

We are in tier 2.

John

[Mike4]

I have just been through our village twice, taking Mrs TJH to her hairdresser and fetching her back. Queues at the Greengrocer and the Post Office, but the CooP seemed to be queue free. People walking along with big sticks of brussels sprouts.

Nearly time to head for the pub and our booked meal.

TJH

Mind you don't catch anything...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/heal ... tions.html

[todthedog]

Local Aldi out of gin, unavailable online. Indeed panic, Mrs T has been using it as bleach substitute (following presidential advice) for internal cleanliness. Help needed.

[scotia]

The Co-op in the village is pretty good actually- nice staff and a reasonable selection for the size. When I lived in Slough it was difficult to buy 'real' food after 4pm on a Sunday, but the Co-op is open 7am-10pm, 7 days a week -which is handy.
It's noticeably more expensive than Sainsburys for fresh meat/veg etc, but one pays for the convenience..

Somebody has to pay for the political donations to Labour MP's.

https://party.coop/people/mps/

A candidate for the apostrophe sin-bin?

[stevensfo]

The Co-op in the village is pretty good actually- nice staff and a reasonable selection for the size. When I lived in Slough it was difficult to buy 'real' food after 4pm on a Sunday, but the Co-op is open 7am-10pm, 7 days a week -which is handy.
It's noticeably more expensive than Sainsburys for fresh meat/veg etc, but one pays for the convenience..

I am a big fan of Co-ops and Spars in villages, where they have an essential role to play. They cater for the non-drivers, the less affluent, and the rest of us whenever we run out of something and can't be @rsed to drive to the supermarket. They also serve as social meeting points, not that that's an easy matter these days. And as charging stations for PAYG phones and PAYG gas meter keys. And somewhere to shelter when you're waiting for the bus in the rain.

Ours had to close because it was - frankly - appallingly run. Agreed, it's always a struggle for a small shopkeeper to guess in advance how many cauliflowers he can sell in the next fortnight, and he can't get fresh meat in bulk, so he pays top dollar all the way for pre-packaged stuff. But once you get high prices and iffy availability, the rot sets in and people tend to drift elsewhere.

These places can also get blown off the map by a local petrol station or a garden centre setting up a shop of its own. But conversely, WFH must have brought them some new business. Some owners just manage it better than others, and ours just wasn't born for the task. A pity.

BJ

We had a Spar in our village for decades. Disappeared early 80s. We were sometimes told by our Mum to go and get some things without money, but the shopkeeper just added it all up. It was close to a small hardware store where I bought everything I needed to make a radio (never worked), and opposite to a sweetshop called 'Jane's' where we bought gobstoppers and acid drops (my favourite). We also had a Police house, an Antique shop a VERY busy newsagents/post office and someone who worked for the dairy where families could get their milk if they'd run out. Despite the village doubling in size, this has all gone, but the village still has a Butcher shop and a few others. Almost every single pub has gone, leaving two pub/hotels. Goodness knows how they make money. There are cars parked everywhere in the village, and the Primary school is so full, they have to turn village residents away, but it's quite rare to see a human being actually walking along the road!

Steve