You don't choose to go to co-op

I’ll actively choose it over little Tescos for my work lunch visit. Love the bean wrap

My little local one is absolutely shite and is staffed by a line up of Little Britain characters (who I kind of adore). They never have enough of anything except for the exact same things that get yellow stickered every day in vast quantities and thrown in an unrelated fridge shelf for rummaging. The whole shop is like an oversized mystery bag from Ready Steady Cook: you go in for ingredients for parmigiana, and you come out with a selection of feck knows what. My cooking has become a lot more creative though, I think I’d have smashed rationing.

Own brand crisps and foil tray macaroni cheese are top tier though, weirdly.

I need to know more about a night out that involves a Charlie caterpillar cake 😃

Ooh they are delicious but it’s not nice when you eat a whole bag then spend the next day feeling like your mouth’s been stripped with turps!

In a place near me they have little robots they send to deliver your shopping! Best thing ever, it brightens my day whenever I see one trundling along the pavement.

Apparently they ask passers by to press the button on the street crossing! 🥰

I love the little Co op in our village and I miss having it near. We moved only about a 20 minute walk away but I really miss the convenience of dashing over the road. I recall one BH weekend where I or my DH went over about 10 times. They had everything we needed.

Some of their irresistible range is very good, especially the aged beef and the irresistible bacon. I second the irresistible macaroni cheese.

The fresh bread in our local one is amazing. It’s all gone by 9:30am at the weekends. Staff are lovely.

their finest type sausages are my kids favourites. I do think they have the nicest meal deal lunches. They do a barley snd beetroot salad which admitted doesn’t look great but tastes really nice. They do quite good yellow sticker reductions in my one too. I wouldn’t do a full shop but I do like to hoover up the bargains.

I hate our coop. So expensive and pretty rubbish. But the staff are absolutely brilliant. Great chat and hard as nails (needed in my area) plus I can get there and back in the time it takes me to think about going elsewhere!

I do a big shop at Aldi, with occasional trips to a big Sainsbury’s, but also have a Sainsbury’s Local & a Co-Op for top-ups. Much prefer the Co-Op. Although they had pretty much the same circumstances to cope with, Co-Op handled the mad covid situation way better. The staff are lovely, & if I ever win the lottery I’ll definitely give some to the staff (who have all still been there since 2019). And Which? Surveyed ‘posh’ salt & vinegar crisps and I’m pretty sure that Co-Op sea salt & Chardonnay Vinegar came out as the best.

Mine is great. They do COOK ready meals.

I thought that until I realised that they sponsored a massive fireworks display in my area. Set off next to a field of livestock.

I used to love my local Co-Op. It stocked the dog biscuits my dog ate (Harrington's), and I was partial to their own brand white zinfandel wine. It also had a Post Office counter, which was handy.
Sadly, it closed a couple of years ago. The unit is still empty.

I live in a large city, and even here there are no Co-Op "supermarkets" left that could be in any way compared to even the smallest "proper" supermarket.

From 1997 to 2002, I worked in a Co-Op non-food store, and in all those years I never set foot in a food store, despite getting a staff discount, because the nearest supermarket was miles away from where I lived, and even with the discount it was not financially comparable to the larger Tesco nearer to home.

I only ever look upon the Co-Op stores as I would do a Tesco Express, Sainsbury's Local, or a corner shop; as in, I would only go there for emergency items (or indeed an item), or to buy a sandwich. That's it. In all of those shops, a bottle of cheap bleach for example can be almost double what you'd pay elsewhere, and often they only stock branded goods which I wouldn't ordinarily buy when the supermarket does their own brand for less.

But even as an emergency, the Co-Op is still the last place I'd go to while I am blessed to be able to run a car, indeed I probably drive past two or three to get to a Tesco Express.

OTOH, I've had to arrange three funerals in the last 18 months and all were done through the Co-Op. I have no idea how the prices compare, but the service I got was outstanding. They couldn't have done more for us.

Love the Co-Op, brilliant store not far from us. Shop the deals, do some very decent own brand ready meals which I buy on offer, you can't go wrong!

It is our nearest supermarket, so, for convenience, we occasionally pick up something there, but it is vastly overpriced and personally I'd rather walk the extra km and go to Aldi.

I only venture in if I'm desperate and can't be arsed with or justify the 12 mile round trip to our nearest proper supermarket (joys of rural life). Yes I can afford it but just not willing to pay the high prices for basics e.g milk.

@weirdoboelady I was just about to post about how variable they are. I’m in London and my local one is great. But then it’s a roll of the dice with others I’ve been to. They can be super grotty, or really quite good.

The sticker discounts are brilliant at my local. Never seen another shop that discounts as much.

If there was a line of supermarkets all in a row directly outside my house, I'd probably choose a combo of the lidls and the Waitrose. Third choice Tesco. If every other was shut I'd then pick co-op or Morrisons. So yeah, he has a point. It's not a destination of choice, more of necessity.
I think there are co-ops in small villages and stuff where there's no bigger supermarkets nearby. So for that they must be handy if you live somewhere a bit rural.

I'll add that the staff at our store are lovely. Very friendly and helpful.

Our Co-op stopped selling meat - too many shoplifters. Well, one mother and daughter team from another part of town. No better or worse than our area...but they came shopping here for meat and then sold it round the doors in their own area.

Our shop now only sells a limited range of ready meals.

Our village one is great. Choose to go every Friday after lunchtime school pick up for nice bread and pastries for Saturday breakfast. DD likes being allowed to go and pick up the odd bit forgotten from the weekly shop while I stay outside with the dog. And I know the staff will be kind if she is slow or gets in a muddle because they see us regularly. They once put my dropped glove behind the till and a member of staff told me it was there when she passed me on the street a few days later.

Love the one in our village, very convenient. Wouldn't do a full shop their but good for those little in between shops.

The Co-op stopped being worth choosing when they got rid of Dividend Stamps you had to lick and stick in your book.

To be fair, there are a couple that I have liked, but my locals have always had terrible service and often very poor choice to go along with the high prices.