Odd / worrying eperience in LIDL tonight.

[eldersis]

I have shopped at ASDA (sheffield) for my main shop for several years but the number of items constantly unavailable or out of stock means I often go to LIDL to get missing items. This week, milk, eggs and all the meat I ordered was unavailable do I took myself off for a second shop.

A maintainance guy was removing every other fluorescent tube in the rows of striplights ! Not replacing but removing. The cashier who I have known for years confirmed this, she also said that they had turned the heating down to the point that staff were wearing fleeces over their uniforms. She was wearing a plain black zip up fleece (no pattern or logo) and her supervisor wasn't happy as it was not official uniform.

So two huge companies seemingly in trouble.

Asda out of stock , no longer sending slightly pricier substitutes OR (as i feel pushing more expensive brands)

LIDL. Halving lighting costs and reducing heating .

Anyone else seeing this in their own regular supermarkets ?
Anyone noticing other odd events ?

Yes. 2 supermarkets. Tescos aisles go dark and then light up when it senses movement which isn't so bad. Morrisons had many aisles in the dark and it was quite difficult to see products at times. Must be hard for people with impaired sight.

Also visited a tkmaxx before Christmas that had no heating at all on. You’d think you wouldn’t notice too much but it was like shopping in the chilled aisle, all over.

Lower end price supermarkets and so tighter profit margins compared to the likes of Sainsbury's and Waitrose at the mid to higher end. They can't up their prices on food too much because being the cheapest is one of their main attractions. So instead they are having to maintain their profits by cutting running costs of the stores.

I think lots of big stores are doing this though. We went to b&q recently and yes I know it's winter but it was absolutely freezing in there, I don't remember it ever being like that before. The staff all looked so cold.

my local morrisons been freezing for weeks, i rush round as fast as possible,my hands are numb after 20 minutes in their,my nose runs like a tap. the staff are fed up cold, people on the tills sat down and very cold,customers keep remarking about it being very cold

Do wonder if it's going to backfire having stores so cold as it stops people from browsing. You just want to get what you came for and get out of there! Good for our pockets but maybe not good for theirs!

Our closest Tesco has had all its lights in fridges and freezers turned off for months now. There’s another nearby that hasn’t.

M&S was freezing the other week. I feel sorry for the staff. They used to be such a great employer. Where has it all gone so bloody wrong?!

I shop online.

I have l underlyings and still stay away from actual shops. But they used to be FAR too hot for me, so personally it would be a bonus for me. But I really feel for the freezing cold staff.

I feel sorry for staff & shoppers where the lighting is too low.

I think when I venture into shops, my phone torch will be in permanent use!

@eldersis why do you think it's strange & worrying?

I hoping my local council do this…the blooming street light beams right into my bedroom all night like the bloody eye of Sauron. They need to start turning them off after midnight or shutting off every other one, I’ll volunteer mine in a shot.

Decades of these big companies being used to making huge huge profits which in the current climate is becoming more challenging to maintain. Their main priority is their shareholders and certainly not their staff at the bottom.

M&S had turned their heating off a few weeks ago and the staff said they were freezing.

companies and us have been tasked by the government to save energy at the minute. Fuel bills have dramatically increased for everyone so makes sense to make savings whenever they can. Lots of companies will be looking to make even more savings by changing working practices ,including staff uniforms to allow the heating to be reduced. These will be a lot cheaper and easier than replacing items such as freezers with more efficient ones.

Sainsbury's have have their lights off and true school I work in has half the lights off- the building is badly designed so we need the lights in all day even in the summer. We're slowly getting used to being half in the dark. Oddly we turn the lights in shortly after the children have gone home, as by that time of day you actual can't see without all the lights on in a room.

My gym has turned off the jacuzzi, but I didn't use it anyway.

A lot of what goes on is not as it seems. My daughter works at a well known fast food restaurant and they have bins in the restaurant for recycling etc, she said then all the bags just get dumped together out the back in one large bin, not separate bins for food waste, recycling waste etc and she says she can’t believe the amount of waste that is produced and the amount of food that is thrown away.

Is your caps lock broken?

When our newer Aldi opened I thought the amount of lighting in there was a bit much. Even during the day you can see them all lit in rows from outside. My autistic son loves looking at them though.

My local hairdresser can't afford to wash the towels anymore, so when you get your hair washed you don't get a towel now.

I would imagine it also has to do with the recent reports re: energy wastage and blackouts. I think places in the US have been doing this for a while now. In California I always notice stores like Target with signs out saying “We’ve dimmed the lights and turned down the air to conserve energy and reduce strain during peak demand hours.” I’ve seen it the last few summers where I live in the Northeast as well, so I think it is catching on all over as a way to lessen the burden on the infrastructure when demand is high.

I noticed just before Christmas that lots of shops were no longer being heated - bloody miserable for the staff I thought and discouraging the customers to spend longer than the minimum in there. It doesn't seem that bad now, recently most shops seem to be heated but I have noticed lights being dimmed in a few places, WH Smith is one, can't remember the others.
I've also noticed supermarkets and other shops with massive gaps on the shelves, but no-one I point this out to seems to think much of it. It seems quite worrying to me.

At least people aren’t having to do the supermarket shop by candlelight as they did for a period in the early 70s. I was in my local Tesco today and overheard a conversation between staff saying that Asda was in trouble. No idea if it is or not.

My local Waterstones had no heating in December. The staff looked perishing cold

Morrisons in our town have also dimmed the lights a lot. Sainsbury and Waitrose haven’t.

Although our Sainsbury’s has taken out a couple of fruit and veg aisles and replaced them with freezers - I find that a bit concerning, that they’ll be reducing the fresh food offering.

I haven't noticed supermarkets because I shop online, but the last 3 hotels I stayed in when travelling for work (2 different chains) were really bloody cold.

My colleague has started taking a small fan heater with her when she stays at Premier Inn.