what has happened to Asda?

[KnottedTwine]

Our nearest big supermarket is an Asda, I have shopped there for most of my shopping for at least 10 years, probably more like 15. Over the last year to 18 months it's gone rapidly downhill. Although the fruit/veg sections are usually pretty full, there are large gaps in many of the ambient shelves. Random stuff like salted rice cakes I haven't seen in weeks. They seem to have people working filling the shelves during the day rather than in the evenings like they did previously. Cleanliness standards in the shop has slipped. They have started using the most awful muzak instead of artists/songs you'd recognise.

People love to moan about Brexit but none of the other local-ish stores seem to be having these issues. Yes there is an Aldi fairly close by which I'm sure has poached some of the custom but it can't be the full explanation - is this just our local store which has a crap manager, or a more general issue?

Yes I have been an Asda online customer for - well, as long as they've been delivering in my area which must be - well more than 15 years, maybe as many as 18 years. They were brilliant during lockdown and never missed a week - unlike Ocado who kept asking my octogenarian parents if they had a letter from their GP to say they were clinically vulnerable. In the end I ordered them stuff from Asda and took it over on the weeks Ocado didn't deliver.

I am noticing lots of unavailable items too, and they don't like substituting any more, especially if you tend to order the cheaper products anyway. The delivery guy told me that there are often empty shelves of basic products - like milk or bread - as if the person doing the ordering doesn't know what they're doing.

I do hope they sort it out, I would hate to see them fail after all these years.

I went last Monday and no potatoes apart from 4 bags of 4. Notice said supply issues. Went the next day as i was near and lots of potatoes.
Def declined and I always liked their deliveries but too many subs now. Milk dates not as good as they were either. Hope it gets better again.

Our one isn't great
I gave up on it a while back
It is also a bit grubby in there and the staff look miserable. Can't say I blame them

Avoid our big local one, its just chaos, rather drive 15 mins to sainsburys now. Used to buy same items each week when we did use it and noticed the big price increases....not 3p or 8p on items but sometimes 25p or 30p so its not even cheap anymore.

I hope the new CEO makes some changes as it’s clear it’s been on the slide. Today I couldn’t get caffeine free Diet Coke (gold bottle), cooked chicken pieces or plain Pringles.

I have also noticed this in our local store.

in particular about 6-9 months ago they stopped virtually all of their lovely fresh bakery goods. Now replaced with bake at home versions and horrible tasting packs of rolls 🤮

I'm shocked at this. I went to our Asda today and got everything I wanted except raspberries, blueberries and green grapes. I didn't notice any obvious gaps in the shelves other than in fresh fruit and veg.

Clothes, Hallowe'en and seasonal were all well stocked.

We have other supermarkets near us and, to be honest, Morrisons and Sainsburys are the ones that seems to have lots of gaps and to have gone down

I agree entirely. I now do my shopping at Aldi have done for the last 18 months when I felt Asda has got more expensive and declined in quality. The stores that we have in our city look messy disorganised and low in stock

The fallout between the brothers as due to one of them betraying his wife and family. The whole family have now turned on him.

But fresh fruit and veg should be staples to any diet so that's a pretty big one to have gaps in.

Agree. Blueberries/graoes etc are things we eat a couple of times a day. Today they only had the finest blueberries available. At 12pm in one of their biggest superstores, if not the biggest, I think that is extremely poor. Bizarrely and conversely, I've never seen so much ham in my whole life in one shop.

The whole business is loaded with debt. So I assume that is why they are finding it near impossible to compete on price as there's no leeway to cut anything

To those saying about Tesco going bust, they made twice as much profit as the next nearest supermarket. Think it was Sainsbury's with the lowest profits

It is in my shopping but this is in one of the most deprived areas in a very deprived town so I'm not sure it applies for that many of their shoppers!
All the other fruits and veg seemed to be fine though.

The toilets at my local branch is absolutely disgusting there used to be posters up saying they had won awards for their toilets most definitely not anymore.
I stopped shopping at my local branch unless it's an emergency purchase and I can go to the further supermarkets whilst they can't do the bear basics of hygiene I can't spend my money there.
Plus their veggies are tasteless somehow?

this is from June

amp.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jun/07/asda-owning-issa-brothers-divide-empire-zuber-sells-supermarket-stake

I'd forgotten about that @Andnowshesatoddler - my local Asda used to win "best toilet in Scotland" awards. That was about 10 years ago though.

Seems they went ' down the pan ' then