tesco - is it that bad

[swallowthree]

Planning permission being sought for a big new supermarket (maybe tesco) in my town. Is that such bad news ?

duvetdayplease
"It is not a singe supermarket causing the problem, but it is naive to call it a free market."

Did somebody use that term?

Apologies, you said market economy. I rather extrapolated from the rest of your post regarding the housing market (which is a free market).

On the subject of actual quality, I find that Tesco's meat, fruit and veg are just not very nice, and I'd be very pissed off if I had only the choice of Tesco. Think pale raw chicken, and fruit that goes off more quickly. Today, rather than do two shops (Tesco for non-fresh basics that they can't ruin, and Sainsbury's/Waitrose for meat and fruit), I just went to ... er.... Sainsbury's. However, last week, my "fresh"/"quality" shop was at Waitrose.

Markets and ethnic food shops (the mini-chain of the Turkish Food Centre is particularly excellent, for fruit/veg, rice, pulses, ethnic/foodie stuff) are also great quality and price; we've recently moved, though, so that's not an option any more.

Tee, it's interesting what you say about your town in n ireland. When I visit home (i live in scotland now) I'm always surprised about how many independent shops there still are there. I think there is a very different shopping culture in norn iron than the rest of the uk

Nice one thesecondcoming.

And the shoes I stupidly bought for my daughter from Tesco three weeks ago have now fallen apart. Rubbish shop selling crap.

I imagine the 500 people employed in the Tesco I work at may disagree. How many people do small independant businesses employ? I firmly believe there is a place for both kinds of shop.
I have related this story on MN before (possibly under my previous name). I work on the checkouts (evenings only to fit in with DH work) and one evening a (rooughly) middle-aged well dressed man came to my till. I asked him about bags & packing, the usual stuff. I was on the receiving end of a tirade about 'Fucking supermarkets' taking over the world, putting small businesses out of business etc. This went on for 5-10 mins as it was a huge shop by this gent. I was pissed off by this point (really not my fault is it? Im only a checkout operator) and asked hime why he shopped in Tesco then? His reply? Small traders aren't open when he needs them!
By all means be annoyed at the whole thing, but remember how much employment they can provide for an area - a godsend in our area, as Tesco & Morrisons (the other supermarket here) employed more staff after the local Paper Mill shut down, with a loss of a few hundred jobs. I've probably just outed which area I'm in, but I don't care!
:)

Tescos are the work of the devil, we pay a premium to live where we do, and part of the character of the place was the small local independent business delis/clothes shops/cafes/restaurants. now it's becoming increasingly chainified and is totally losing it's character and becoming just another namesless, souless suburb on the outskirts of a big city. And Tescos are the worst we're flanked by 2 of the monstrosities, literally and they've just got planning permission to open another tescos express smack bang in the middle of a row of bars and restaurants near to the fishmongers, butchers and cheese deli. The council are allowing this area to go to the pan with all the chains, and Tesco is the nail in the coffin (after the god damn weatherspoons pubs that have opened [anger]).

I have now stopped shopping there, this week I travelled 4 miles to Waitrose instead, and if I need milk/bread etc. late doors I'll go the the co-op.

Tesco are SHIT! They have killed my local town before they have even arrived. There are empty shops all along the high street, which the landlords are unable to rent because people are frightened of opening and then being forced out of business. Having a small independent shop is hard work. Think £10-15kpa rent, £5kpa + business rates. Electricity, water, shop fitting, stock, wages, advertising... You have to earn considerable amounts just to break even. To an individual, Running a shop is no party. Tesco have millions of pounds to invest, legal advisors, you name it. They sell stuff for less, because they force producers to sell it for nothing. They buy in bulk and the producer takes the punch so that Tesco get their mark up.
Tesco produce is shit. The fruit and veg is rubbish, it cn be stored for up to 2 years, it is tasteless and goes off quickly. Why? Because they demand uniformity, speed of production and cheap prices. None of these are conducive to quality and taste. Meat is the same. Fast growing and uniform. The price Tesco pay? Pence, sold at a huge mark up.
Tesco in town means increased traffic, more noise, minimum wage jobs with crap staff care, and a loss of small lock businesses. In return you get to buy exactly the crap cheap produce that Tesco want you to buy! You may think that you are choosing exactly what you want to buy, but you are just being force fed whatever the supermarket have in stock.
I hate big supermarkets and steer clear whenever possible.
(oh and it's not just Tesco I'm opposed to, any of the big chains could be mentioned instead.)

I thought Tesco was one of the better paid supermarkets? However I agree their fresh produce is shit, their range is shit and they can be rather expensive. I tend to shop there for non food when needed outside normal working hours and get fresh stuff on Saturdays from various stores.

I got paid reasonably well when I worked for Tescos (stacking shelves). Far more than the 3 pound something an hour I used to get working in the local newsagents.

As a teenager jobs in the big chains (tesco, safeway, kwiksave, mcdonalds etc) were sought after as they paid much better than the independents (normally had a much better grasp of employment law too)

It has recently been announced that a tescos is opening up about a mile from us. I'm really pleased. We have a co-op, a marks and spencers food place and an ASDA about a mile away as well as a deli, bakeries, a greengrocer and butcher. I can't see the Tesco's putting any food places out of business - except maybe the co-op which isn't great.