Not to buy stuff online from companies that think the North doesn't exist?

[wordgirl]

I'm looking at you Uniqlo - loads of branches in London and Home Counties and nothing at all in the rest of the country. Is our money not good enough?
Today I have had an e-mail from Rituals inviting me to attend a special evening. Very nice but I'm in Leeds and my closest branch is over 100 miles away in Leicester whereas there are 11 branches in London. I'm not likely to buy smelly stuff online without being able to sniff it beforehand so what's the point?

Yes, Budgens are franchises I think, meaning that some are no more upmarket than a local Londis. The smart ones are pretty smart, however - e.g. Upper St in Islington and Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswolds.

According to the Manchester evening news via google uniqlo is going north again but got badly burnt when it first opened in the U.K. so taking it slowly.

Speaking of Booths, I noticed the other day that Amazon Prime are now selling a range of their own-brand goods alongside the Morrison's groceries. Anything world-changing that I should try?

I'm in Hull and all our shops are shit (but we do have a Waitrose!)

I am just waiting on ocado expanding would love an Ocado . We just got a flying tiger a year(ish) ago was very exciting untill you realise it is just a tatt shop

It's annoying but it doesn't stop me ordering products from companies that only have stores in the South.

As well as the ones listed by thecraicdealer Northern Ireland money is also unwanted by Morrison’s, Waitrose, Aldi etc. we are also conned for postage from bigoted companies, abortion is illegal, equal marriage is not allowed and we’re simply sneered at by the english to ‘get over it’ etc. I wouldn’t give money to a company that thinks we’re so stupid that we would pay extra to use Royal Mail, and gladly cancel the entire order if the company tries to pull that scam. (N.I. people, there’s an organisation you can report this postage scamming to, they were asking for people’s submissions recently on twitter)

I have never been to Booths but just seen there is one 5 miles away.
I must go

Our booths now has those amazon locker things so I could order anything band collect it from booths

There's one in Oxford?!!! Omg, i take it all back, this thread was worth it just for finding that out. (I don't live there but pass through often). Though why the bloody hell don't Uniqlo mention its existence on their own website map?

Of course you're not BU to avoid using a shop that doesn't have a physical presence near you, if physical presence is important to you.

The issue of disposable income is an interesting one. I'm another who doesn't believe that map, simply because of the south west. Is it counting the second homers income?

Barbarafseville mentioned a theory that median disposable income could be higher outside London due to housing costs. That could well be true with people who are paying for mortgages or private rent. Wouldn't surprise me at all. However there are a significant minority of people in London who have paid off mortgages or who are in SH... so there's that to factor in too.

In the new Westgate centre frogsoup!

wordgirl - so Uniqlo has loads of branches in London and virtually nowhere else (ie the only other places being Bluewater and Oxford, as Kingston is in London... and Bluewater is a massive shopping centre very near London which is awful to drive to and horrible to visit), and you are so ignorant of geography that you think the whole of the South of England therefore has easy access to these shops and that this is therefore about a North/South divide? I'm sure you could make a trip to London just as easily as I could...

Uniqlo used to be in the Arndale in Manchester, I bought loads from there as it was really good. I'm guessing it didn't do very well and so it closed.

FFS.

A retail company succeeds, it opens a branch a few miles away where the owners are nearby, it spreads to the net town, then the next, and in a few cases eventually becomes national.

But that takes time and in the meantime it is regional.

Shop where you like, bricks-and-mortar or retail, but don't jump on the moral high horse over it.

Ocado doesn't deliver here. I used to love them when I lived in the SE.
Doesn't stop them sending me multiple emails saying "We miss you". I have responded explaining the lack of delivery, but no answer from them. Except "we miss you"

I'm sure you could make a trip to London just as easily as I could...

I’ve just checked. Leeds to London on the train is just over 2 hours.
Truro to London, direct train 4 and a half hours.

It is not a North/South thing, it’s a London and outside London thing.

Yes fair enough. For North please read Not London

Leeds to London on the train is an easy day trip, but it's hellishly expensive unless you book months in advance especially if you want to go for the day and arrive in the morning and leave in the afternoon or early evening.

I'm just about to send my Uniqlo returns back using the free service.

There's a Waitrose in Manchester (possibly two) and one in Altrincham as well.

They have (or at least last time I looked) a store in the Trafford Centre. Pretty Northern.

I thought Booths was a Lancashire/Cheshire thing. I didn't know they have shops down south. They make Waitrose look like Nisa.

gussy there’s never been a Uniqlo in the Trafford Centre. They had two Manchester stores, Market St and in West One in Eccles, but they both closed in 2004.