Rate the shops: posh or not

[Codswallop20]

I will start you off.

Level 1

Lidl, farmfoods

Level 2

Aldi, Iceland,

Level 3

Asda, Tesco

Level 4

Morrison's, Sainsbury's

Level 5

M&S

Level 6

Waitrose, Booths

Level 7

Harrods

Level 8

Fortnum and Mason

Discuss.

(Entirely light-hearted and for entertainment purposes only, couldn't actually care less and have no aspirations of posh!)

Inspired by the other posh thread, and FYI ferrero rocher are still posh enough to make me feel somewhat inadequate.

Don't know but Waitrose has reliably delivered to me twice a month throughout pandemic shut downs. Supplemented by Iceland every 6 weeks or so. So hurrah for both of them, the rest can go hang.

@LemonRoses

Local shops aren’t on the list. Places like Goodwood farm shop and Sharphams are definitely nicer than supermarkets. Getting it from the farm down the road and through local ‘exchange of excess’ is best. We haven’t paid for eggs for years. We don’t buy much veg or fruit in summer/autumn and we grow our own pork.A local surgeon uses one pig to make sausages and cure hams that are shared around.. Lamb gets dropped off and the fish man brings locally caught fish and seafood around in his refrigerated van. Venison is road kill divided up by the surgeon if anyone drops off a carcass. Pheasant is freely available. Just need the local bakery, if you don’t make your own bread.

Marks and Spencer’s is mainly prepackaged items. Fortnum’s is nice for gifts. Rod’s is fun for a shop, when in town, but you’re not comparing like with like.

Booths isn’t available in the south, so less smart simply because of location; it’s fun for holidays and that’s their main market, isn’t it?

The rest is really down to the housekeepers choice and convenience.

WTAF??? Booths is “less smart” because it’s only in the north??? And it’s only for the holiday market??? That’s really offensive actually. Do you think no one lives up here? I go to Booths every bloody week, as do plenty of other people.

Aldi and Lidl are the same

It hadn't occurred to me ASDA / Sainsburys / Morrison's / Tesco were more or less posh than one another. Prices are similar and which one you go to often depends on where you live?

Saying that, I prefer Morrison's.

But then my family have always shopped at Morrison's as they were local.

Also agree Waitrose is above M&S

I'm in Scotland, Booths is only available in the South for us.

And yes, it's a holiday choice for us as I can't really justify a 5-6 hour round trip weekly, but if I lived near one it would be my regular supermarket.

When you put it on a plate, add your seasoning and eat it, all tastes the same regardless of where it is sold.

Coop is a funny one because it’s extortionate but normally more of a convenience shop

Most corner shops are very expensive but often not posh. Our local one looks like it was last revamped in about 1982 but still charges £2 for a bag of flour that is about 60p in Tesco.

It depends where you live and the quality if the local management.

Sainsburys in Wandsworth - dreadful and with some of the rudest staff I have ever encountered
Waitrose in Wandsworth - wonderfully managed and laid out
Sainsburys in Putney - small but so helpful
Waitrose in Putney ers always seems a mess
Asda Roehampton is just a mess and staff are unhelpful

We have moved to Surrey now:
Top to bottom locally
Sainsburys
Waitrose/M&S but for bits and pieces or meat fish counters in Waitrose
Tesco (too far away and too big - here they are in not such nice areas)
Aldi - the packing area is ergonomically awful
Iceland - never lived near one to comment
Lidl - never lived near one to comment
Co-op underrated and the small shop has free parking unlike the Sainsbury's local so that's a win.

Fortnums is for Christmas stocking fillers and chocolates/truffles
Harrods became tacky in the 90s.

For me bottom would be Aldi, Tesco and Asda (all a bit grim where I live)

And Lidl , Sainsbury’s a level above

And top is of course the local farm shop

Lidl more posh than Iceland! Definitely level 2 with Aldi and I'd put Iceland into level 1 with Farmfoods

If Booths has made a regional entry, can I make a plea for Roy’s of Wroxham? (Though not in the same bracket: probably closer to Morrison’s).

I hated kwik save as a kid. Our local one used to literally have stuff piled up to the ceiling. Apart from being ridiculously impractical that no normal person could reach the items, it felt really claustrophobic and I was scared in case you ever got trapped by the things toppling over.

Has anyone mentioned Happy Shopper? Does that still exist? That's pretty low budget. (But less risk of cut-price baked bean avalanches, than kwik save)

@jessstan2

When you put it on a plate, add your seasoning and eat it, all tastes the same regardless of where it is sold.

It doesn't to me but I realise that some people don't seem to notice food differences so much.

That's not a criticism, just the way it is. Some people just eat for fuel as well.

I was brought up in poverty so it's not like I had a well cultivated palate, but even as a child I'd rather go hungry (quite often) than eat what was available.

I have a liking for nice food and I appreciate every day that I can afford to buy it unlike my parents could when I was a child.

We don't have Waitrose, Morrison's, Aldi or Farm Foods in NI. But I do think Sainsbury's is a bit more posh than Tesco, mainly because of the prices, although that orange branding is a bit dodgy

Asda is a bit lower down the scale than Tesco or Sainsbury's.

Iceland needs its own category. I have a soft spot for them because they opened branches in NI during the Troubles, when no other sod would take a risk. So my view of them is clouded by loyalty!

Marks and Spencer is as as posh as it gets for a supermarket in NI!

Harrods is not posh? Have you been into the food hall?! The tea is some of the best I’ve ever had. The cakes are a sight to behold. Always treat ourselves to a few slices! I’d say the food hall in Harrods has much better fresh produce than F&M. F&M’s biscuits are the best and the packaging is beautiful. Their afternoon teas are totally overrated.

@FunnyWonder

We don't have Waitrose, Morrison's, Aldi or Farm Foods in NI. But I do think Sainsbury's is a bit more posh than Tesco, mainly because of the prices, although that orange branding is a bit dodgy

Asda is a bit lower down the scale than Tesco or Sainsbury's.

Iceland needs its own category. I have a soft spot for them because they opened branches in NI during the Troubles, when no other sod would take a risk. So my view of them is clouded by loyalty!

Marks and Spencer is as as posh as it gets for a supermarket in NI!

Didn’t know that about Iceland

I like some Lidl and Aldi products, but they they have restricted stock lines, so I always end up having to go somewhere else as well. Our Lidl staff seem politer that those at Aldi so that makes it posher.

I agree that Morrisons is posher than Tesco or Asda as they sell better herbs and spices, although around here our most deprived town has a Morrisons and the better off one doesn't.

I have no knowledge of Waitrose as there are none near us. Booth's is posh because you don't have to walk past isles and isles of processed food to get to the fresh stuff, and they do great local food. Expensive though.

Sainsbury’s is much better than Tesco. Tesco has tried to model itself on Aldi/lidl and not quite got it right.

Food prices have risen considerably lately. A weekly shop of around £80-£90 now costs me £100-110. I’ve therefore decided it’s worth paying £10 or £15 more to ‘enjoy’ the experience (as I only get out once a week anyway) and switched to Waitrose! What a difference in quality.......Tesco/sainsburys have raised prices and reduced variety and are royally shafting their customers!!!!

Aldi is much cheaper but the checkout speed scares the shit out of me.

Tesco above Sainsbury's? Never!

Harrods and Fortnum's are hollow relics of themselves now - just cynical tourist destinations, selling a fake faux posh image so people can have the logoed green or blue bags, . Harrods was the first to go but Fortnums is as bad now- it’s all prepackaged and overpriced and like a theme park.

Such a shame - Harrods used to be a proper, high class department store ( worked there in the sales as a student) with very high standards of service. The sales themselves were excellent value.

Fortnum's had a wonderful deli, and stocked foods you couldn’t get elsewhere - again with highly trained and long serving staff - we went there last year to pick up some tea ( had had some in a hamper gift which my husband particularly liked ) and came out very saddened.

I find this weird I've always thought of tesco as the lowest of the low along with asda

I think Sainsburys is posher than Tesco. And Morrisons is on a par with Tesco, at best.

However, that might be because I'm in the south, where Morrisons weren't really a thing until they took over the old Safeway stores. Consequently, most of the Morrisons stores are old and shabby and always look grubby (special shout out for Caterham Morrisons, which has the stinkiest "fresh" fish counter I have ever encountered). Morrisons up north are much nicer ime.

And I'd put M&S, Booths and Waitrose on the same level. (Bloody love Booths, I wish they'd open branches in the south).

@FelicityBeedle

Least posh to most posh Heron foods/farm foods Corner shop Iceland Aldi/Lidl Asda/Morrison’s Tesco Sainsbury’s Waitrose M&S Harris’s Fort bum and mason

M&S above Waitrose purely because I’ve never heard of anyone regularly shopping there, it’s always for bits. Sainsbury’s poshest of the regular shops because it’s so bloody expensive

@FelicityBeedle Not sure about Fort Bum & Mason that one might have to go to the very bottom .

@JellyfishandShells Bit off topic, but I feel the same about Hamley's, where my grandparents would take us for a special treat before Christmas, in the 70's.
Took my youngest DD there a couple of years ago and it felt like an indoor market.

I haven't been to Liberty's for a while, but that's also gone the same way.

What new level of fuckwittage is this thread anyway?