Is it just Coop or is everywhere so bloody expensive?

[Flexilexy]

Coop is my only local shop so normally I do a larger shop in Tesco/Lidl. On Friday I realised I had one nappy left so popped to Coop on my way home. It was £11 for a pack of nappies. £11 bloody quid! I refused to pay that for 36 nappies (which think that was the pack size, might be wrong) so rushed to another town for Waitrose where I got two of the same size packs on offer for £12.
Last night popped in to grab some milk and fruit (don’t get me started on the price of fruit). They had little leaflets in the baskets listing what the food bank needs most so I thought I’d buy some of the stuff listed.
A tin pf corned beef was £4! In fact pretty much all tinned meat for £4+, which I’m guessing it why the food bank has a shortage.

Is it just me or are these prices insane?

I believe they’ve owned one stop since 2003. That’s what their website says and I remember them taking it over. They used to be franchises. Our village one was and now isn’t

Over 300 of "One Stop" branded stores are currently privately owned franchises. I have 3 clients who have One Stop franchised stores in relatively small villages. One used to be a Spar, the other two were Londis. One client is opening up a new One Stop store in the next few weeks - he bought it empty as it closed down last year, it had previously been a Premier store.

Lots of posters saying Co-ops are just convenience stores or corner shops Clearly you don't get out of your bubble much! In many rural areas Co-ops are proper supermarkets, the same size as a Lidl/Aldi but about 3 times as expensive. Our nearest Co-op is huge and sells white goods as well as food. And yep, they're a massive rip off. I know they're a co-op but so is Waitrose, and yet somehow Waitrose manages to be a) cheaper and b) have far better ranges so 🤷‍♀️

Coop is more expensive because you're paying for the convenience. I do think all shops are ridiculously priced at the moment though

Were they pampers? Pampers are insanely expensive, £10 for 36 in my Tesco whereas Tesco F&F nappies are £2.89.

It’s the price of their pizzas that gets me. £6.99 I think now?! I got almost identical pizza in Lidl yesterday for £2.59 or something. Such a rip off.

Our co-op had a refit and overnight the costs shot up. It didn’t even need a refit, it was fine!

The fruit is really poor quality from the co-op too. I see mould raspberries there all the time and what isn’t mouldy on the shelf goes off within a day.

Their milk is competitively priced and I like picking up reduced bread and rolls, but that's about it.

I just am really eager to restate: it's a co-op. The clue is literally in the name. It's a co-operative business who makes as ethical and sustainable as decisions as you possibly can in the convenience market. And that yes, means it's more expensive. But like, they've been selling fairtrade things for 30 years... Way ahead of anyone else.

I don't think anyone is really thinking about economies of scale. There are some cooperatives that are bigger but most are fairly small and you are comparing their prices to Tesco or Aldi! These stores are cheaper because they buy such large volumes of a product they can drive the price down when buying from suppliers. My local coop has about 15 small shops! I remember reading once that profit margins were around the same as Tesco but obviously Tesco will buy millions of a product that the coop will buy hundreds of.

I live rurally. The Co-op is ten minutes away, and the only shop within a 25 minute drive. I am happy to pay a bit more for the top up bits I get from there, as otherwise I would spend a fortune in fuel and it would take an hour out of my day to buy milk, not to mention that I’d also buy other stuff at the big supermarket just because I have no self control.

Rural living is expensive, in time and money.

I have said YABU because all convenience shops are more expensive than bigger supermarkets because they are more expensive to run.

Eg Tesco express is more expensive than Tesco / Tesco Extra

On top of that Co-op will have less buying power for nonfood items as they only have this one format of store. Nonfood in these shops is literally for the scenario you were in - a distressed purchase, where people pay more but really need it. Nonfood items are usually habitual purchases in bigger format shops

So yes, co-op is more expensive but also there are obvious reasons why

Like most city people I use the Co-op as a corner shop.

It's open from 06.00 - 23.00 every day so I suppose that convenience has to be paid for somehow.

My local coop is huge. The size of a small supermarket and it is the only supermarket for several miles. I do feel for those who have no choice but to shop there. (Rural living!)
It is very expensive, but the quality is good and the food is generally very tasty. I used to shop there more before the cost of living went up. I've been out priced now!

Local.convenience shops are always more expensive than big supermarkets, how can this be news?

Ds was surprised to learn Waitrose was cheaper than the coop. Little bit harder to get to but worth it.

I used to work in a Co Op years ago...I used to be so embarrassed reading out the total on the till...at least Dick Turpin wore a mask.

I very much did not vote for this. Don’t get me started on that subject 🙃

Not very convenient in this instance when I ended up driving somewhere else to get what I needed.
I can accept paying over the odds a little bit for lost stuff but I don’t think I’ll ever change my mind that £11 for nappies is almost criminal.

It's supply and demand. Coop is probably open alter than waitrose

Yes, we only have a coop in our village and the nearest proper supermarket is 45 min drive away. I went in for 3 2L bottles of milk yesterday and some bananas and it was £16 😳

I manage to get most stuff delivered but delivery spots are also hard to come by as we are so rural, and despite a freezer I always run out of milk! (2 toddlers)

Similar situation. I used to have a Tesco Express and did a bigger shop elsewhere but recently moved to a more isolated place and only have a local Co Op. They are massively over priced. We recently lost an old pub that closed down so hopefully Tesco will move into there and sort Co Op out for us.

So the non-offer price for the same pack is 12 quid? More expensive than Co-op. Waitrose have chosen it this week to use it as a loss leader, having an offer on it to entice more people in. Your cheap nappies were subsidised by the more expensive stuff they have on sale that they know their customers will spend. Being a convenience store, CO-OP will have offers elsewhere.

The cost of food is a joke, and I’ve no confidence this government is going to sort it given the last budget AND them going after farmers. If you support the IHT on generational farmers, please don’t moan about food prices. It takes generations to be able to efficiently produce food on land, and take efficiency away and you certainly won’t get better food prices.

Coop was always ridiculously overpriced, nothing new.

Irrelevant, but it's funny how the absolute majority of MN users seem to live either in London, OR somewhere so deep 'in the sticks' that their closest shop is miles and miles and miles away, and all they have is one Coop/Londis.

Co-op is a skank!

My mum lives in a village where the Co-Op is the local shop and we find it extortionate. I call it Mini Harrods. But there seem to be enough pensioners willing to shop there to keep it going!