Do you think the likes of home bargains/b&m need to close?

[mammamia345]

I don't understand why they are open.
Keep the supermarkets open (obviously ) but the majority of people don't go in home bargains etc for food so just close them.
They don't need to be open.

B&M in particular sell a lot of cheap food items that a lot of families will need at the moment. Plus cheaper cleaning products & pet supplies.

I genuinely think it would be best for them to cordon off the non-essential items though.

Places like B&M and home bargains sell essentials like food, pet supplies, DIY stuff, toiletries, medicine and toiletries, and lots of people rely on those bargain shops to buy the basics.

Why shouldn't they be open?

This ^

Better to spread people out than funnel everyone into the one supermarket. Plus prices are far better in B&M and HB than most supermarkets. When you are buying toilet rolls, toiletries, coffee, pet food, and cleaning products that adds up.

@Gingerwhinger0

I think all the regular non essential shops should just be open. I went to a few clothes shops when the restrictions where lifted last year and they were practically empty, all it’s doing is destroying what’s left of the high street, meanwhile the supermarkets are making a grand profit on their clothes and other non essential goods. Agree schools, colleges, pubs etc should close. The whole queuing and limited numbers to get into supermarkets is a joke, once inside you’ve got people breathing down your neck, reaching over you, not wearing masks properly, if at all - most people guilty of this appear to be in their twenties, they can’t all be exempt. Less shops open means more people crowding into the few that are open.

I agree. Absent evidence that shops are a major driver of infection, and of course requiring masks and other measures to be in place, I think pretty much all shops should be allowed to remain open. That would avoid all the ridiculous discussions about what is and is not 'essential' and stop big companies like Tesco's making massive profits as smaller businesses go to the wall.

Yes shutting more shops just overcrowds the others, people still need the same amount of stuff

@Kazzyhoward We don't want to do the stupid Tesco thing in Wales where they closed off the aisle selling toothpaste and sanitary products,

It was explained at the time that the aisle was closed because there had been a theft and damage done to the area. It was nothing to do with the non essentials rule.

Home Bargains are excellent for certain toiletries, cleaning products and foodstuffs. Their Bratkartoffeln are sublime and will store in foil pouches at an ambient temperature for a couple of years. They also do a nice instant coffee at £2.69 for 200g, sell Langley Farm cottage cheese much cheaper than the other supermarkets, and do large packets of pretty decent toilet tissue for non- rip off prices. Their rice cakes are about a third of the price of the major supermarkets.

Lay off Home Bargains! 😁

What a massive race to misery. Shut everything apart from shops selling milk, toilet paper and gruel.

Hope not..its like a day out at the minute!!!

@Againstmachine

So the OP I dont like them so want them shutting.

Supermarkets sell as probably as many non essentials as b and m and homebargains.

And all you do if make more people go to the supermarkets rather than spreading them out.

THIS! Thank you, saved me having to type it out.

There are SO many short sighted people on mumsnet since Covid. Drives me absolutely nuts.

@sweetchristmastime

What a massive race to misery. Shut everything apart from shops selling milk, toilet paper and gruel.

Back in March, there were people arguing that milk was 'non-essential'. Someone else said that you need only buy milk once every 2 weeks as you could just freeze it in ice cube trays and defrost a little cube every time you fancied a cuppa!

Never mind that some people don't have freezers, or cars to transport the 15 litres of milk.

Loads of food and cleaning products sold in ours. It's cheap, clean and the staff are great.

I think agree it should be about the amount of essentials they sell/non essentials should be closed off to prevent people spending too long browsing.

I went to HB for the first time a few months ago because I’d heard so many people raving about how amazing it was. It had one aisle of ambient food (mostly biscuits, definitely not possible to do a full shop), a small chilled section, and one aisle of cleaning stuff and the rest was tat. All I bought was a bag of soda crystals, I was quite disappointed actually because I was expecting to buy loads of stuff!

Fully agree the clothes section in M&S should be closed too. They are taking the piss.

@loulouljh

Hope not..its like a day out at the minute!!!

If you want a real day out, the place to go is a service station. You can get a coffee and a cake and sit down inside. It;s literally the most exciting thing to do in the entire country outside your own home right now.

We even have a brand new one near us that has a Leon and a Nandos as well as a deli and the usual McDonalds and M&S etc. Plus a lake out the back for walks. Just about everyone round here has been multiple times.

@PattyPan

I think agree it should be about the amount of essentials they sell/non essentials should be closed off to prevent people spending too long browsing.

I went to HB for the first time a few months ago because I’d heard so many people raving about how amazing it was. It had one aisle of ambient food (mostly biscuits, definitely not possible to do a full shop), a small chilled section, and one aisle of cleaning stuff and the rest was tat. All I bought was a bag of soda crystals, I was quite disappointed actually because I was expecting to buy loads of stuff!

Fully agree the clothes section in M&S should be closed too. They are taking the piss.

There's newer ones that have fresh fruit and veg, meat, dairy, a Lidl style bakery counter and freezers.

You're never going to find exactly what you want if you go in with a very specific list, but you could definitely do a perfectly satisfactory weekly grocery shop.

How are B&M different from Tesco?

They both sell food, pet food and supplies, fresh sandwiches, milk, bread, chiller stuff like cooked meat.
They both sell toys, crafts, stationary, some DIY and housewares, toiletries and make up.

What's the difference?

@IcedPurple To be fair, it’s not essential in the sense that you can’t live without it - I haven’t had milk since I was an infant because I don’t like it and I haven’t died or got a calcium deficiency despite many warnings that I would
(Disclaimer - I am sane though and don’t understand the point of arguing between individual foodstuffs though, obviously I think people should be able to buy whatever food they want)

My local HB and B&M have staff on the door controlling people in / out, no less controlled than supermarkets. Also plastic screening and floor signs at the checkouts.
I use them for food and cleaning products, some items are much less expensive than supermarkets.
Choice is a democratic staple!

Agree. Out local one is heaving. Everything you need from there can be got as ASDA or Tesco at similar price. People use it as an excuse to shop.

@BarbaraofSeville tbh I probably would be satisfied living off biscuits anyway, I just probably shouldn’t! ours did look quite run down, maybe it’s waiting for an upgrade.

I think the main issue is that shops (and shoppers) seem to have got less careful about social distancing at the same time as the virus has become more contagious. B&M etc sell a lot of essentials so I wouldn't want them to close unless perhaps it's just specific areas selling candles etc, but then it should be the same for supermarkets. I wish they were stricter about numbers allowed in and one way systems etc though.

WH Smith and Waterstones sell books etc that assist with home learning so could be seen as essential.
What annoys me is a colleague morning about not being furloughed and having to "face the dangers at work" (drives to work,own office and 1 other person in the building) yet has posted all over SMedia about the reduced fairy lights and bath bombs she got in B&M on Saturday.

I use Home Bargains a lot for food, medicines, toiletries, pet supplies, cleaning stuff, baking parchment and toilet roll. They do sell lots of non essential items, as do supermarkets, but a cursory glance at other people's baskets during my last shop showed that most people (in that particuar shop at least) were mainly buying similar

@Gingerwhinger0

I think all the regular non essential shops should just be open. I went to a few clothes shops when the restrictions where lifted last year and they were practically empty, all it’s doing is destroying what’s left of the high street, meanwhile the supermarkets are making a grand profit on their clothes and other non essential goods. Agree schools, colleges, pubs etc should close. The whole queuing and limited numbers to get into supermarkets is a joke, once inside you’ve got people breathing down your neck, reaching over you, not wearing masks properly, if at all - most people guilty of this appear to be in their twenties, they can’t all be exempt. Less shops open means more people crowding into the few that are open.

You'd really close schools instead of non-essential retail?

I'm glad you're not in charge!

@Brokenchair1

Agree. Out local one is heaving. Everything you need from there can be got as ASDA or Tesco at similar price. People use it as an excuse to shop.

Not everyone has a Tesco nearby. And why should the big supermarket chains get all the business while other shops selling the same thing (often for less) have to close?

@LemonadeSunshine

My local HB and B&M have staff on the door controlling people in / out, no less controlled than supermarkets. Also plastic screening and floor signs at the checkouts. I use them for food and cleaning products, some items are much less expensive than supermarkets. Choice is a democratic staple!

Our The Range is like that too

Staff on the door with a counter counting people in and out, hand sanitiser spray everywhere, trolley and basket handles wipes down.

Queue outside has 2m markers on the floor. Inside the one way system has gone to pot a bit, but the queue for the tills is marked out with 2m spacing, there’s more sanitiser at the tills and Perspex screens.

Asda is a free for all

I know which shop I feel safer in