6 ms·

From what I've read, Brits don't have the insane supermarkets we do here in the states.

bsil 16y ago
I actually managed to get lost in a new one, which serves the vast sprawl of nearly prefab housing stretching beyond Canary Wharf down to the Dagenham bend and beyond. Last i looked, there's no update of the views on Google Maps to shock and awe you that housing so many miles from any kind of center could be so close to central prices. But, yeah, big supermarkets are rare. The trend has been to "corner shop" style stores, which is basically the supermarkets gaming the planning system ("local amenities, social infrastructure", erk) so they can game the prices (20% markup on same SKUs compared with their own bigger stores not unusual, but this is just another incentive for them to not keep SKUs in every store, as the Frozen Chips Lament supports)
adw 16y ago
Tesco's one of the world's most profitable retailers (I think it's #4 globally) and ASDA is a subsidiary of Wal-Mart. London's just a special case - where do you put an out-of-town superstore in zones 1 or 2 of the Tube map?
- barrkel 16y ago
  I wouldn't mind if they were in zones 4 or 5, but it still doesn't add much choice. Tesco Extra stores aren't exactly small, but they still don't have much choice in the grocery side. If a different store had the range, I'd go there instead. But each store targeting a slice of the demographic pie has very much the same limited range with a tiny bit of diversity outside of store brands.
jedc 16y ago
Having grown up in the States and lived in London for nearly seven years, I have to agree. It's not that UK supermarkets don't have choice, it's that US supermarkets are spoiled for choice. I mean, I went back home and saw a WALL of bread, and a long aisle where half was just cans of soup! For me, it's not just the difference between 10 different SKUs of peanut butter and 50+, but US stores seem to have much more stock of each SKU, too. That said, YMMV.

bsil 16y ago

I actually managed to get lost in a new one, which serves the vast sprawl of nearly prefab housing stretching beyond Canary Wharf down to the Dagenham bend and beyond. Last i looked, there's no update of the views on Google Maps to shock and awe you that housing so many miles from any kind of center could be so close to central prices. But, yeah, big supermarkets are rare. The trend has been to "corner shop" style stores, which is basically the supermarkets gaming the planning system ("local amenities, social infrastructure", erk) so they can game the prices (20% markup on same SKUs compared with their own bigger stores not unusual, but this is just another incentive for them to not keep SKUs in every store, as the Frozen Chips Lament supports)

adw 16y ago

Tesco's one of the world's most profitable retailers (I think it's #4 globally) and ASDA is a subsidiary of Wal-Mart. London's just a special case - where do you put an out-of-town superstore in zones 1 or 2 of the Tube map?

barrkel 16y ago
I wouldn't mind if they were in zones 4 or 5, but it still doesn't add much choice. Tesco Extra stores aren't exactly small, but they still don't have much choice in the grocery side. If a different store had the range, I'd go there instead. But each store targeting a slice of the demographic pie has very much the same limited range with a tiny bit of diversity outside of store brands.

jedc 16y ago

Having grown up in the States and lived in London for nearly seven years, I have to agree. It's not that UK supermarkets don't have choice, it's that US supermarkets are spoiled for choice. I mean, I went back home and saw a WALL of bread, and a long aisle where half was just cans of soup! For me, it's not just the difference between 10 different SKUs of peanut butter and 50+, but US stores seem to have much more stock of each SKU, too. That said, YMMV.