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Post by Big Blue on Apr 30, 2018 12:17:56 GMT
I'll start with this: www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/business/sainsburys-asda-merger-to-show-middle-class-shoppers-the-futility-of-their-pathetic-aspirations-20180430148314I've been in an ASDA once, the one in Roehampton, when their brand George had some suitable 100% cotton clothes for nursery and before W2.0 discovered Zuilly/Zalando. I found it as described in the Mash article. Now as we basically split our grocery shopping between Sainsbury's and Waitrose and my aforementioned experience with ASDA, I can understand the statement for a lack of need for either to close stores etc. as I can't see much of a cross-over of clientele. There may be some re-branding, so the ASDA in Burgh Heath may become a Sainsbury's to take some Waitrose shoppers but little need for closures as I can't think where the stores are in close enough proximity. From a market perspective I can see how the challenge of Lidl and the other one plus the buying power of Tesco/Booker would drive this need for a bigger share via acquisition but a bigger market share, some more buying power (not that this an area of political popularity amongst those in the food production industry) and different customer demographics are not really enough on their own. There will be some store changes (either closures or moves to clothing only / food only models in places) to justify the vast numbers I am seeing bandied about. I wouldn't normally post such mundane shite but supermarkets are a subject close to all our homes, unless any of you are reading this on a Blackberry Pi computer operating Linux powered by a generator running an engine that burns your own effluent whilst growing and rearing all your own food. Supermarkets to me represent the first world in all their glory: I love the fact I can walk round a supermarket and buy all the foodstuffs, clothing, toilet and cleaning products I need for first world living and feel fortunate that I am not in a place where there is limited access to food, toilet paper and soap. Anyone have any thoughts along these lines or feel the need to call me a twat?
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Post by LandieMark on Apr 30, 2018 12:24:55 GMT
No, I agree that Asda is awful.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Apr 30, 2018 12:40:09 GMT
Apparently it'll lead to cheaper food for us. The farmers must be delighted at the thought of getting squeezed even harder. Our local is a Sainsbury's and I'm not fond of ASDA - even Morrisons is better. That said, since we started getting Hello Fresh delivered our supermarket visits have reduced dramatically and just cover the staples.
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Post by Tim on Apr 30, 2018 12:43:33 GMT
They've been very clever with their assertion that no stores will be closed. Once its been looked at by the CMA they will be the ones who insist on some store closures to maintain a reasonable level of competition in whatever areas are identified, so the Governmant will be the bad man forcing job losses.
I prefer Tesco.
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Post by PetrolEd on Apr 30, 2018 13:14:14 GMT
We get Ocado as I can't stand wasting my life in Supermarkets at the weekend. There is a large Sainsbury's next to the office however so don't mind popping in for lunch. If I do have to go shopping the supermarket of preference for me is Lidl as it reminds me of going on holiday with everything in there completely different to the standard and the majority of it tastier too. .
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Post by Martin on Apr 30, 2018 13:37:08 GMT
I hate supermarket shopping, so avoid it as much as possible. We get all the essentials / branded stuff delivered by Tesco every week and Lindsay uses Waitrose for the fresh / never stuff as and when required and calls in at the Butchers weekly.
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Post by Roadrunner on Apr 30, 2018 13:50:33 GMT
Apparently it'll lead to cheaper food for us. The farmers must be delighted at the thought of getting squeezed even harder. Our local is a Sainsbury's and I'm not fond of ASDA - even Morrisons is better. That said, since we started getting Hello Fresh delivered our supermarket visits have reduced dramatically and just cover the staples. I see this as one of the biggest issues with this. Taking out a significant chunk of choice for producers will leave many with Hobson's choice of who sell to and this will not help small producers to get up and running. From my own personal experience many who work for the CMA are waaaay out of their depth, so I don't hold out much hope for any properly reasoned argument from them either. We are fortunate to have a proper, independent butchers, greengrocer, fishmonger and deli within walking distance, with a choice of farm shops within a few minutes' drive, so it is a pleasure to do the food shopping at weekends. Supermarket shopping is split between Aldi (surprisingly good, don't knock it if you haven't tried it), Waitrose and Morrisons.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Apr 30, 2018 13:53:43 GMT
I've always been a bit disappointed with Waitrose. I'm a big fan of John Lewis but their food offerings don't seem to justify the prices charged. M&S Simply Food does it better.
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Post by Martin on Apr 30, 2018 14:27:51 GMT
I've always been a bit disappointed with Waitrose. I'm a big fan of John Lewis but their food offerings don't seem to justify the prices charged. M&S Simply Food does it better. M&S is better. Their fresh white chocolate cookies are worth the trip alone. Waitrose is a 2min walk from Lindsay’s office, so gets used more often.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2018 14:30:47 GMT
I am still resolutely refusing to darken the door of M&S since my parking ticket episode. I am happy to go in most of the others, apart from the German twins, which I find too low rent and not as cheap as folk make out. Asda is preferable to either of them and has some good bargains. They were knocking out the large Bendicks mint selection boxes for two quid each just after Christmas so I bought half a dozen!
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Post by Big Blue on Apr 30, 2018 14:41:44 GMT
I've always been a bit disappointed with Waitrose. I'm a big fan of John Lewis but their food offerings don't seem to justify the prices charged. M&S Simply Food does it better. Odd because I feel that it’s the other way round although M&S Party catering is the dog’s bollocks (as opposed to my local mini-mart which has been shut down a couple of times where the food literally is dogs‘ bollocks by some accounts). I’m tainted in my love of Waitrose as they consistently have Hagen Daas Dulce de Leche on sale whereas most others only offer the inferior Salted Caramel. Their soft fruit prices are mental so Iceland Market Place gets that gig.
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Post by Tim on Apr 30, 2018 14:45:18 GMT
Whenever I go to my local M&S Foodhall in St Andrews I'm surprised at how many students are in there, the prices are a surprise to me, I can't imagine how they afford it on student income (except they're probably subsidised by their folks).
There's no way we'd do our normal food shop in there but their Cornish Cove cheese is awesome.
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Post by Big Blue on Apr 30, 2018 14:51:50 GMT
There used to be an M&S Simply Food in Worcester Park (where I live) but they opened a Waitrose and the M&S trade was annihilated and closed to become a Poundland. Mind you there's an M&S Simply Food in Tolworth so it's not all posh punters only....
When the Waitrose in Godalming opened the Sainsbury's had to up its game as the expectation levels were raised - their car park entrances are literally opposite one another.
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Post by PG on Apr 30, 2018 15:19:43 GMT
There is only one way that this can make economic sense and that is through cost savings. They won;t se any sales growth through merging - probably sales will even fall for the merged organisation once they are told to sell some stores. So that will mean costs - by taking out layers of management, merging shared functions, or screwing suppliers.
Suppliers will see no overall increase in volume - as there is no sales growth - but as it is now one supplier they will just get screwed.
I've seen the bounce in Sainsbury's shares today as a great opportunity to sell! Which I'll be doing.
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Post by Alex on Apr 30, 2018 18:24:11 GMT
The only supermarkets near us are Tesco and Sainsbury’s so it’s normally the former that we do most our shopping at. I’m not a big fan of Asda tbh. I find the quality of the food is no where near as good as Tesco/Sainsbury’s and their stores feel more like a warehouse than a supermarket. I’ve been to Aldi a few times but it doesn’t seem that much cheaper, though maybe I’m buying the wrong stuff.
The merger is not surprising given the way Tesco have expanded themselves. Both Asda and Sainsbury’s would have looked at it and seen this as the only option given that Tesco have been more successful at rolling out convenience stores to the point where there’s no room for Asda to go down that route. For Sainsbury’s having access to the massive buying power of Walmart is a huge bonus especially if we do a decent trade deal with the US following Brexit.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2018 19:00:14 GMT
Trowbridge is not a huge place, but it has 4 Tesco stores.
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Post by Big Blue on Apr 30, 2018 20:30:15 GMT
For Sainsbury’s having access to the massive buying power of Walmart is a huge bonus especially if we do a decent trade deal with the US following Brexit. No, I think it’s Sainsbury’s basically buying ASDA from Walmart, so it’ll more likely be a scale up of JS’s purchasing model. Interested to see how the Argos element fits in as ASDA have some big sales of the kind of stuff Argos sells.
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Post by Alex on Apr 30, 2018 23:13:56 GMT
For Sainsbury’s having access to the massive buying power of Walmart is a huge bonus especially if we do a decent trade deal with the US following Brexit. No, I think it’s Sainsbury’s basically buying ASDA from Walmart, so it’ll more likely be a scale up of JS’s purchasing model. Interested to see how the Argos element fits in as ASDA have some big sales of the kind of stuff Argos sells. But Walmart are still keeping about 40% of Asda as part of the deal so will have some involvement even though they are taking a step back from the uk market.
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Post by Roadrunner on May 1, 2018 7:42:34 GMT
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on May 1, 2018 7:45:05 GMT
Happy is the man whose share options have just shot up in value.
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