Supermarkets in Shetland - prices, ethics and experiences

[JustMe]

^^So far as I can see the simple thing for Tesco to do is to get planning consent which they have done, build the extension and then apply to get unfair conditions removed. Conditions that are unfair to the shoppers of Shetland who mainly want the choice of being able to buy at Tesco's cheap prices rather than buy more expensive goods in Lerwick's traditional shops.

 

Although I will not name the shop concerned I recently checked the price of something I normally buy on-line in a shop on the street and I was amazed to find that not only was the product dearer than shopping on-line but was also considerably above the recommended retail price. Ok so that is not a set price but I would expect to be able to buy most goods at no more than the rrp.

[crofter]

^^So far as I can see the simple thing for Tesco to do is to get planning consent which they have done, build the extension and then apply to get unfair conditions removed.

 

Fair enough. But what seems to be happening is that they have got permission to build an extension for convenience goods only, but may actually be going to sell clothes/whatever in that extension without permission. Time will tell.

[Malachy]

^^So far as I can see the simple thing for Tesco to do is to get planning consent which they have done, build the extension and then apply to get unfair conditions removed. Conditions that are unfair to the shoppers of Shetland who mainly want the choice of being able to buy at Tesco's cheap prices rather than buy more expensive goods in Lerwick's traditional shops.

 

Planning conditions are not meant to be about fairness to shoppers, they're about adhering to local and national planning policy, which prioritises keeping town centres alive. Tesco has sucked the life out of towns elsewhere, and massively reduced consumer choice in many places, which is why planners need to be vigilant about tricks like this, which Tesco has been accused of pulling elsewhere too. (I'm not necessarily saying they're guilty in this instance, just that they are being accused of doing it.) Small businesses would never be able to get around planning rules in this way, but if the council does kick up a fuss they will likely find the biggest and best lawyers standing in their way. Big business doesn't like the democratic process.

 

Edit: It is not up to Tesco to decide what is fair for shoppers anyway. I imagine they would be rather biased in that regard, don't you?

[JustMe]

Malachy wrote

Planning conditions are not meant to be about fairness to shoppers, they're about adhering to local and national planning policy, which prioritises keeping town centres alive.

Well it is about time that local and national planning policy was changed!. Surely any policy about shops ought to be in the interest of shoppers. And in any case I think the Lerwick town centre is going to stay alive (except on wet Wednesdays) unless the banks and chemists decide to move.

[MuckleJoannie]

The Co-op certainly has sold fridges and washing machines in the past. Probably not clothes though.

 

It hasn't sold clothes for many years. The Coop menswear shop used to be where the Oxfam shop is now.

[Malachy]

Malachy wrote

Planning conditions are not meant to be about fairness to shoppers, they're about adhering to local and national planning policy, which prioritises keeping town centres alive.

Well it is about time that local and national planning policy was changed!. Surely any policy about shops ought to be in the interest of shoppers. And in any case I think the Lerwick town centre is going to stay alive (except on wet Wednesdays) unless the banks and chemists decide to move.

 

I fail to see why Shetland is so fundamentally different from the rest of the UK. Travel around this country and it is depressing how many dead communities there are, with high streets full of boarded windows. There will always be a huge Tesco on the edge of town though (often with a chemists inside too). Now that may be your idea of shoppers' interest but it's not mine. If it comes to a choice between cheaper baked beans and a healthy community I'm afraid I'm willing to pay a bit more for my dinner. The Street already has a number of empty premises I belive, and other building that have been on sale for quite some time. That is not a good sign. I think planning policy should be led by people who care about the place where they live, not by zombie consumers who only care about saving five pence on a can of coke.

[JustMe]

Saving 5 pence on a can of coke matters little. Saving a couple of hundred pounds on a tv matters a lot. And having a town encircled by mega supermarkets does not always kill of the town centre. Honiton in Devon is a lovely little town with a busy central shopping area including a small Co-op and M&S despite a very large Tesco not far away while Exeter still has an interesting range of city centre shops (including Tesco and Sainsburys) and lots of big edge of town stores. To be fair Exeter does have a couple of empty shops just now but that could have as much to to with the recession as competition from Tesco.

 

Yes I have seen the pictures of almost derelict town centres but I am by no means convinced that Tesco (and the others) are more than part of the problem and that the quality of the shops that died may well have been the real reason.

 

As for Lerwick I think the former Crystal Cave is currently being done up for use as something (think I know what but I will not say) and the former Freezer Foods shop is empty having last been an office with change of use consent from a shop to an office having been given by the council. For sale I think Swansons is for sale because the owners want to retire and that is about it unless you count the little shop between the Times Bookshop and Church Road which never seems to do too well....in the wrong place?.

[Spinner72]

It is not up to Tesco to decide what is fair for shoppers anyway. I imagine they would be rather biased in that regard, don't you?

 

Very true, but exactly the same can not only be said, but proven, about the Town Centre group.

 

The planning rules are draconian and frankly idiotic. How can anyone have the right to say where we are allowed to buy what from, or who is allowed to sell whatever?

 

Like I said before - Explain to me wher I was supposed to magic the extra £30 to buy a simple thing like a kettle from a "local" shop, that I could buy for £5 from Tescos.

 

It's *not* about Tesco's being a monopoly, this is excatly what they did with Chris Hodge, there is no difference, and the same that will be done to any retalier trying to cater for the ordinary people.

 

If that is not the case, then why don't they simply compete? Its not rocket science!

[Malachy]

The planning rules are draconian and frankly idiotic. How can anyone have the right to say where we are allowed to buy what from, or who is allowed to sell whatever?

The planning rules are there to stop companies from doing whatever they want. Convenience-wise, Tesco could simply bulldoze the Street and build a huge store there, offering everything we might ever need. But a lot of people would prefer if they didn't.

 

Like I said before - Explain to me wher I was supposed to magic the extra £30 to buy a simple thing like a kettle from a "local" shop, that I could buy for £5 from Tescos.

See, this is the funny thing. Never before in history has something like a kettle cost as little (in comparison to wages) as £5. In the past, people would have expected to pay much more for useful things. But now, we expect our wages to go up and prices to go down, every year. Then we can continue to buy lots and lots of things that we don't need, and to still complain about high prices. I think we need a bit of a reality check here. Our human rights are not being infringed if kettles cost more than two pints of beer. Someone always pays the cost for low prices.

 

It's *not* about Tesco's being a monopoly, this is excatly what they did with Chris Hodge, there is no difference, and the same that will be done to any retalier trying to cater for the ordinary people.

 

If that is not the case, then why don't they simply compete? Its not rocket science!

Unless I'm much mistaken, its Tesco that is being accused of twisting the rules here, for their own benefit. Yes, the Town Centre Association is protecting its members, but those members employ far more people locally than Tesco, and therefore contribute far more to the local economy. Indeed, Tesco does not contribute to the local economy at all. The benefit of the jobs it is providing is far outweighed by the amount of money it takes out of Shetland (it would be interesting to do the maths on that one). So, from the perspective of a local council, keen to protect the local economy, it is hardly a surprise Tesco would not be welcomed unquestioningly.

[daveh]

Would all these anti-Tesco folk be complaining if Tesco took over the Sound service station, tarted it up and sold cheaper petrol?

I doubt it.

 

As has been said previously, if you don't like Tesco then go elsewhere.

[jibjab]

Would all these anti-Tesco folk be complaining if Tesco took over the Sound service station, tarted it up and sold cheaper petrol?

I doubt it.

 

As has been said previously, if you don't like Tesco then go elsewhere.

you have hit the nail on the head with that one. I bet all the anti tesco crew would be queueing first for their fuel. Pay cuts/overtime cuts/lower wages/high fuel costs/high energy costs/modern day demands/we have a society that if you havent got tech savvy gear, Modern household goods, Kids in new clothes you r looked down on. at least buying cheaper things that are as good as the high street brands keeps lower income familys in the rat race. We all deserve the right to live a good life. We are all human. We all have one life so let us enjoy it and have the right to choose.

[JustMe]

There is one other aspect of Tesco, certainly as a food shop, and that is that it offers a much wider selection of goods than any of the local shops. Indeed probably a wider selection than the local wholesalers offer. Yes they are not the perfect answer to shopping and yes I do use a selection of local shops and if I had a choice of major supermarkets to shop at then I might not use them very often but I welcome the choice they offer.

 

But back on to the spectre of Tesco leading to the Town Centre becoming a ghost town. If that happens and I very much doubt that it will then the demise of the town will not be caused by Tesco alone but by a mixture of shopkeepers failing to provide what people want from the town and by customers deciding that the price of supporting the town shops is too high a price to pay.

 

Much as I want a bigger better Tesco I do not want to see a dead town. I will buy local whenever a local shop offers a good combination of price, service and choice which is why I am almost certainly going to be buying my HD/PVR from a local shop, my shoes on the street and a lot of my alcohol from my 3 nearest shops. And after one trip to a south firm in the Sound Hall I am back to using opticians on the street.

[ISOT]

After reading some of the quotes here last night i decided to go into a local retailers on the Hillhead to check a few items, cheapest toaster £14.99, cheapest kettle £9.99, cheapest iron £19.99 and cheapest sandwich toaster £15.99, these were all reasonably well known brands.

 

Somebody answered your question yesterday Spinner or do you think £9.99 is excessive for a kettle?

 

Cheers

[Malachy]

Pay cuts/overtime cuts/lower wages/high fuel costs/high energy costs/modern day demands/we have a society that if you havent got tech savvy gear, Modern household goods, Kids in new clothes you r looked down on. at least buying cheaper things that are as good as the high street brands keeps lower income familys in the rat race. We all deserve the right to live a good life. We are all human. We all have one life so let us enjoy it and have the right to choose.

 

I'm not sure I would equate 'the rat race' with 'a good life'. And as for people looking down on you, I hardly think so. It's about personal choice. I have a low income, I don't own a TV, or an iPlayer, iPhone, or other 'tech savvy gear' (aside from a computer, which I need for work). Nor can I afford to buy new clothes very often. But I don't imagine many people look down on me (for that reason anyway). And if they do then I don't think their opinion is worth very much.

 

Usually people associate the good life with escaping the rat race and avoiding getting trapped by the endless consumerist wheel. It's certainly cheaper living that way. I refuse to accept that £5 kettles are necessary for happiness.

[swc123]

Would all these anti-Tesco folk be complaining if Tesco took over the Sound service station, tarted it up and sold cheaper petrol?

I doubt it.

 

As has been said previously, if you don't like Tesco then go elsewhere.

you have hit the nail on the head with that one. I bet all the anti tesco crew would be queueing first for their fuel. Pay cuts/overtime cuts/lower wages/high fuel costs/high energy costs/modern day demands/we have a society that if you havent got tech savvy gear, Modern household goods, Kids in new clothes you r looked down on. at least buying cheaper things that are as good as the high street brands keeps lower income familys in the rat race. We all deserve the right to live a good life. We are all human. We all have one life so let us enjoy it and have the right to choose.

 

It is a sad reflection on our society that to "live a good life" is measured by our ability to stay in the rat race and kit ourselves out in the latest brands and goods.

 

It is important to retain in focus that we are human and thus our actions/decisions impact on the rest of humanity (present and future) and the wider natural world. I am going to try and avoid preaching but in my opinion a lot of our "choices" are actually very selfish ones if we stopped to consider what materials are used, what processes they go through and by whom to get that, for want of a better example, cheap kettle to our kitchen. For that reason I do my damnest to opt out of the religion of consumerism and the throw away society.

 

And as one of those anti-Tesco folk I do go elsewhere and I can assure you I would not be buying my fuel from them if the situation arose.