Supermarkets in Shetland - prices, ethics and experiences

[Fjool]

To get the variety you crave, there must be a sufficient number of customers to make it worthwhile. Adding another supermarket is just going to spread the customer base even more thinly. The final result of which is 3 supermarkets which add up to being a bit more crap overall than the two we currently have.

 

The only supermarkets that I've seen which stock such a wide variety of fruits have been about five times as large as our present ones.

[BigMouth]

Perhaps the supermarkets don't know that there is a market. Or perhaps they have tried and there wasn't. I am not asking for a star fruit for evry man, woman and child, just a few for those that want them!

[Claudias]

^ ^ ^

Ask the store managers and they will probably tell you that they must order a certain,minimum quantity. If they feel that they will not be able to sell so many they do not make the order. Get thirty or forty friends to make a request.

[BigMouth]

but that I had 30 or 40 friends

[Claudias]

AH..........I'll vote for you.

[BigMouth]

39 (or 29) to go

[JustMe]

So vote for the unusual.......buy it. Don Leslies has odd fruits from time to time........a strange pear thing last time I was in there. The new food shop next to the Raba has some strange vegetables, the Globe butchers has some strange meats and the cheese van had some strange cheese and other oddities........maybe now in the Toll clock as the Olive tree?. Strange fish at Mcnabs place near the power station and all sorts of delights in Scoop.

 

Sadly as a pedestrian I never get to the farmers markets at Tingwall Hall but I hear good reports about the selection there.

 

And I have seen fresh figs and other strange fruits in the Co-op but it is as Claudias says.......even if the minimum order for the branch is just one case the store manager has to be confident that they will sell most of that case within the sell by time.

[BigMouth]

So vote for the unusual.......buy it.

 

But that I could find it

 

Don Leslies has odd fruits from time to time........a strange pear thing last time I was in there.

 

Chinese pear perhaps?

 

The new food shop next to the Raba has some strange vegetables,

 

Yes been in there, but nothing caught my eye, but it was when they first opened.

 

the Globe butchers has some strange meats and the cheese van had some strange cheese and other oddities........

 

Mmm, this sounds interesting. I must admit that whenever I wander past there is always a queue snaking around the shop so I keep going. I got all excited about going to Edinburgh and being able to pick up havarti, esrom, tilsiter et al.

 

maybe now in the Toll clock as the Olive tree?.

 

Although I have sat down to eat in there I have never bought any takeaway stuff. Other than the rack in the middle, which was of little interest, I wasnt aware that takeaways were available.

 

Strange fish at Mcnabs place near the power station and all sorts of delights in Scoop.

 

I tend to stick to mackerel or haddock as I like them both, but Scoop sees me in there on a weekly basis, but I just tend to buy dried fruit for snacks and muesli.

 

Sadly as a pedestrian I never get to the farmers markets at Tingwall Hall but I hear good reports about the selection there.

 

Ditto - I am a pedestrian, although I wouldn't consider Tingwall too far a walk I don't feel sufficiently motivated!

 

And I have seen fresh figs and other strange fruits in the Co-op but it is as Claudias says.......even if the minimum order for the branch is just one case the store manager has to be confident that they will sell most of that case within the sell by time.

 

I have yet to see any. Perhaps I need to look closer, but your comments are food for thought

[JustMe]

maybe now in the Toll clock as the Olive tree?.

 

 

Although I have sat down to eat in there I have never bought any takeaway stuff. Other than the rack in the middle, which was of little interest, I wasnt aware that takeaways were available.

 

DeliDirect are taking over the Olive Tree which is good news for people in Lerwick but not so good for people who used the van in the rest of Shetland.

[breeksy]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6454399.stm

 

The BBC is highlighting the issues behind supermarkets today.

[sassermaet]

Personally I hope Tesco do come to Shetland. The two supermarkets that we have at the moment are a joke - shelves are always empty, freezers and chiller cabinets just open spaces of air, and very little decent choice. If Tesco were to come they would either have to pull their socks up and provide a decent service or ship out, either of which would be fine by me. I am fed up being served with only half a trolley full (because the rest was out of stock...again) by a spotty girl covered in lovebites whose heair has not been washed for a month. At least Tesco stores staff do have some responsibility to carry the company image and look and act professionally and friendly.

 

It should also be remembered that they sell good cheap clothes - a source of which is lacking in Shetland. You cannot knock anywhere that sells jeans for £3 a pair, even if they only last for a few months!

 

I also note that some of those people who are objecting in the Shetland Times (and probably on this site too) don't even live in Shetland. What has it go to do with you anyway then? You can whizz down the road to your favourite Sainsburys without a problem, we cannot.

 

Roll on Tesco!!

 

Being a former employee of Somerfield (although this didn't stop me voting yes on Tesco - I'll explain why in a minute) I would like to challenge the first part of the above statement.

 

Usually when the shelves were empty it was because the boats/planes etc. had got delayed/cancelled. That's not the fault of either Somerfield or the Co-op. That's the norm when it comes to living on an island - being stuck with little food etc. coming in for a day or two because there are no boats.

 

In addition if you don't like what's being offered - and, if you'll pardon my bias, I personally thought Somerfield offered a fairly good variety of stuff - then what do you want?

 

I would like to add, though, that I agree that Tesco should come up here. Whenever I've bought stuff from them from the one down the road from my flat, the staff are usually chatty and polite (yes - I'll admit not everyone is like that at Somerfield ), and the variety and quality of products has also been highly commendable.

 

Or, in the words of the 'Weegies, 'Mon the Tesco'!

 

And I'm spent.

[in_vacanza]

I worked at Tesco Extra in Dundee from Nov 2005 to Nov 2006.

 

Tesco's do not treat their staff fairly. Staff contracts have gradually got worse over the years. For example, I got roughly time and a third for working a Sunday (can't remember the exact figure), the guy working next to me would be on double time. This was not due to length of time with the company. It was because my workmate had started work with Tesco's before the wage cuts.

 

Tesco's are currently in the process of closing it's distribution centre in Dundee. Staff were offered transfers to a new depot being built in Livingston, but only if they accepted new terms and conditions (pay cuts).

 

I could have some sympathy for Tesco's if company was struggling.

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/business/news/2006/10/03/7ea757d3-971b-4b60-9783-3a475c9296a1.lpf

Whilst this was going on the CEO at Tesco's received a 25% pay rise. Bringing his pay up to nearly £4 million per year.

 

Tesco's have destroyed other businesses in Dundee with their rapid expansion in the city.

http://www.tescopoly.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=339&Itemid=109

 

I can't see the introduction of Tesco's to Shetland being a good thing.

[AndyVocoustic]

I havent read any of this thread ( ) but its about tesco and this always makes me laugh!

 

 

[north]

If it took them 5 hours to take over Denmark, then Shetland should take about 30 seconds!

 

Good clip.

 

Maybe they will put the shop on a boat and anchor it in the harbour, that way the LHT can make the money and still screw with the SIC! 8O

 

Hmmm, not a bad idea, that! They can moor it by the entrance to the Bressay tunnel.

[Roachmill]

Well hats off to Tesco (not really). They have no qualms selling stuff (with a 20% discount!) slagging them off directly for their shady business practices.

 

Go buy the book "Tescopoly: How One Shop Came Out on Top and Why it Matters"