Supermarket Prices in Shetland

[marlin13]

Just a few thoughts

 

Has anyone compared the supermarket prices we some o da better country shops. On branded goods da country shops are often cheaper

 

It costs a lok ta run a shop n pay staff, if there isna high turnover the margins ie prices must be higher or you go bankrupt.

 

Or of course you could force your suppliers tae give you da goods fur next ta nothing. Shops canna do this because they dunna have the buying power but it is an everyday occurance for da supermarkets includin da resident 2. Take the price o milk we are told that farmers get about 21p a litre(maybe more up here but a farmer could maybe confirm) and we pay around 80p+. Nice mark up for somebody!!!!!!!

 

Will some o you get a grip in realise that we live in shetland n no in da middle o a city. WE canna expect the same service provision or prices cause dir no enough o wis, but we do have cheaper house prices and lower crime and other things which do go ta make up fur it. If you dunna like it here why do you no B****r of south and that applies to locals and incomers alike.

 

No dan is dat contraversial enough fur you fae a phantom lurker.

[eshaness]

well i ama local and i did bu""er off south fantastic too

[Fifi]

yes bring in aldi lidl or asda its about time

damn these local prices

 

at least dick turpin wore a mask!!!

Yeah, and when all the local shops are no more and the old crumbling shops on the street are empty or occupied by charity shops, and all you have is twartree supermarkets - you'll no doubt complain about lack of choice!

[sassermaet]

I can recommend Aldi purely for their prices, but they tend to sell a lot of own brand stuff - Lidl are probably the same.

[jenesequa]

I think from most of the peoples comments that a shop like Asda or Tescos would make you all happy as they hace a wide range of food,electricals and everyday household goods.

 

Picture them being about 10 minutes walk main town centre(on account of needing paking spaces). You set off from home past yer neighbours houses and start walking down yer town street ,the one which used to have all the local shops , but........ instead of local shops now you have local shutters because they have all gone out of business. That is the flip side of a major supermarket ,it killed doncaster local businesses,Sheffield and a few other places that used to be decent places to live became virtual hovels on account of boarded up shops everywhere .So take yer pick! I know what i would rather have

[MJ]

yes bring in aldi lidl or asda its about time

damn these local prices

 

at least dick turpin wore a mask!!!

Yeah, and when all the local shops are no more and the old crumbling shops on the street are empty or occupied by charity shops, and all you have is twartree supermarkets - you'll no doubt complain about lack of choice!

 

As you can see jenesqua people know the damage these shops can do. When the new 'big' Prestos (Safeways, Morrisons, now Summerfield) was built everyone was under the illusion we'd get prices closer to those on the mainland. Instead we seem to have a building that no one seems to want or run to it's full potential.

Personally I think an Aldi or Lidl would be a great thing. Very few people do their whole shop at these stores. They would also encourage the local supermarkets to drop their prices a little.

I once had an interesting conversation with a PR guy from Scottish Co-Op (about 14years ago I have to admit) he explained how prices were fixed across the Co-Op and how you'd pay the same price in Shetland as you would in a Co-Op in Glasgow. This may well be true still, but only because they are in the top pricing band. If you want a cheap Co-Op pick one close to an Asda or Tesco or even a Lidl, or even more contraversially one in a better off area.

 

Some of my favourite brand name products are actually more than twice the price up here. Must admit can only pick them up in independent retailers here or south. For example my favourite wood polish is 2.59 south and 5.69 here. Retailers here charge what they like because they can get away with it, and make as much noise as possible should any large chain try to open up here. I don't mind 'supporting local retailers' if it means paying around 10% more but some times they are just taking the P.

[sassermaet]

Free-range medium eggs in the Lerwick CO-OP cost around £1.69 until recently!! Now they have gone up to £2.15.. The Brae store has went one further and pushed the price up to £2.59!!

Brae CO-OP is a law unto itself...And is getting away with daylight robbery.. They don't even stock any of their own and cheaper brands. And when they reduce stuff... you can laugh... Meat browner than brown.. a few pence cheaper.. a wilted loaf.. the same..

We are being robbed blind by the CO-OP and Somerfield... Bring in the Multi-Nationals... aka Tesco and Asda.... And when we shop we can at least get decent, cheap clothing too!!

 

One of my cousins works at the Brae Co-op and would pretty much be able to vouch for everything you've said.

 

Since I'm only ever in Brae for about a third of the year these days I don't frequent the Brae Co-op too much. However, I know people who go there who are sorely disappointed with it. We'd kind of hoped for a better deal after the cowboys that were Brae Stores (I should know, I worked for them for two years!), but the Co-op are just as bad if not worse. You can't find any decent produce there that's worth buying, not to mention that Co-op policy states that assistants do not have to pack customers' bags for them even if they have a lot of shopping. In addition, many of the people on the tills are under 18, and so need authorisation to sell alcohol.

[Fjool]

They would also encourage the local supermarkets to drop their prices a little.

I thought that the big problem with the supermarket model is that such price squeezes never dent the profits of the shop itself, but are always passed down the chain to the producers. Two-for-one offers, loss-leaders and cheap prices are a flexing of the financial muscle these organisations hold.

 

I don't think that 'cheap at any cost' is a good approach to take; especially with our food shopping.

[fairislefaerie]

faerie queen wrote:

Free-range medium eggs in the Lerwick CO-OP cost around £1.69 until recently!! Now they have gone up to £2.15

 

 

Blimey, I kinda expected them to be a wee bit on the expensive side but that is just bloody awful ! I charge 80pence per half dozen for free range eggs, regardless of them being sold at farm gate, local shop, or packed for supermarket sales. The kind of prices they charge are daylight robbery.

[MJ]

^^^ I'm not talking cheap at any cost, I'm talking dropping our regional pricing to something closer to the national average. Most supermarket stock for Coop for example comes from big warehouses in Cumbernald, Coventry or Harthill. So it's all sourced at the same price no matter where it's ending up. Pricing is set in Head Office, each store having a Price Band, which takes into account - location, competition and store size. The culture is to get as much profit as possible with very little of that profit actually going back into the store it's self.

[JAStewart]

You're forgetting that transport fees greatly increase due to the lorry having to take the boat to Shetland.

[Guest posiedon]

My mother is here just now from sooth, she commented in Somerfield on Saturday, that some of the prices were lower than she pays in the supermarkets back in Cumbria.

[MJ]

(talking about supermarkets here)

Okay compared to Aberdeen there is the boat journey. Not quite sure how many cages you fit in a truck but should imagine that they try to keep them as full as possible so that's tens of thousands of individual items. Even a penny on each item should more than cover their shipping. So where's the excuse on charging say 10p more than Aberdeen. Yes refrigerated/frozen goods would have extra cost but surely not that much when looking at each individual item.

[fairislefaerie]

If the supermarkets up here were to source in season veg, free range eggs, meat & poultry products from within shetland it could then do its customers a better value & better quality product, there are enough suppliers within the shetland isle's. But they wont, because the consumers are not demanding local produce, so long as they continue to pay over inflated prices from southern goods that is all the supermarkets will offer them.

 

 

Its up to the consumer to say that they want a different product, not the supermarket.

 

Buy Local

By local

or

Bye Local

[Guest Anonymous]

I think a Tesco would be the best thing for Shetland.

For one reason, and one reason only. It would stop all these damned fools spouting off on forums like this about how much cheaper they would get things if a major supermarket like Tesco set up here.

The reason it would stop them running off at the mouth is simple, and it happens quickly and efficiently, in three simple stages:

1) Tesco arrives and undercuts all others with mega-cheap prices.

2) All other stores close down as they can't compete with the power of Tesco.

3) Tesco now have a monopoly and can charge what they want, usually more than the smaller supermarkets were charging before, which if folk bothered to check prices, is more than certain country shops charge.

 

In towns all over the UK this has already happened. There are instances where people are prepared to drive ridiculous distances just to find an alternative to their, one and only Tesco.

 

Of course there is one major flaw in my scenario.... When Shetland is left with nothing but a Tesco, all the posts on this forum will be about how much it costs to take the boat to Aberdeen for the weekly shopping.