DominoX

Id hardly say a petition, is taking the huff, as I stated earlier, it was not againt the staff, the manager or the company in general, its was set out in good will for the many people who use the cafe on a daily basis, as it is central in location, and is where many of the work lads meet before beginning their day. What I will say is that a petition is a decent way for many people to express themselves. I do agree however, that co-op is competing well with tescos prices however, in my own personal thoughts, I find tesco to be better for my needs. I have no controversy with the co-op at all. My issue is with the fact that many stores in "the street" are closing, so why not put cheap clothes shops in these? Especially when said clothes company, namely peacock, is going bankrupt and will no doubt fail in shetland. I speak on behalf of many shetlanders and many people from the mainland who now live in shetland, that some enjoy going south for a day to do shopping.

The Co-op like any business are there to make a profit, if a clothing retailer is willing to pay more rent for the space than what Sumburgh hotel are paying, why would they turn that down? On the other hand, Sumburgh hotel could offer to match the rent of the clothing retailer and up their prices in the Caffè, how would that suit? Well...let me start there by saying, Sumburgh Hotel had no choice in the matter, so my sources say. The Sumburgh Hotel is sub-contracted by the co-op to put staff in the coffee shop. How can a bankrupt company offer more than they can afford? The co-op put money into a buisness that can not not float, let alone swim.

Today I was in the co-op coffee shop for my lunch. I'm led to believe that there was a petition started (and quite rightly!!) by a friend of mine, who was also at the cafe. My friend asked if she may leave a few pages for customers to sign in their approval of saving the coffee shop. A member of what I presume to be the management team came into the cafe red faced, explaining to a couple of members of the coffee shop staff, that the petition was to be removed immediately. Now I for one was rather outraged by this, as customers deserve their right of freedom of speech and opinion! This petiotion was not started against the Co-op staff, management or store in general, and did no harm to anyone. I'm in my right mind to express this to the manager, and intend to tell him exactly how I feel, and hope other will do so! We never asked for Peacocks, and certainly never asked them to go bankrupt and bring it to Shetland! I am also similarly led to believe that the coffee shop is being changed for no apparent reason. From my understanding, the coffee shop is at no loss and is being changed to affect Tesco. Well I'll tell you the secret there...reduce your prices and you will see more customers. I for one will never shop at the co-op for as long as it remains in Shetland. Like many others, I only use the shop because it is convinient when I have my lunch at the coffee shop. I am utterly disgusted by the removal of the petition, and hope others will follow suit and make their voices heard. WE NEED NUMBERS TO KEEP THE COFFEE SHOP OPEN!!