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Saturday 5 April 2014

Nice posh Sidmouth has a Waitrose: but could it do with a more down-to-earth Morrison's? Perhaps not...

In the wake of the Prime Minister's comments about shopping at Waitrose:
David Cameron's Waitrose Comments: A Translation

... there has been much talk in the press about supermarkets:
The world seen through David Cameron's eyes, by Fleet Street Fox - Fleet Street Fox - Mirror Online
20 Pictures Of Politicians Not In Waitrose
‘Stuck-up’ David Cameron heaps praise on Waitrose's ‘better class of shopper’ - UK Politics - UK - The Independent
Cameron ‘snobbish’ for saying Waitrose shoppers ‘more chatty’ - FT.com
David Cameron says Waitrose shoppers are a cut above. He's right - Telegraph

The Daily Mail has made this observation:

In 2012 Mr Cameron had to give Waitrose a miss when he went shopping in a Morrisons branch in Plymouth

In 2012 Mr Cameron had to give Waitrose a miss when he went shopping in a Morrisons branch in Plymouth
David Cameron 'likes Waitrose because the customers are more talkative' | Mail Online

Which brings us on to choosing Morrisons as the place to shop instead, with a comment from today's Guardian:

The customer experience valued by the intensely privileged is not extended towards those who, by necessity, are focused on getting by. One possible exception is Morrisons, where you can buy bream as well as burgers, and the meat – as confirmed by an illuminating University of Manchester report on Morrisons' supplier chain – is better than any of the more upmarket competitors (bar, obviously, Waitrose). It strikes me as a supermarket with working-class roots that still cares about working-class shoppers.

But, then, perhaps shopping at supermarkets is not necessarily good for the retail health of any town centre, as the article observes:

Let's take the Asda closest to my mother's house, outside Birmingham, whose opening in 2009 in effect closed down most of the local shops (including the butcher's and greengrocer's, where once she might have had genuine, perhaps even "engaged" conversations with fellow shoppers). This branch is the size of an aircraft hangar, with all the intimacy of one, and much of what it offers is distinguished by a "£1" sticker.

What David Cameron doesn't understand about Waitrose | Lynsey Hanley | Comment is free | The Guardian

Besides, Morrisons doesn't look too healthy an option after all...
Morrisons chief waives bonus after collapse in sales and profits warnings | Business | The Guardian
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