TheOstrich wrote:meriad wrote:Ossie; I am going to have to ask; if you managed to spend £2k at Waitrose in one year, then I assume the shop is actually quite convenient for you, and/or you really liked the products - so who are you 'punishing
? Waitrose (and most other shops) probably won't notice - and dare I say - actually not care that you're not shopping there as much. But are you missing out on your favourite items / treats because you're miffed at them?
When we moved down here in 2016, Meriad, Waitrose was by far the biggest player in town. Very convenient, just off the town centre bypass, excellent parking. The other major supermarket, the Co-Op, burnt down in 2012 and is still an empty shell
; they relocated to one of the town suburbs where its little more than a convenience store these days. Asda and Lidl have small stores in the town centre with car parks operated by parkingeye, and both are subject to many moans from locals getting fined when they shouldn't be (even to the extent Asda has displayed a prominent notice along the lines of "We can't deal with parking fines in store so go complain to the operator".
And trying to get out of Asda's carpark can be horrendous these days, thanks to the Council's recently-implemented one way system.
So when we arrived, having been used to shopping in Brum at what was arguably England's biggest supermarket outlet (Asda Minworth, only a mile from home), doing all our shopping at Waitrose became the norm. But we were paying nearly £5k a year for food, household essentials and treats, and I was starting to get uncomfortable with that - yes, we could "afford" it but like everyone else, we do have to manage our finances carefully.
Then around 2021, Aldi arrived on the southern outskirts of town, and that immediately became a game-changer. We transferred the bulk of our basic weekly shop there, and saved I reckon around £800 a year. So from then, we've been roughly 50% Aldi 50% Waitrose. But we were still aware we were paying over-the-odds Waitrose prices for brand goods which were not on sale at Aldi (although they are now doing Tunnocks Teacakes
) but which we could source from elsewhere if I (the "household shopper"
made the effort!!
What the incident in December did was kick-start me into getting off my backside and make that effort to shop at Asda, Iceland, even the local Spar and town High Street shops, who probably welcome the custom more than Waitrose. To stop myself getting "lazy" again, I set that financial target of reducing our annual spend at Waitrose by £1k. And that's where we are today!
So, is it less convenient? Yes, but it keeps me active!
Do I really like Waitrose's products? There are some items you can't source elsewhere in town, like 55p tins of Pease Pudding, but most of our "liked" brand products I find I can get elsewhere.
Will Waitrose notice/care?
Course they won't, I'm but a flea to them - but I can see quite a lot of fleas have readily deserted them for Aldi - that's the trend, you only have to look at the well-to-do pensioners furtively scurrying into that store. Waitrose certainly isn't as busy as it was, and I guess therefore Waitrose may eventually begin to notice/care to some small degree.
Are we missing out on favourite items / treats? No, as I've said, we're buying them elsewhere for less, and with the money saved, we've been having some nice meals out, including a lunch last week at the local up-market motorcycle cafe where scampi and chips (Mrs O) and a beef chilli and chips (Osiie) were partaken for quite a reasonable £35.90 ......
