castletown shop

[sam]

They wouldn't sell a lot of lettuce anyway, theres no way they can sell them cheaper than the supermarkets and it's not the sort of thing you run out of and have to run out and buy like coffee, sugar or whisky. Not the sort of thing someone suddenly gets a craving for like ice cream, not essential like bread or milk, not the sort of thing you find you need for a recipe, more the sort of thing you can manage without.

I think that the shop owner should be commended for doing the community a service by stocking them at all.

so how do you explain smaller shops in the town selling them cheaper then

[pultneytooner]

They wouldn't sell a lot of lettuce anyway, theres no way they can sell them cheaper than the supermarkets and it's not the sort of thing you run out of and have to run out and buy like coffee, sugar or whisky. Not the sort of thing someone suddenly gets a craving for like ice cream, not essential like bread or milk, not the sort of thing you find you need for a recipe, more the sort of thing you can manage without.

I think that the shop owner should be commended for doing the community a service by stocking them at all.

Do we not grow vegetables locally that these shops could buy, grocers used to manage to sell vegetables and didn't need a commendation for being heroes of the community. Is the mark up on a jar of coffee higher than a lettuce in this shop?

sam...so how do you explain smaller shops in the town selling them cheaper then

When they have a monopoly on your custom as far as nipping out for things you've just ran out of and want quickly, then they try and charge what they like and rather than head to the supermarket most people will just pay the price.

[connieb19]

They wouldn't sell a lot of lettuce anyway, theres no way they can sell them cheaper than the supermarkets and it's not the sort of thing you run out of and have to run out and buy like coffee, sugar or whisky. Not the sort of thing someone suddenly gets a craving for like ice cream, not essential like bread or milk, not the sort of thing you find you need for a recipe, more the sort of thing you can manage without.

I think that the shop owner should be commended for doing the community a service by stocking them at all.

I disagree, for me anyway, I find lettuce is a essential, and I will run out to buy one, but at £1.39, I've now decided to grow my own..

[sam]

Do we not grow vegetables locally that these shops could buy, grocers used to manage to sell vegetables and didn't need a commendation for being heroes of the community. Is the mark up on a jar of coffee higher than a lettuce in this shop?

well said, if they supplied more locally produced produce then they could lower the prices, although i must admit they do sell some local produce like tatties and eggs.

[fred]

I thought the small shops bought from wholesalers, are they being ripped off by these companies, I doubt it?

The wholesaler doesn't have anything like the buying power of a supermarket chain hence can't buy things as cheaply and then the wholesaler has to make a profit as well.

It's the supermarkets that are ripping people off, with their advantages they should be able to sell things even cheaper than they do, British supermarkets make four times the profit of supermarkets on the continent. The small shops are strugling to make a profit at all and are closing down at an alarming rate.

[sam]

I disagree, for me anyway, I find lettuce is a essential, and I will run out to buy one, but at £1.39, I've now decided to grow my own..

here lol, you could supply them wi cheaper lettuce's,but there again they would probably put a high percentage on them aswell,
or maybe i could just buy them direct from you lol

[sam]

The wholesaler doesn't have anything like the buying power of a supermarket chain hence can't buy things as cheaply and then the wholesaler has to make a profit as well.

It's the supermarkets that are ripping people off, with their advantages they should be able to sell things even cheaper than they do, British supermarkets make four times the profit of supermarkets on the continent. The small shops are strugling to make a profit at all and are closing down at an alarming rate.

well theres no fear of the castletown shop struggling or closing down, when they charge a lot more that smaller shops in the town

[connieb19]

here lol, you could supply them wi cheaper lettuce's,but there again they would probably put a high percentage on them aswell,
or maybe i could just buy them direct from you lol

If I can sell them at £1.39 each, I'll give you a beep when I'm passing you in a couple of years time in my Roller..lol

[pultneytooner]

The wholesaler doesn't have anything like the buying power of a supermarket chain hence can't buy things as cheaply and then the wholesaler has to make a profit as well.

It's the supermarkets that are ripping people off, with their advantages they should be able to sell things even cheaper than they do, British supermarkets make four times the profit of supermarkets on the continent. The small shops are strugling to make a profit at all and are closing down at an alarming rate.

What about booker cash and carry or the Landmark Cash & Carry. some of the largest Buying Groups in the UK.

[fred]

What about booker cash and carry or the Landmark Cash & Carry. some of the largest Buying Groups in the UK.

Nothing like the buying power of the supermarkets.

Tesco alone control over a third of the uk groceries market and the big four around three quarters.

Then, like I said, the wholesaler has to make a profit as well.

Between 2000 and 2004 7,330 indipendent retailers went out of business in Britain, I just can't see them doing that if there was any way for them to make money.

[Marty McFly]

Between 2000 and 2004 7,330 indipendent retailers went out of business in Britain, I just can't see them doing that if there was any way for them to make money.

Precisely! ...and at the same time, Tesco and company are expanding at an alarming rate.

[fred]

Precisely! ...and at the same time, Tesco and company are expanding at an alarming rate.

And are being investigated by the Office of Fair Trading for the third time in seven years.

[Loafer]

Seeing as we are on a fruit and veg point, is anyone aware that Tesco get FIRST CHOICE of all the fruit and veg that is imported into the country?

And did anyone see breakfast TV when they were saying the pressure that Tesco put on suppliers to provide, for example, cheap bread. They FORCE the supplier to sell it to them at 40p, whereas your wee corner shops, and even some bigger supermarkets have to purchase it at 60p??? I'm all for cheaper stuff as I have said before on other threads, but Tesco, Asda (Wal Mart) etc come across to me as nothing more than playschool bullies.

The Loafer

[fred]

Seeing as we are on a fruit and veg point, is anyone aware that Tesco get FIRST CHOICE of all the fruit and veg that is imported into the country?

And did anyone see breakfast TV when they were saying the pressure that Tesco put on suppliers to provide, for example, cheap bread. They FORCE the supplier to sell it to them at 40p, whereas your wee corner shops, and even some bigger supermarkets have to purchase it at 60p??? I'm all for cheaper stuff as I have said before on other threads, but Tesco, Asda (Wal Mart) etc come across to me as nothing more than playschool bullies.

Once they have a farmer supplying the vast majority of their produce to them they can put the sqeeze on, sell cheaper or lose 90% of your trade, they can dictate the terms. The farmer then has no choice but to find ways of cutting costs, hire illegal immigrants for manual work, buy the cheapest feeds with reclaimed animal protein instead of organic leading to disease epidemics. To make a crop grow faster they must pump the land full of nitrogen killing rivers. They must spray with toxic weed killers and insecticides so the crop looks more presentable and because they can't afford to lose even a small portion of their crops to insects. Calves are given antibiotics even when they aren't ill, in America cattle are given steroids to make them grow bigger and faster.

Under the EEC subsidy system Europe accumulated mountains of unwanted food, stupid but it shows we have the capacity to produce more than we need without resorting to genetically altering the crops. We don't need to cut down rain forrests in South America to produce soya for our supermarket products. We don't need to ship our food half way round the world. The only reason we are killing the planet we live on is because the average consumer can't see further than the price tag.