Tesco vampires

[bagpuss]

I tend to frequent Tesco quite late on - mainly after 6.30pm, and appreciate how easy it is to navigate about the place and how nice and polite the staff are. However I made the mistake of going mid afternoon today and was appalled. Now don't get me wrong- the place was as customer friendly as usual- it was my fellow shoppers who were behaving like louts. I had my foot run over by a trolley at least four times, have numerous bruises and the elderly person I was with had a panic attack.

Moreover the people behaving badly were not from this locality- the few Wickers I did speak with were similarly appalled. Most of the loutish shoppers had accents from other parts of the UK- and one, in conversation with another described Wick as an 'effin hole- but the housing's cheap innit?'

I won't make the mistake of going in on a Saturday afternoon again- but I did notice today a phalanx of cars going between Tesco and Homebase without stopping (with our traffic warden's dedication to duty- who would?) to visit anything in between.

Earlier in the day you could have counted the shoppers in the town centre on the fingers of one hand.

I'd like to say that there's a nice warm fuzzy post Christmas cheer in the air. i'd like to- but I can't

[MISS K]

hey bagpuss, i thought you were describing, Tesco down here (ross-shire), i go shopping early morning, to avoid all that too (especially accents) ha ha, i went to Inverness at 9 this morning it was dead, but as it got later, i was then a problem wasnt I ...yes i had a buggy time for me to leave, no matter how considerate I am, the usual tuts!!
As from 3 weeks today Tescos in Wick will be my weekly shop, but i will support the local business in Thurso through the week, i live in a village with 1 wee shop, so i am looking forward to having shops in walking distance:D

[brandy]

we were at tescos about 2ish today..
were loads of peeps down the town when we drove thru.
it was busy as usual.. but ive seen worse *shudders* i went in on christmas eve!and made a milk run new years eve after work! its scary how aggresive peeps can get over a bargin and the last loaf of bread! *grins*

[dragonfly]

but I did notice today a phalanx of cars going between Tesco and Homebase without stopping (with our traffic warden's dedication to duty- who would?) to visit anything in between.

hands up! we were one of those cars, but with 20+ boxes of floor tiles wasn't much room for shopping from elsewhere! what bargains we got though, great to have homebase and tesco's on the doorstep :lol:

[bagpuss]

Okay folks-
If the worst came to the worst and Wick followed the example of other Tesco towns- what would you miss and why?

Granted the person buying a carload of tiles isn't going to have time or space to stop off even for coffee- but if say Boots, DE or the fishing tackle shops closed their doors- would you bother with the centre of town at all?

I work in Thurso, and much as I'd like to go to the building society(to take my money out) by the time I've dodged the warden and found a parking space, my lunch hour is used up. I tend to come into Wick to go to the bank when I get home from work. But even banks are not safe- if trade drops in a town, even they shut their doors.

[cuddlepop]

Must admit when we were up for a flying visit before christmas and went to Tesco's in Wick.
We hated it,the atmosphere is all wrong.Finished our shopping in Lidils.:D
Unfortunatly because the housing is cheap,some people are heading north for all the wrong reasons.:eek:

[Cattach]

Must admit when we were up for a flying visit before christmas and went to Tesco's in Wick.
We hated it,the atmosphere is all wrong.Finished our shopping in Lidils.:D
Unfortunatly because the housing is cheap,some people are heading north for all the wrong reasons.:eek:

I don't shop for atmosphere, I shop for commodities I require and consider price and quality too shopping.

Did you move south for all the wrong reasons and are you making value judgements about people coming to Caithness to live without knowing the facts?

[engiebenjy]

I still shop at Bews butchers for meat (obviously) as I don't like supermarket sausages / mince etc. I also still do a lot of basic shopping in the coop in Thurso. What I do like Tescos for is the things that you quite simply cant get anywhere else. I like cooking, and it is great now that I can find all those ingredients that I couldn't get locally before. I was there last night and got a few bargains as well. Tins of goose fat for luvvly roast tatties for 25p, and 200g bag of frozen raw king prawns for around £2.80 - you can't argue with that. One thing I did notice though was there was more staff than customers (i left at about 10.45). It made me wonder how long it is going tp stay open until midnight?

[Fran]

I always use my debit card for shopping, its so handy, but there are cash machines at Tesco so you dont need to go to the bank.

[badger]

Long ago when these new shops were still in the pipeline and people were worried about the town centre losing trade I said I hoped something would be done at least to brighten up Bridge Street. Sadly nothing has been done, in fact it looks even worse since Waters closed. Driving through Wick from Homebase etc. to Tesco or vice versa there is nothing that would make you stop in your tracks and decide you simply must park in the town and look at those beautiful shops. The area is as drab as ever which is such a shame. It could be transformed with a few coats of paint to brighten it up, some hanging baskets maybe, anything to make it look loved and cared for.

As for the shops themselves, how often has it been said they need to stop closing for lunch, shutting their doors at 5.0 pm and closing for half-days? Where are other working people supposed to shop if they can't do it in their lunch hour or on the way home? Maybe it sounds too much like hard work but anyone who opens a shop with the idea it's an easy life needs to go and do something else.

One thing the out of town shops (by Homebase) desperately need is a coffee shop but I was told that the planners, in their wisdom, refused a certificate as it would take trade away from the town. That's a joke - who's going to drive into town just for a coffee? Tesco seem to have managed it although it's much too small.

[jay]

must admit I'm not to keen on the new Tesco, I've only been in a couple of times, the first time was for specific items and was pleased with what I got, the second time I took the time to wander around the whole shop and just look to see what they had, gaps were appearing in the shelves and they had virtualy no fresh produce (tuesday of last week) Comparing prices I reckon that most things that I normally buy are pretty much the same price in Somerfiled/Co-op as they are in Tesco, in some cases cheaper. The Tesco value range is definately a lot cheaper but, as I previoulsy posted, they are discontinuing that. I was impressed by the bakery section and bought lots of things there - other than that (and the non food goods) I'll be sticking to my usual shopping pattern. In reply to the orginal question I would be sad to see any of the local shops closing there's few enough left as it is