http://www.theguardian.com/business/201 ... rd-quarter

Not surprised.

Comments of the day:

Bearing that last comment in mind, Tesco is still pretty much the only option for a one stop shop around here. Waitrose is incredibly overpriced, Sainburys are considerably more expensive than Tesco and the quality at Morrisons is sub-standard.

We are now buying some staple groceries at Lidl and topping off at Tesco. The scheme to open an ASDA store has been delayed by a fairly bitter planning dispute - it was originally due to open early this year, but they haven't even broken ground yet.

Lidl FTW! I can now affored to shop where I want but Lidl is usually the first stop and get other bits we need from Sainsbury and even Iceland. It's handy as we have a Lidl store around the corner from our house.

I do not go into the big Tesco stores too often as they are miles away, and I get the bulk of my stuff online anyway. The local Tesco express has had a revamp but it is a touch overpriced. The last big Tesco I did go in was in Purley and it had been revamped, though I was in there overnight so it was like a battle field with empty cartons. I did not mind as there were more staff than customers so getting help to find things was brilliant. It was expected, in fact I think that Sainsbury and Co-op and Morrisons will report weaker than expected figures. Only Waitrose at the top, and the two german discounters, Aldi and Lidl, I expect will do well. The middle class buyers are being hollowed out by government policy and inflation. It will happen through out the retailers. The big retailer JC Penney is on the verge of bankruptcy in the US as they have been squeezed. All their traditional middle class customers are trading down and they have been left with big losses. Tesco is not that bad but it is being squeezed.

We used to shop at Morrisons but they've built a huge Tescos closer with much more parking so we go there now. We have definitely been buying less though that's partly because I've stopped eating so much rubbish.

I have absolutely no customer loyalty and up to 6 months ago used to flip between Asda, Tesco and Morrisons on a weekly basis, depending on what my movements were.

When I was made redundant in May this year, I started shopping at Aldi due to income concerns, but even since starting work again in October I've continued to buy the basics from Aldi and just get treats from 'The Big Three'. Aldi is surprisingly good if you just want run-of-the-mill goods, though I've noticed the prices have started to creep up since their high profile TV ad campaigns have appeared (no doubt McCann Erickson will be charging them an arm and a leg).

Tesco's are overrated though for general groceries, I hardly ever go there now.

I think that this financial squeeze has been worse than most expected, and with the government not planning to let up with the austerity for another decade it will squeeze the big stores for longer. In a decade from now it would not surprise me that either Aldi or Lidl were our biggest stores. Loyalty has gone. I shop mainly between Asda and Tesco but will get some things from any store, though most is online, so I can see what the price differences are at each store.


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