Is it Cheaper to Grocery Shop in Strabane/Derry...??

_Paul_

Do any of you guys do your grocery shopping in Asda/Lidl/Tesco in Strabane or Derry?

I was wondering if it works out cheaper buying groceries from these stores instead of Lidl/Aldi in Letterkenny?

smashey

If you use Lidl or Aldi for the bulk of your weekly shopping then I would say the answer is no. If you were using Tesco or Supervalu or any of the smaller shops then you could probably save about 20% even if you pay in Euros. Most supermarkets in the North, especially in Strabane give a very good exchange rate. Asda in Strabane is very reasonable but the one to watch is Better Deals on the Melmount Road, where everything is priced in Euro. They have taken a lot of customers away from Supervalu in Strabane recently.

_Paul_

Thanks...haven't heard of "Better Deals"

Is the Tesco own-brand goods more expensive than Lidl/Aldi?

muffler

smashey wrote:

but the one to watch is Better Deals on the Melmount Road, where everything is priced in Euro.

Yes. Fully agree with that. Well I have to agree anyway as that is where "she who must be obeyed" does the weekly shopping.

You will always get special offers in the larger stores but then everyone falls for the age old trick of buying other products in the same store which may well be cheaper elsewhere.

My missus would say that Strabane is cheaper for grocery shopping than Letterkenny or Ballybofey. However she would still have the tendancy to buy the odd item in Tescos in letterkenny especially at the meat counter

smashey

_Paul_ wrote:

Thanks...haven't heard of "Better Deals"

Is the Tesco own-brand goods more expensive than Lidl/Aldi?

Check Better Deals out.

I don't think Tesco own-brand is any cheaper than Aldi/Lidl. Asda's might be. It could be worth a look.

_Paul_

I just checked on the lidl.ie site as you can compare Lidl prices on each side of the border.

So I noted the prices of various foodstuffs in euros and converted the prices into sterling using todays conversion rate at xe.com then compared that converted price with the price on the N.I. Lidl section...

...............RoI NI
€2.49 = £1.72 £1.49

€3.49 = £2.41 £1.99

€2.49 = £1.72 £1.39

€0.79 = £0.55 £0.31

€4.99 = £3.44 £3.29

€2.69 = £1.86 £1.79

€0.99 = £0.68 £0.69

€1.15 = £0.79 £0.75

€1.69 = £1.17 £0.79

€3.79 = £2.61 £2.49

TOTAL =£16.95 £14.98



So by my reckoning you could save about 11% by shopping in Lidl in Strabane/Derry compared to shopping in Lidl in Letterkenny/Donegal. Probably not worth driving from Letterkenny, but a good saving if you live near the border...

_Paul_

Is the Better Deals store a single store, or a chain?

Do they stock their own-brand of goods or well-known brands?

Paddy20

I know staff who are working for Argos in Letterkenny who get a staff discount !, yet they buy their own Argos goods in Derry as it works out a lot cheaper The differance in VAT plus transport add ons apparently makes them do this ?...

P. :cool:

muffler

_Paul_ wrote:

Is the Better Deals store a single store, or a chain?

Do they stock their own-brand of goods or well-known brands?

An independent store. They stock all the same stuff as you would expect to find in the average supermarket. All big name brands stocked

donegalman1

Stock up on acohol in the North and you'll certainly save your petrol costs. Groceries vary. Many of the said store in the north offer deals you tend to purchase even though you do not intend to.... main point though most northern deals including better deals tend to be near end of shelf life.

Miss Polaris

We shop in Sainsburys in Derry and find the shopping a lot cheaper and a far bigger choice. Sainsburys own brand is far superior to a lot of other institutions.

_Paul_

muffler wrote:

An independent store. They stock all the same stuff as you would expect to find in the average supermarket. All big name brands stocked

Would it still be cheaper though to buy Lidl own-brand goods in Strabane rather than the well-known brand names at Better Deals in Strabane?

smashey

_Paul_ wrote:

Would it still be cheaper though to buy Lidl own-brand goods in Strabane rather than the well-known brand names at Better Deals in Strabane?

Probably. Hope you can read German.:D

_Paul_

Danke Smashey. Guten abend.

byte

Yeah, I use Better Deals occasionally also, when doing a massive shop. It's better now it moved from the smaller shop it had.

Fresh produce however I prefer to buy locally.