Tesco unveils new eco-store (Tramore)

Sully

Tesco today unveiled its first environmentally-friendly store which it claimed will use almost half the energy of a standard supermarket.

The new eco-store, in Tramore, Co Waterford, will cut CO2 emissions equivalent to 400 cars from escaping into the atmosphere.

Supermarket bosses said that when the 30,000 sq ft store opens next week, it will use 45% less energy than a regular outlet of a similar size.

More than 90 jobs have been created at the state-of-the-art store which was specially-designed to reduce energy consumption.

Tesco Ireland’s Dermot Breen said the firm was committed to reducing its environmental impact.

“The new ’eco’ store at Tramore is a key part of our overall environmental strategy and will help us understand the feasibility of standardising green initiatives in new stores and throughout the rest of our business,” he said.

“Last year we set ourselves a number of goals including a 50% reduction in carbon use by 2020.

“The programme also includes an investment of €30m in environmental measures throughout our business.”

The building’s frame was made from wood from a sustainable forest saving 400 tonnes of CO2 compared to a similar steel structure.

Fridges and freezers in the store will use 30% less energy than a conventional refrigeration system while solar panels were installed to help power cash registers.

High levels of insulation and a ventilation system which recycles more than 70% of heat will also significantly reduce energy consumption.

Tesco has already installed environmentally-friendly features in its 111 Irish stores including motion sensitive lighting and the redistribution of cold air to warmer parts of stores.

The Waterford store is the first supermarket in the country to be designed to the rigorous requirements set out by PassivHaus, a internationally-recognised low energy building design system.

Source: BreakingNews

Iv been in the new Tesco, looks great I must say. Very nicely designed store and car park - and the environmentally friendly systems put in place are pretty good also. The wind turbine out front is operating away, and I believe there are also solar panels (though I haven't seen them).

Its great to see competition coming to Tramore, and thankfully they didn't open the store and build away at the same time Iv always found Tesco to be fairly decent priced, and shop there on a regular basis. From speaking to people in Tramore it seems a lot of people already do their shopping in Waterford and will now move to the new store, and those currently shopping in Tramore will be moving to the new store also.

Congrats to all involved.

Dan39

That all sounds fantastic Sully!

Excuse my ignorance if I'm missing something, but why were you in there? Were you invited. Or was the opening a public event?

Personally, I can't wait for a look.

Sully

Nobody seemed to take any notice.. you can drive in around the place. Seems to be busy during the day, no idea if its staff or not.

JohnC.

Is this open 24 hours or limited times?

Sully

Kahless wrote: »

Is this open 24 hours or limited times?

Limited times.. Open till 10 every night bar Sunday.

rasper

Finally, delighted it to see it happen after all this time. No more having to go into town on the day off just to do a shop, or having to do it when you're tired after work.
Major boost on the jobs front for the town , sure mostly only low paid retail jobs but at least they're in Tramore and not Waterford. lets hope it's the beginning of a little bit more self sufficiency for the town itself.

mickger

Did it open yet?

Sully

mickger wrote: »

Did it open yet?

October 10th.

delly

_FRANK_; Wow, talk about making a sensationalist statement while also sounds a little racist. TBH i'll shop wherever is best value and if we only shopped in Irish shops because they were Irish, we would be ripped off.

Sully

_FRANK_; Unless you can backup this statements, im removing it. Its incredibly dangerous to post up such an allegation without proof. PM one of the forum moderators with reliable proof.

muffler

Oh dear.

_FRANK_ is being a bit naughty again.

_FRANK_

yea i sent proof and sully yet again is not a man of his word no surprises there then

muffler

_FRANK_ wrote: »

yea i sent proof and sully yet again is not a man of his word no surprises there then

Do not drag this thread off topic please.

Any problems you have take it to feedback or the help desk.

Thats my final word on this.

Oh and I deleted your last post.

_FRANK_

muffler wrote: »

Do not drag this thread off topic please.

Any problems you have take it to feedback or the help desk.

Thats my final word on this.

Oh and I deleted your last post.

fair enough but it seems to me that there are people here with the problems so no i won't be taking it up with feedback or the help desk just to keep it on topic tesco sucks

Gary ITR

I'm not sure what frank said but I have 2 good friends who are now unemployed because of Tesco at the moment and I could be heading thaqt way myself soon too.

Tesco are importing a huge amount of their products from the UK because of the weak sterling.


Volvic
Pepsi
7up
Nestle

Are just a small few of the products they are importing and costing jobs. You might say that these products aren't Irish but they are produced here under license and distributed here by companies like Richmond Marketing and Britvic Ireland (formerly C&C Ireland)

Richmond have just let 25 sales people go due to this. Other companies have and are letting people go too.

I for one will not be shopping in Tesco.

By no means am I encouraging people to avoid or boycott Tesco but I'd rather see them support Irish companies and employment rather than worry about their carbon footprint

mountainyman

I never shop in Tesco. The only thing I would give them is (my love for muffler editing my post)



Mod edit: We can do without that type of comment.

_FRANK_

have you proof? basically thats what i was saying but they asked me for proof all my threads have been deleted on this matter i'm not setting foot in tesco's neither is any member of my family i also believe you should support irish jobs and irish products.tesco supports none of these.will this post get deleted also?

takola

_FRANK_ wrote: »

have you proof? basically thats what i was saying but they asked me for proof all my threads have been deleted on this matter i'm not setting foot in tesco's neither is any member of my family i also believe you should support irish jobs and irish products.tesco supports none of these.will this post get deleted also?

No Frank, your post was about how the money people spend in Tesco goes to make bombs to kill innocent people. While Onkle's post makes sense he doesn't need to dramatise it to get his point across.

I'm going to ask you to use a bit of common sense when you're posting. There's no free speech here. Any comments you make that may be seen as libellous can get boards.ie into trouble. Any future comments you make that we think can be seen as libellous will earn you a ban. Dragging this thread further off topic will earn you a ban. Final warning.

As muffler said, if you have a problem with the moderation in this (or any) forum take it to feedback or the helpdesk.

rasper

I for one wish that posts wouldn't be deleted unless it was something vile , maybe it was but we'll never know now.

Can Tescos really be any better or worse than their Irish based competition for stocking and selling Irish produce, I don't think so.
I see plenty of Irish produce on their shelves alongside with everything else, surely it is down to the consumer and I don't think the "Buy Irish" mentality exists at all. Supermarkets are there to whatever goods that sell, down to the person if they want to support Ireland Inc. if they want too.

Gary ITR

rasper wrote: »

I for one wish that posts wouldn't be deleted unless it was something vile , maybe it was but we'll never know now.

Can Tescos really be any better or worse than their Irish based competition for stocking and selling Irish produce, I don't think so.
I see plenty of Irish produce on their shelves alongside with everything else, surely it is down to the consumer and I don't think the "Buy Irish" mentality exists at all. Supermarkets are there to whatever goods that sell, down to the person if they want to support Ireland Inc. if they want too.

There's a good discussion here but don't want to drag the thread off topic. Maybe my post could be removed and put wherever the mods think suitable? Possibly economics?

Sully

Just to clarify, we have had to delete posts because they were accusations against Tesco which were not backed up with reliable sources (showing me their profit margins isnt proof) and could result in legal action by Tesco against Boards.ie. Such posts have and always will be deleted on sight. They were not your typical rant against english stores, but far worse.

Can we stick to the topic please? All politics related issues, please take them to the Politics forum.

Cheers.

greatgoal

went by the new tesco myself yesterday and i have to say it looks very impressive.

depaor

It was mentioned earlier some UK Supermakets rip off their Irish cutomers - they do --- see links below..
The government lobbying wont do much for the sales reps in Ireland as some UK supermarkets will rpobably still purchase thier goods on a weak sterling and just pass on a minority of the savings to thier irish customers to appease the situation and say they are customer focused.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0527/breaking74.htm

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/tesco-one-of-seven-firms-fined-for-not-displaying-their-prices-1435055.html



http://www.finegael.ie/news/index.cfm/type/details/nkey/23201

muffler

Did anyone mention the number of new jobs created for the locals with the opening of this store?






I thought not.

depaor

Tesco have created 93 jobs in the town

Supervalu employ 120 people.

The town is plenty large to sustain two supermarkets; Im sure most of the people who regurlarly shop in Waterford City Tesco stores will probably move thier weekly shop to Tesco Tramore.

Hopefully people will also still support the local store and their new upgrade..
Lets hope both survive and all employees are still employeed for years to come.

It is freedom of choice what store Eire or otherwise people support - I posted the links regarding the ripping off of Irish customers mainly because it is true and I didnt see the person's original post who mentioned it... but they seemed to have got a bit of a hard time for mentioning it..........

Sully

depaor wrote: »

Tesco have created 93 jobs in the town

Supervalu employ 120 people.

The town is plenty large to sustain two supermarkets; Im sure most of the people who regurlarly shop in Waterford City Tesco stores will probably move thier weekly shop to Tesco Tramore.

Hopefully people will also still support the local store and their new upgrade..
Lets hope both survive and all employees are still employeed for years to come.

Not a huge difference.. though I didnt think SV would have more staff hired! Seems a lot smaller when you go in store.. interesting! To be fair to Tesco, they have given loads of Irish people jobs in the past and continue to do so (I think one of the local papers covered the amount in Waterford recently). They offer great value for money and while its claimed they rip us off in other ways - its not going to stop many shopping there if it works out cheaper then their local store!

I think, from speaking to people, a lot of SV shoppers are going to move because there annoyed at SV for being over priced and only doing up the store when competiton arrived (some were annoyed at the timing the new work started, how long its taken, the mess the store is in now etc). I liked the old store tbh, but do feel it was bad timing to go doing up the store. Plus it would be easier to do it when its closed at night. Its a mess down there at the moment.

To be fair to Quish, he has employeed a lot of staff and done good for the town. Yes hes over priced, and yes people are right to be pissed but he didnt screw us over completely.

It is freedom of choice what store Eire or otherwise people support - I posted the links regarding the ripping off of Irish customers mainly because it is true and I didnt see the person's original post who mentioned it... but they seemed to have got a bit of a hard time for mentioning it..........

He got a "hard time" for something completely different.

Gary ITR

muffler wrote: »

Did anyone mention the number of new jobs created for the locals with the opening of this store?






I thought not.

I call to Tesco every day and I don't know one employee who likes their job or thinks they are treated fairly.
Morale among Tesco employees is really really low. Also when a new Tesco opens they have high numbers of staff, after the 'run in' period these numbers are cut back.

also with regards Tesco being cheaper, Tesco are bringing Volvic water from the UK at a cheaper price while Dunnes Stores buy from an Irish supplier and charge the same price

Sully

Onkle wrote: »

I call to Tesco every day and I don't know one employee who likes their job or thinks they are treated fairly.
Morale among Tesco employees is really really low. Also when a new Tesco opens they have high numbers of staff, after the 'run in' period these numbers are cut back.

Iv heard different storys btw, even on Joe Duffy! Iv heard stories about every fecking store in the country!

also with regards Tesco being cheaper, Tesco are bringing Volvic water from the UK at a cheaper price while Dunnes Stores buy from an Irish supplier and charge the same price

Still cheaper in areas tho. But I do agree with your point, it isnt right.

rasper

While I never want to play Devils advovate for a multi national I feel Tesco is being unfairly singled out here, the fact is Ireland has through bad government a higher cost base and less competition than in the UK and six counties , I reckon Dunnes would charge more if they though they could get away with it and pretty confident that if they could get the same price from Volvic with a higher profit margin than that is the filtered tap water they'd push. Aren't Aldi and Lidl cheaper up North too and not passing on the weak sterling rate.
FG and the rest try to blame private business for making as much profit as possible(the prerogative fo private enterprise of course), when the government are responsible for letting Ireland inflate to one of the most expensive countries in the EU.
Can't blame Tesco for that, we can blame lack of competition,rising costs and the apathetic consumer.
Once again not a Tesco groupy just a realist

Gary ITR

Sully wrote: »

Iv heard different storys btw, even on Joe Duffy! Iv heard stories about every fecking store in the country!

I've seen it with my own eyes in numerous stores. The company have no ethics whatsoever.

Also don't get me wrong, this isn't an anti English rant, I'll buy from Dixons, Boots etc.

JMcL

rasper wrote: »

I reckon Dunnes would charge more if they though they could get away with it..

Dunnes DO charge more, and deserve to be tarred with exactly the same brush. They were persisting with the "standard" €1.50ish/£1 exchange rate months after the actual exchange rate was around the €1.25 mark. Their response - remove the dual price tags so people aren't aware of the level of rip off. I haven't checked recently to see whether they're still at it, but they certainly were over the summer (compared prices in Dunnes in Derry and Waterford for exactly the same items).

rasper

Which company does pass down the exchange rates to the consumer though, look at our own government with the VRT crap, free market in the EU I think not.

Sully

Debenhams and Marks and Spencers were accused of the same thing. Most people dont care tho, as long as what they get is decent and cheaper then other stores. So in our case, Tesco will offer similar products cheaper then Super Value - maybe not as cheap as they could offer it, but still cheaper. So people will shop there.

Then when Lidl open, I think it will do the most harm to SV and keep Tesco on their toes (since they compete with each other the most)

DéiseGirl

I picked up a pair of jeans in Topshop the other day £40 somehow converted to €61. Thanks but no thanks :rolleyes:

As for Tesco, I do very little shopping in there and do most of my shopping in Aldi/Lidl/Dunnes but I like the fact that they sell a very large selection of own brand goods, which make up the bulk of my shopping a lot of days. Super Valu seem to be improving in that regard but I've gotten out of the habit of shopping there and if ever I'm down home I'd always pop into the Ardkeen store to get a few bits and pieces (let's just say my dad and I don't eat the same kind of food....:pac:). Sad to admit it but very happy to be able to pop into the Tramore store instead

depaor

It's not really fair to say that SuperValu are WAY more expensive than Tesco. When it comes to own brands alright Tesco do have some crazy cheap prices but comparing brand with brand there isnt a HUGE difference.

According to the last National Consumer Survey it was stated that

Supervalu is only marginally more expensive than Tesco and Dunnes and slightly cheaper than Superquinn, the survey found.
Ms Fitzgerald welcomed Supervalu's emergence as a "real competitor" to the multiples.

It really gauls me that we are charged way more in clothing from UK retailers and that the sterling is never taken into consideration when pricing clothing over here...

Sully

depaor wrote: »

According to the last National Consumer Survey it was stated that

Supervalu is only marginally more expensive than Tesco and Dunnes and slightly cheaper than Superquinn, the survey found.
Ms Fitzgerald welcomed Supervalu's emergence as a "real competitor" to the multiples.
.

Noticed that, came a bit of surprise. Maybe its just the Tramore one? I know a lot of locals felt they were paying to much here. Plus since that report Tesco have "turned up the heat" as have Lidl.

Gary ITR

Sully wrote: »

Noticed that, came a bit of surprise. Maybe its just the Tramore one? I know a lot of locals felt they were paying to much here. Plus since that report Tesco have "turned up the heat" as have Lidl.

Super Valu have a set price file from MSVC but they can tweak it themselves but this frowned upon by MSVC and could effect their annual bonuses/rebates.

Rumours are flying that MSVC (Musgrave Super Valu Centra) are trying to buy Superquinn, IMO that would be a fantastic win for the Irish consumer. Musgraves would benefit hugely from the economies of scale here and are trying to compete with Tesco, Dunnes etc

Sully

Onkle wrote: »

Super Valu have a set price file from MSVC but they can tweak it themselves but this frowned upon by MSVC and could effect their annual bonuses/rebates.

Interesting. Anybody know if Tramore tweaks it, or are they all generally the same? I assume Tesco do, in order to carry out the national advertising showing prices?

Rumours are flying that MSVC (Musgrave Super Valu Centra) are trying to buy Superquinn, IMO that would be a fantastic win for the Irish consumer. Musgraves would benefit hugely from the economies of scale here and are trying to compete with Tesco, Dunnes etc

Going a bit off topic here but bosses at Superquin have denied its up for sale. Do we believe them? If it was bought out by Musgraves, wouldn't it be unfair to consumers - there hardly the cheapest of stores (I think Centra would be pretty expensive, but not sure how it compares to Spar). Superquinn is a great store, though it is pricey. Not sure if I would want it bought by an Irish group or the launch of another popular brand like ASDA or someone.

Gary ITR

Sully wrote: »

Interesting. Anybody know if Tramore tweaks it, or are they all generally the same? I assume Tesco do, in order to carry out the national advertising showing prices?



Going a bit off topic here but bosses at Superquin have denied its up for sale. Do we believe them? If it was bought out by Musgraves, wouldn't it be unfair to consumers - there hardly the cheapest of stores (I think Centra would be pretty expensive, but not sure how it compares to Spar). Superquinn is a great store, though it is pricey. Not sure if I would want it bought by an Irish group or the launch of another popular brand like ASDA or someone.

All Tesco prices are the same.

Centra are now cheaper than Spar and offer much better promotions. You're paying for the convenience. If Musgraves bought Superquinn then they would be supplying Superquinn, Super Valu, Centra and Daybreak (Day Today), which would surely mean their prices would fall.

If ASDA or Sainsburys cam in I couldn't see them being bothered to undercut the current players.

rasper

I'd prefer myself to see another UK supermarket group to take it over, I'd imagine Musgraves acquiring it wouldn't have any affect on prices but another large group would probably fire up some competition, if ya to believe the ruling classes and their theories that the margins are so much higher for these unscrupulous supermarkets then they'd be a queue of them to hop on the gravy train.

Gary ITR

I think Musgraves would drop their prices. When all the Centra an SV stores went to centalised distribution there was a gradual decrease in price and the stores became more competitive.

When it comes to mystery shoppers too SV and Centra usually come out on top

Libby029

Sorry to ask, but when and where is the lidl in tramore opening

Sully

Libby029 wrote: »

Sorry to ask, but when and where is the lidl in tramore opening

No exact date public yet, but id imagine over the next month or two. Its going somewhere near Tesco (id imagine directly across from it, where they are now working on the site). That whole area is being developed for commerical - there will also be a mini shopping center there with retail units.

JMcL

Sully wrote: »

Debenhams and Marks and Spencers were accused of the same thing. Most people dont care tho, as long as what they get is decent and cheaper then other stores.

..which is exactly the reason why this country has become the most expensive place to live in the EU (who'd have ever believed anyplace could be more expensive than Finland!). It's probably too late as the horse is now probably gambolling happily on the other side of the hill with the stable door hanging off it hinges, but until people DO start questioning why there's widespread exchange rate gouging, and start voting with their feet, and start haranguing our useless government to put the foot down, it ain't going to improve.

Sully

JMcL wrote: »

..which is exactly the reason why this country has become the most expensive place to live in the EU (who'd have ever believed anyplace could be more expensive than Finland!). It's probably too late as the horse is now probably gambolling happily on the other side of the hill with the stable door hanging off it hinges, but until people DO start questioning why there's widespread exchange rate gouging, and start voting with their feet, and start haranguing our useless government to put the foot down, it ain't going to improve.

Are these stores not cheaper then the Irish equivalent?

On topic, Tesco has opened today (since 8am) and will remain open until 10pm Mon-Sat. Sunday it opens at 11am - 8pm.

JMcL

Sully wrote: »

Are these stores not cheaper then the Irish equivalent?

Not necessarily from what I can see. Yes, Superquinn are just expensive, and I'm personally not hugely impressed with the notion that you're paying for better quality, but Dunnes and Tesco are will beat each other on price on different items. Of the ones that operate in the north (ie the last two), they are significantly more expensive on just about any given item than the stores in the north. The usual excuses trotted out (insurance, salaries, electricity, the bad weather, and whatever you're having yourself) just don't hold water, as their PR muppets usually conveniently manage to forget the fact they pay significantly lower corporation tax on the no doubt substantial, but unreported, profits here.

So it's not just a matter of whether or not they're cheaper than their local competitors (in fact they just mainly seem to go in for price matching rather than beating - I've never seen "We're the same price as X" stickers proudly displayed anywhere else), since we're supposed to be in the era of the brave new "free market" (god help us), we have to ask ourselves why we pay substantially more for the same basket of groceries as do our neighbours 200km up the road.

</rant>

rasper

Was up there earlier and it was jammed , sure it was a lot of novelty and a lot of people went because it was an opening, however it certainly was evident just how many of these people will change their shopping habits from Waterford to Tramore , keeping jobs and spending somewhat local, I doubt that these are all SV customers as their size store can't have serviced that amount of people.
Nice store overall with a good selection, nice to see ya know can buy pc accessories, ink, or even an LCD if need be. Hopefuly more retail outlets follow

Sully

Isnt Tesco bigger then Super Value? Very busy again today, at times queues were out onto the roadway people getting access. Was very impressed with it myself, nicely layed out car park (better then SVs by far) and shop. Wasnt to much of a hassle to get around despite the large crowd. I would think that its a good chunk of SVs customers, but not all of course. I do worry that when Lidl open, it will hit Super Value harder.

Sully

depaor wrote: »

Tesco have created 93 jobs in the town

Where did you get this figure? According to local press, Tesco were to create between

130 and 150

jobs. Store size is 30,000 sq ft

Source: Waterford News & Star
Source: Waterford Today

EDIT: Think I found your source, another Waterford Today article. Talk about misleading (either by the press or by Tesco).

rasper

I'm sure that a lot of them are SVs customers however isn't SV really just a big convenience store rather than a full store,

I'd wonder regarding Lidl though I know I'll still be going to SV , its closer but more importantly its fast and easy . I imagine Lidl will be Tescos big competitor , people only going in there when they're are prepared to Que.
SV will still be a major earner just not as easy as they had it before, but thats life.

Sully

rasper wrote: »

I'm sure that a lot of them are SVs customers however isn't SV really just a big convenience store rather than a full store,

Not sure what there target is, but its got the same stuff as Tesco (in terms of what it sells, pretty much).

I'd wonder regarding Lidl though I know I'll still be going to SV , its closer but more importantly its fast and easy . I imagine Lidl will be Tescos big competitor , people only going in there when they're are prepared to Que.
SV will still be a major earner just not as easy as they had it before, but thats life.

Well like a lot of people shop in Tramore for convenience, others went to Waterford. I wondered would Tesco opening draw people away from SV, and then when Lidl comes it will draw people even further away. A lot of people I spoke to over the last month seemed to have this attitude, and were SV customers at the time. I fail to see how SV is any easier to access then Tesco - both are off the road, big car parks, on the main roads (Tesco having a better advantage covering the estates access wise).

For what its worth, I don't think SV is going to "die" I just don't think its going to remain as popular as it once was. I think they will be hit hard.

Lidl and Tesco are always fighting with each other, so with them open beside each other in Tramore it might be interesting.

Me, well I prefer Tesco but SV was always handier. Now that its open in Tramore, ill be shopping there unless SV ends up being quicker (now that its quieter) or not having something Tesco has.