Tescos future in Ireland

lisasimpson

Popped into Tescos for a few bits earlier items I couldn't get in Aldi. No wonder their business results were poor during the week.
Massive queues at checkouts over half the tills not open with some staff just wandering around.
Now I don't think stocking selves is rocket science, but some of the selves were terrible. talk about food waste. the freshest near the front items hitting expiry date near the back.
This on top of accepting dunnes/aldi vouchers, how long can their business model continue

Dozer Dave

Closing down on Monday.

Joeseph Balls

lisasimpson wrote: »

Massive queues at checkouts over half the tills not open with some staff just wandering around.

So, the exact same as Aldi/Lidl then....

Skylinehead

lisasimpson wrote: »

Massive queues

how long can their business model continue

Long.

lisasimpson

Joeseph Balls wrote: »

So, the exact same as Aldi/Lidl then....

difference is they don't have loads of staff out on the floor

Supercell

At least with Aldi or Lidl if there is a queue they will quickly open new tills, you wont be waiting more than a few minutes usually to get through. My local Tesco always has queues 5 (or more) deep, most tills closed and long wait times.
I prefer to drive to Aldi or Lidl in Bray (about 10 km away) than go to the local Tesco in Ballybrack which is about 1km away unless its for one or two items as a last resort.
Another thing that constantly irritates me with Tesco is they are always moving the location of stuff around the store, it really annoys me.
The sooner Tesco goes bust and someone else opens in its place the better in my opinion.
Tesco doesn't give a **** about its customers, they treat them like cattle, fcuk you Tesco.

/rant.

kneemos

They're losses reported during the week were mostly down to an adjustment in property valuations.

NachoBusiness

Everytime I go into Lidl on Moore St I do have to queue for ages. Cork St tends to be same story.

Seems quite fashionable these days to say the sun shines out of the arse of these places for some reason.

fussyonion

I don't get all this hate for Tesco.

I do a bit of shopping in both Tesco and Aldi.
If Aldi stocked everything I needed, I wouldn't need to go to Tesco, but as it stands, they don't.

I'm also not impressed with the quality of the fruit and veg in Aldi.
I can't tell you the times I've brought home veg or fruit only to find it's either already gone off (but I couldn't tell because it might have been positioned a certain way in the pack), or didn't last more than a day.

I've had courgettes that were fluffy and mouldy the next day, raspberries that turned to mush the next morning, and don't get me started on the fact they don't have "Best Before" dates on their fruit/veg.

Tesco's fruit and veg is varied and always fresh-I know I'm spending more on things like bags of peppers, but at least they'll last me the week, unlike in Aldi.

I buy as much own-brand stuff as I can in Tesco and the quality and price is second-to-none.

For example, I bought a Four Cheese Stonebaked pizza (Tesco own brand-not "Value" range) for only €1.22 and it was the nicest pizza I'd had in a long time.
I tried Aldi's pizza at €2.59 and it was like chewing on cardboard.

Tesco stock a hell of a lot more things than Aldi.
Aldi never seem to add to their range very often.

I also think it's a nicer experience shopping in Tesco than Aldi.
It's brighter and there's more room to manoeuvre, whereas in Aldi it's dull and drab with everyone in each other's way.


Like I said, if Aldi stocked everything on my list and improved the quality of their fruit and veg, I would shop there for everything, but they don't, so I'll be sticking with Tesco for the foreseeable.

whiskeyman

fussyonion wrote: »

and don't get me started on the fact they don't have "Best Before" dates on their fruit/veg.

Ah, but they do!
You just haven't realised it, til now that is!

http://www.cheapeats.ie/2012/10/09/lidl-and-aldis-mysterious-best-before-dates-on-fruit-and-veg/

Pumpkinseeds

I think that Tesco has a far greater variety than Dunnes, but, Tesco are consistently more expensive than their competitors. Whenever I shop at Tesco I was given a receipt to show me how much more expensive they were than their competitors and to bring the receipt next time I shopped there to have the difference refunded? I don't know what genius came up with that idea, but whoever it was should be fired.

I've never been to Aldi, although most people I know who have shopped their say the branches are depressing and a couple have been to Aldi once but would never go back. Lidl are a great alternative but not somewhere that you could do a full weeks shopping. It's great getting the discount vouchers in Dunnes, but when Dunnes aren't doing the discount vouchers I'd still prefer to have a local Tesco instead of Dunnes.

pmasterson95

Jaysus que's at checkouts god have mercy on us all.

folamh

Queues at checkouts would more depend on the branch location than a shortage of checkouts. I've never queued for ages at Tesco, but I have at Dunnes, Aldi and Lidl. Especially since people go to Aldi and Lidl to do the big weekly shop rather than grab a few things.

I've noticed that Tesco are on average more expensive than Dunnes for daily goods, especially fruit & veg (with the exception of Tesco brand berries).

I hope that Tesco have a future in Ireland as they treat their staff well (or so I hear from people who've worked there) and they do business with many Irish producers.

fussyonion

whiskeyman wrote: »

Ah, but they do!
You just haven't realised it, til now that is!

http://www.cheapeats.ie/2012/10/09/lidl-and-aldis-mysterious-best-before-dates-on-fruit-and-veg/

Er, I don't fancy standing around doing maths, trying to work out the date.
Why can't Aldi and Lidl just display the dates in a normal manner?
Are they trying to hide something?

artanevilla

Why did Aldi stop doing doughnuts is the real issue here.

thunderdog

Has anyone ever witnessed all tills being open in a large Tesco extra? Are most of the tills there for decorative purposes?

Banjo String

Tesco.

Every Lidl helps.

cloud493

thunderdog wrote: »

Has anyone ever witnessed all tills being open in a large Tesco extra? Are most of the tills there for decorative purposes?

Well the only times most of those tills need to be that open is seasonal, christmas and the like. Otherwise, its never as busy as it looks.

Source - I work in a tesco extra.

Dozen Wicked Words

fussyonion wrote: »

Er, I don't fancy standing around doing maths, trying to work out the date.
Why can't Aldi and Lidl just display the dates in a normal manner?
Are they trying to hide something?

So when you go in a greengrocers and buy fresh fruit or veg where is the sell by date there?

They probably think people are intelligent enough to tell if the fruit or veg is ripe enough without their hand being held.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

lisasimpson

its not a hate Tesco thing you can get some good bargins in there. for some reason this morning things really stood like. im no retail expert but Id love to know how the supervisors/ managers couldn't see the mess that was made of some of the selves. its small little things that could mean a lot to them

Pretzill

Don't shop at Tesco don't like their prices - just don't like them. I find Aldi better than Lidl especially for meat produce although as someone else said their veggies go off way too quick, and I've realized you get what you pay for there. (49c veg most times only half is fresh)

My favorite supermarket is Super Valu but I know they differ between stores both price wise and quality - my local super valu does great local vegetables and has a brilliant range of Indian staples and exotic veg at really good prices and sold in bulk.

It wouldn't bother me in the slightest if Tesco pulled out tomorrow.

Insect Overlord

One Tesco shop somewhere in Ireland had long queues for a few minutes on one day in April, therefore all Lidl and Aldi shops are better. Yup, flawless logic there.

I have this weird irrational blood boiling hatred of tesco. I'm not sure when it started or where it came from. I worked from them as a teenager but I don't think that's it. On the very rare occasion I have to go to Tesco for something out of convenience, I find myself inexplicably agitated. It's mad!

Superquinnvalu all the way for me.

cloud493

Although tesco isn't my supermarket of choice (I love sainsburys and asda) I hate dunnes and supervalu personally. Well I say hate, I wouldn't go in there ideally, since I find their produce and prices to be bad and silly.

LadyAthame

I reckon this thread was started by Lidl.

syklops

Deleted User wrote: »

I have this weird irrational blood boiling hatred of tesco. I'm not sure when it started or where it came from. I worked from them as a teenager but I don't think that's it. On the very rare occasion I have to go to Tesco for something out of convenience, I find myself inexplicably agitated. It's mad!

Superquinnvalu all the way for me.

I worked in a Dunnes Stores in Galway when I was 16. I've not stepped inside the door of the place since and I only started shopping in Dunnes relatively recently and thats because its much closer than anywhere else. As a former employee you've seen what went on. Between the shortcuts, the filth, the interminable boredom at times and the needless pressure at others.

SEPT 23 1989

it all boils down to those manky own brand crisps they used to flog in the 90's

swings and roundabouts Tesco swings and roundabouts

lisasimpson

LadyAthame wrote: »

I reckon this thread was started by Lidl.

have no links to any supermarket but hey if lidl want to thank me for promotion

looksee

I mostly shop in tesco, I do a bit in lidl for specific things. I have stopped buying their fruit and veg because as other people have said, it goes off too quickly. And it annoys me that they hide the bb date. Also am also irrationally irritated by them organising my trolly at the checkout, I thought they had stopped doing that. If the person hauling the trolly about was putting the groceries into it, well fair enough, but they are not, its just daft. The Supervalu near me does not have the range and is expensive.

LadyAthame

lisasimpson wrote: »

have no links to any supermarket but hey if lidl want to thank me for promotion

I'll put them in my SIG...do ya hear???

NachoBusiness

looksee wrote: »

I mostly shop in tesco, I do a bit in lidl for specific things. I have stopped buying their fruit and veg because as other people have said, it goes off too quickly.

They have weird bananas too. They seem fine when you buy them but they go a funny colour instead of the usual dark spots. If I was a suspicious feller I'd be suspecting that they have been frozen at some point.

Another thing about Lidl and Aldi I don't like is the tension. I've never been incarcerated but when queuing I almost feel like I'm in a prison lining up to get my grub and at any second someone is about to stripe me for me carrots.

I think Supervalu is definitely hit and miss. The two I use used to be superquinns and have a much bigger selection than ones that weren't. My nearest dunnes is just way too big and I end up walking back and forth too many times!

There's very few shelf items that I would buy. It's almost all fresh food, with some exceptions, and I just wouldn't trust anything "fresh" from tesco. The quality is utterly shyte.

The staff in my local tesco are horrible, the queues are always down the aisles, there are always empty shelves, and there's always out of date produce being sold.

There goes that blood boiling again :pac:

kneemos

NachoBusiness wrote: »

They have weird bananas too. They seem fine when you buy them but they go a funny colour instead of the usual dark spots. If I was a suspicious feller I'd be suspecting that they have been frozen at some point.

Another thing about Lidl and Aldi I don't like is the tension. I've never been incarcerated but when queuing I almost feel like I'm in a prison lining up to get my grub and at any second someone is about to stripe me for me carrots.

Certainly puts manners on people.
No nattering about Mrs O'Briens hip replacement.

LadyAthame

Deleted User wrote: »

I think Supervalu is definitely hit and miss. The two I use used to be superquinns and have a much bigger selection than ones that weren't. My nearest dunnes is just way too big and I end up walking back and forth two many times!

There's very few shelf items that I would buy. It's almost all fresh food, with some exceptions, and I just wouldn't trust anything "fresh" from tesco. The quality is utterly shyte.

The staff in my local tesco are horrible, the queues are always down the aisles, there are always empty shelves, and there's always out of date produce being sold.

There goes that blood boiling again :pac:

My local Tesco is pretty much devoid of staff. They have many self service tills now. I prefer lidl ...there are two near me the branch matters. Aldi not so much.

Lidl veg and fruit are pretty good. But they allow stock to go down a lot. Particularly over bank holidays etc.

I will use tescos occasionally if I can't find something. Or it works out cheaper. It rarely does though.

dmc17

lisasimpson wrote: »

have no links to any supermarket but hey if lidl want to thank give me for a promotion

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

NachoBusiness

M&S is where it's at..

Charming, friendly staff. Shelves always regularly stocked with fresh produce.

Great choice of produce also and a guarantee that no item they stock will have hydrogenated oils as an ingredient.

Air popped crisps with cracked black pepper.
Cray fish and mango salads.
All butter recipe Boxty.
Free range Devonshire ham.
Honey glazed pulled Pork.
French kissed Goat's milk.

Stuff like that. Love the place.

AllGunsBlazing

Aldi stores have a weird smell. =/

NachoBusiness

NachoBusiness wrote: »

M&S is where it's at..
.

I like M&S fruit, and if I've forgotten my lunch I'll grab a salad there. They also do the most delicious greek yogurts. Wouldn't be into their meat though and you need to have money in your pocket to shop there.

Their bakery is dangerous.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

kneemos

AllGunsBlazing wrote: »

Aldi stores have a weird smell. =/

That's what the lower class smells like my son.

Pretzill

NachoBusiness wrote: »

M&S is where it's at..


Honey glazed pulled Pork.
French kissed Goat's milk.

Stuff like that. Love the place.

Sounds more like S&M than M&S

dmc17

kneemos wrote: »

That's what the lower class smells like my son.

Have you tried giving him a bath?

AllGunsBlazing

kneemos wrote: »

That's what the lower class smells like my son.

It's like a mixture of rank body odour and decaying vegetables.

NachoBusiness

Deleted User wrote: »

Their bakery is dangerous.

It is indeed.

I like to think I generally eat a paleo diet that consists of nothing but fresh fruits, veg and organic grass fed cattle that work out, go on morning hikes and refuse to drink anything but glass bottled Evian water when they return.. but accidentally happen past the M&S bakery around 6:37pm when they yellow sticker everything and mother bejaysus, sure how could anyone resist melt in your mouth pastries at 25c a pop. Paleo be damned.

cloud493

Who the **** can afford to use marks and spencers solely for their weekly food shopping? I occasionally buy sweets from there as a treat but its expensive as ****.

murpho999

I think they're are gone already. Been driving around all day and can't find a "Tescos" anywhere.

SMJSF

I personally can't stand going to aldi or lidl... I've attempted doing a weeks food shop twice, and on both trips came out with 2 items, from a 10-15 item list.
I only buy smoked cheese in aldi because Tescos don't stock it (but they stock every other type of cheese!).

I would shop in Dunnes if there was a bigger foodhall near me, but there's only Henry street, and that's as bad as a small tesco express shops (don't get me started on those!).

So I'm a Tesco person, and I don't think I'll ever convert to lidl or aldi.

murpho999

fussyonion wrote: »

I don't get all this hate for Tesco.

I do a bit of shopping in both Tesco and Aldi.
If Aldi stocked everything I needed, I wouldn't need to go to Tesco, but as it stands, they don't.

I'm also not impressed with the quality of the fruit and veg in Aldi.
I can't tell you the times I've brought home veg or fruit only to find it's either already gone off (but I couldn't tell because it might have been positioned a certain way in the pack), or didn't last more than a day.

I've had courgettes that were fluffy and mouldy the next day, raspberries that turned to mush the next morning, and don't get me started on the fact they don't have "Best Before" dates on their fruit/veg.

Tesco's fruit and veg is varied and always fresh-I know I'm spending more on things like bags of peppers, but at least they'll last me the week, unlike in Aldi.

I buy as much own-brand stuff as I can in Tesco and the quality and price is second-to-none.

For example, I bought a Four Cheese Stonebaked pizza (Tesco own brand-not "Value" range) for only €1.22 and it was the nicest pizza I'd had in a long time.
I tried Aldi's pizza at €2.59 and it was like chewing on cardboard.

Tesco stock a hell of a lot more things than Aldi.
Aldi never seem to add to their range very often.

I also think it's a nicer experience shopping in Tesco than Aldi.
It's brighter and there's more room to manoeuvre, whereas in Aldi it's dull and drab with everyone in each other's way.


Like I said, if Aldi stocked everything on my list and improved the quality of their fruit and veg, I would shop there for everything, but they don't, so I'll be sticking with Tesco for the foreseeable.

Do you realy think that Aldi, are checking fruit and turning the rotting side over in the packaging? Do you realise how preposterous that sounds?

Also, why would fruit & veg need a best before date? You can judge that by the eye and touch.

Best before dates are misunderstood and lead to more food waste as people throw out perfectly good food as they confuse it with 'expiry' dates.

Anyhow we shop in Lidl for a lot of stuff, never had an issue with quality and then go to Tesco or Supervalu for other stuff. No big deal.

Have to give credit to Lidl/Aldi for shaking up the market as Tesco ripped Irish customers off for years.

PowerToWait

I've started going to a large, well stocked Tesco 15 km from where I live. I did all shopping in Lidl / Aldi up to 3 months ago. For about 3 years.

First time back in Tesco was like going to West Berlin from the East circa 1982. Magical.

Thing about Tesco, or Dunnes for that matter, is the inconsistency between stores. Some of them are appalling. Never sure what you want will be in stock from store to store. Compare the one in Ballincollig, an epicurean cornucopia, to the festering hole in Ballyfermot. Same for Dunnes.

Aldi / Lidl are the same all over with the same stock and layout more or less.

But M&S is just beyond ridiculous. I love the fruit but 4 something for 4 pears lads? Get a grip.