Shopping, getting what you pay for and lack of choice

29 July

Tuesday and it’s another really nice day. Our plans now are for us to go out for a short time later this afternoon, ending up in the town centre so Jan can go to one particular shop to buy buts for here sewing machine.

The reason we are going out is that we are going have look around an Aldi stores out on the A5. It’s been ages since we’ve been in one, and we haven’t actually been in that one. When they first opened a store here in Dorktown, we tried it and did find we saved a heck of a lot dosh on our weekly shopping. However, the usual caveat of buyer beware needed to be used; I have a feeling that will be the same now. The old saying of ‘you get what you pay for’ certainly applied back then.

We quickly found that we didn’t like the items we bought and ended going back to Co-op for the bits we liked. The result was a lot of wasted petrol in driving from place to place, along with a much longer shopping trip. We soon moved to Asda where we have shopped on a more or less permanent bases since then, apart from the occasional trip to Morrisons. Tesco and Sainsburys are far too expensive for our liking.

What has brought this lot on is last night’s Despatches show on the way that the big four supermarkets have lost so much custom over the last few years. I don’t know though, perhaps we are far too fussy on the taste of the items we have bought there. When we lived just off the town centre, Aldi built a new stores a couple of hundred yards from us. So, one time when we were Coventry we saw an Aldi store and went in for a look. We bought a number of items to try; the kindest thing I could say about it, is that the stuff was tasteless pap. Again we went back to Asda the following week.

As I said before, perhaps were are too fussy. But it seems to me that if you don’t like the taste, then you don’t buy it again. Maybe things have changed a lot in those stores by now, I’ll see this afternoon. I have feeling though that they won’t have changed all that much. Jan was at the Aldi we are going to yesterday with Kile’s mum and she came back with a pair of shoes for me, so I’ll give them a go today too.

Their fresh fruit and veg should be OK too but the choice is very limited. I wonder when and if at some time there will be a backlash against them of the lack of choice? I eat a lot of apples for example, and I get quickly fed up with same variety every week; perhaps others will get to be fed up with same few items week after week. Whatever, we shall see what we see later eh?

Today’s photo then … 

Penguins taking a shower.

And funny time …

 Josh phoned his heart surgeon to schedule an appointment for an immediate surgery. ”I’m sorry,” the receptionist answered, “we don’t have anything available for the next three weeks.” "But I could die by then!” "No problem, just call before to cancel the appointment.”