The Co-op asks us how they can improve their store - let's tell them!

[Duke Fame]

As a local shop, the coop is OK. It's prices are a bit frightening but nevertheless, OK.

[Dave]

would it make the car park any bigger?

I suspect not.

I'm not being naive in expecting to have to pay a little more in a collective where extra efforts are made to ensure there is fair trade and better ethical standards in the supply chain.

Fairtrade products are widely available - the Co-op does not have a monopoly.  And I'm afraid Melancholy is probably being a bit naive about it - recent press coverage suggests that Fairtrade isn't always as fair as like to think:  http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/may/24/fairtrade-accused-of-failing-africas-poor

[Melancholyflower]

Actually the entire site, including the row of small shops next door, (charity shop, estate agent etc), plus the huge delivery yard at the back, is quite big, but it's inefficiently designed.  A 'proper' supermarket company taking over the site would probably demolish and rebuild, creating a much larger retail area. 

Perhaps, but would it make the car park any bigger?
And as a matter of interest, were Co-Op responsible for building the existing store?

Naive, maybe, and also admirably idealistic - but we are paying through the nose for it, Co-op prices being consistently higher than the other supermarkets.  And the quality is variable, and the shelves are poorly stocked. That's why most Marple residents do their supermarket shopping elsewhere. 

I'm not being naive in expecting to have to pay a little more in a collective where extra efforts are made to ensure there is fair trade and better ethical standards in the supply chain. That's what Co-Op is all about, surely?  And before you talk about prices being higher for goods across the board, doubtless that's because Tesco and the like drive hard, ruthless bargains with suppliers to beat the competition, and don't always worry about ethics.   

[My login is Henrietta]

The vouchers they have recently introduced for members are a welcome development - typically £5 off if you spend over £40, a discount of over 10%.  But it's not really much of a saving when you realise that is 10% off prices which are across the board higher than the other supermarkets, which are themselves slashing prices and putting on similar deals for regular shoppers, such as the schemes currently on offer at Tesco and Morrisons.  

Well, the figures speak for themselves: we spend £27 million a year at supermarkets outside Marple, and £11 million at the Co-op.  Something must be wrong!

When I lived in Hyde I shopped at Morrison's as the store was only about 100 yards from my house. I also used the market as there were good fresh food counters. I only use Tesco in an emergency, despite passing the store in Glossop at least 5 times a week, because I don't like their ethics (or lack of them) and, in the main, the floor staff are a waste of time, although I sometimes buy petrol there when it's convenient to me. I don't use Asda anywhere because I find the stores scruffy and badly organised, the merchandise isn't very good quality and the American parent company has an appallingly exploitative employment record. I sometimes use Sainsbury's, M&S food stores and Aldi if I'm passing but they aren't very convenient. But why spend the money that I'd "save" by shopping in any of them on the petrol to get there when I pass the Co-op two or three times a day? Swings and roundabouts.

[My login is Henrietta]

I don't shop anywhere else . Apart from Iceland and Morrisons. Sometimes .archers for the best bread .muffins exelent . Strange you were only criticising the coop a few months ago you could not obtain what you wanted .i think you went to Morrisons .

One occasion only - the treacle and oatmeal issue. Since then I have had no complaints. I see no point in making a life-long judgment based on one experience only. I have been impressed with the Co-op's service since.

[amazon]

And you meet all the best people in the Co-op - especially checking out the bargain counters!!

Like it the damaged goods right at the back near the empty freezers .....

[Dave]

There is advantage to being a member. As I do most of my main shop there on Friday I have been getting vouchers for my next shop.

The vouchers they have recently introduced for members are a welcome development - typically £5 off if you spend over £40, a discount of over 10%.  But it's not really much of a saving when you realise that is 10% off prices which are across the board higher than the other supermarkets, which are themselves slashing prices and putting on similar deals for regular shoppers, such as the schemes currently on offer at Tesco and Morrisons. 

What's not to like?

Well, the figures speak for themselves: we spend £27 million a year at supermarkets outside Marple, and £11 million at the Co-op.  Something must be wrong!

[Barbara]

And you meet all the best people in the Co-op - especially checking out the bargain counters!!

[amazon]

Amazon, do you actually use the co-op on the Hollins on anything approaching a regular basis?

There is advantage to being a member. As I do most of my main shop there on Friday I have been getting vouchers for my next shop. So far they have paid for my Christmas booze! In addition there have been some really good savings on things I buy regularly and I haven't found shelves empty of what I want for a long time. (The last time was when they ran out of treacle and oatmeal just before bonfire night - probably due to demand at that time of the year).

The co-op organisation is heavily into fair trade and treats its suppliers both in Britain and abroad properly and doesn't browbeat them into accepting less for their products than it costs to produce them (cf the Tesco milk scandal). I'm happy to pay a few pence more for my bananas and chocolate if it means the growers can afford to feed their children and send them to school.

The staff are polite, helpful and friendly (of course it helps if the customer is polite and friendly too!) and there when you want them - not something you can say about some other supermarkets. The store is clean and easy to navigate. The parking is free and the store is central to other shops in Marple.

And their own bread is amongst the best in town.

What's not to like?

I don't shop anywhere else . Apart from Iceland and Morrisons. Sometimes .archers for the best bread .muffins exelent . Strange you were only criticising the coop a few months ago you could not obtain what you wanted .i think you went to Morrisons .

[My login is Henrietta]

;)Victorian thinking .  Let's bring Horse and carts back it deliver the milk .

As a horse owner, I can't endorse that. It was a very hard and short life for working horses back then and no-one who knows and loves them would want them to go back to that.

[My login is Henrietta]

There is plenty of room at the back the store area was made smaller when they refurbised a few years ago .
Keep the faith with what .empty shelves stupid prices . Victorian shopping .

Amazon, do you actually use the co-op on the Hollins on anything approaching a regular basis?

There is advantage to being a member. As I do most of my main shop there on Friday I have been getting vouchers for my next shop. So far they have paid for my Christmas booze! In addition there have been some really good savings on things I buy regularly and I haven't found shelves empty of what I want for a long time. (The last time was when they ran out of treacle and oatmeal just before bonfire night - probably due to demand at that time of the year).

The co-op organisation is heavily into fair trade and treats its suppliers both in Britain and abroad properly and doesn't browbeat them into accepting less for their products than it costs to produce them (cf the Tesco milk scandal). I'm happy to pay a few pence more for my bananas and chocolate if it means the growers can afford to feed their children and send them to school.

The staff are polite, helpful and friendly (of course it helps if the customer is polite and friendly too!) and there when you want them - not something you can say about some other supermarkets. The store is clean and easy to navigate. The parking is free and the store is central to other shops in Marple.

And their own bread is amongst the best in town.

What's not to like?

[amazon]

 

Bravo for your last sentence.

Victorian thinking .  Let's bring Horse and carts back it deliver the milk .

[My login is Henrietta]

I haven't time to read all this thread but fail to see how any other brand would do much better on the hollins site. There's no extra space to get a bigger store, the car park is too small anyway, and the produce is acceptable. I'd love a whacking great 24/7 store on my doorstep but you can't have everything.

I didn't move to Marple for a Tesco or Waitrose or Booths. I didn't move to Marple for Co-op but I'm happy to use it. And call me naive but it's better to keep the faith in a genuine co-operative than a greedy corporate monster?

Bravo for your last sentence.

[amazon]

I haven't time to read all this thread but fail to see how any other brand would do much better on the hollins site. There's no extra space to get a bigger store, the car park is too small anyway, and the produce is acceptable. I'd love a whacking great 24/7 store on my doorstep but you can't have everything.

I didn't move to Marple for a Tesco or Waitrose or Booths. I didn't move to Marple for Co-op but I'm happy to use it. And call me naive but it's better to keep the faith in a genuine co-operative than a greedy corporate monster?

There is plenty of room at the back the store area was made smaller when they refurbised a few years ago .
Keep the faith with what .empty shelves stupid prices . Victorian shopping .

[Dave]

On the contrary, if anything it is understating it!  The evidence is all in here:  http://democracy.stockport.gov.uk/documents/s25234/FINAL%20Marple%20Foodstores%20Report%20-%2022%2001.pdf

That is the report which some consultants prepared for Stockport Council last year, analysing the Hibbert Lane and Chadwick Street supermarket proposals, and assessing their potential impact.  It identified a total of £27 million per year being spent by residents of Marple at supermarkets in Stockport, Hyde, Bredbury, Hazel Grove, Glossop and Whaley Bridge, compared with about £11 million at Marple Co-op!  If you scroll down to para 4.12 you can see the breakdown, but to save others the hassle, here it is:


the Sainsbury’s store in Hazel Grove (£6.8m);

the out-of-centre Morrisons at Bredbury (£5.5m);

the Tesco store at Whaley Bridge (£5.2m).

the Tesco store at Wren Nest Road in Glossop (£2.6m);

the out-of-centre Tesco store at Tiviot Way (£2.4m);

the ASDA store in Stockport (£1.7m);

the ASDA store in Hyde (£1.6m); and

the Sainsbury’s store in Stockport (£1.1m).

We vote with our feet (or rather, our wheels!)