Sale of the Marple CO-OP to ASDA

[nipper14]

I certainly couldn't carry weekly supermarket shopping home on a bike. We shop for 3 weekly and fill 4 or 5 large supermarket bags. These heavily laden bags fill the car boot and would be impossible to transport home by bike!

[amazon]

I like to shop at waitrose and am a Male in my 40's ...just like good quality produce...but cheers for the sweeping statement

You must be well off .

[JJJA19]

Ironic use of fatuous there Barndoor. I say that Waitrose is worse than Co-op on the basis of the most common argument used in favour of a Supermarket on Hibbert La in that it was argued that the Co-op was rather expensive and as Asda was seen as a better value alternative. Waitrose is one of those rare beasts as more expensive than the co-op and tended to appeal to 'stepford wives' types.

I like to shop at waitrose and am a Male in my 40's ...just like good quality produce...but cheers for the sweeping statement

[rsh]

Talking of bikes, where do those who cycle currently lock up their bike while nipping into the co-op?

As far as I know there's no dedicated space, just some low railings next to the failed click and collect or the railings around the trolleys at the entrance, not really ideal and very poor for a "convenience" supermarket. If ASDA actually installed a few proper (covered?) bike hoops that'd be a start!

[Maria]

Love how some refer to "snooties" who would like a Waitrose but then refer to an M&S! Made me chuckle 

Does that mean those who want an ASDA, Aldi etc are scrotes? I think not.  We are each entitled to an opinion and our own preference and labelling people, for me, benefits no-one.

[Duke Fame]

Nowhere in my missive did I compare Waitrose to Aldi, or to Sainsbury's, or indeed to Morrisons (which, incidentally, has lately found itself in a bit of serious schtuck, The Grocer magazine award or not). I was merely responding to Simonsaffron's Duke Fame's fatuous claim that Waitrose is worse than the Co-op.

However you make some claims which ought to be clarified to allow the impartial reader to draw an informed conclusion.

Ironic use of fatuous there Barndoor. I say that Waitrose is worse than Co-op on the basis of the most common argument used in favour of a Supermarket on Hibbert La in that it was argued that the Co-op was rather expensive and as Asda was seen as a better value alternative. Waitrose is one of those rare beasts as more expensive than the co-op and tended to appeal to 'stepford wives' types.

[amazon]

Everyone get on yer bicycles for goodness sake  

Tandems would be better save a bike .give a lift .
And will marple be able to cope with the extra people coming to marple rather than going the other way .

[wheels]

Not true Dave you can easily carry the contents of a supermarket trolley on a bike. I have often cycled back from Sainsburys with a weeks shopping for 3, if I can do that at 63 then I am sure others can. In fact Asda had agreed to provide trailer bikes for customers in their original Hibbert Lane proposals.

[barndoor]

I don't believe Barndoor that I made any such comparison  between Waitrose and the Co-op, "fatuous" or otherwise. If you read the postings properly you will see that the comparison that you quote was made by the one and only  Duke Fame. You can hardly expect anybody to take your assertions and speculations seriously if you can't get a simple bald fact right.

simonesaffron, you are absolutely correct and I hope you'll accept my apologies for this oversight. I will happily put up my hands and say, "Mea culpa."

Admin, if it's possible, in post #88 can you please amend 'Simonsaffron's fatuous claim' to 'Duke Frame's fatuous claim' .

That's done - Admin

[Dave]

Seems to me Belly and Dave are all too keen to blame others for any traffic problems, the Council, Officers, elected member, retailers

Not true.  Belly is clearly concerned about parking. He may be right, but as I wrote above, I don't think it's inevitable that we will experience a severe shortage of parking in the future - it depends on how Asda manage their car parking, and on whether there is eventually another supermarket at Chadwick Street.   And at no point have I blamed anyone for anything! 

As for his wider point, Wheels needs to understand that most of us do not live within walking distance of a supermarket, that you can't carry the contents of a supermarket trolley on a bike, and that there are those of us who do not wish to buy food online. 

[alstan]

Nowhere in my missive did I compare Waitrose to Aldi, or to Sainsbury's, or indeed to Morrisons (which, incidentally, has lately found itself in a bit of serious schtuck, The Grocer magazine award or not). I was merely responding to Simonsaffron's Duke Fame's fatuous claim that Waitrose is worse than the Co-op.

Nowhere in my post did I say that you had compared Waitrose to Aldi, or to Sainsbury’s, or indeed to Morrisons. Nor did I express an opinion on the comparative merits of Waitrose and the Co-op. I merely suggested that it was nonsensical to use the position of the John Lewis Partnership in a list of the turnover of UK private companies in a critique of someone else’s opinion as to the comparative desirability of the two supermarkets.

I don’t know in which category of the Which? awards Waitrose came out top for seven years running but it  wasn’t “Supermarket of the Year” which Aldi won  in 2009, 2012 and 2013. So Aldi have won it in three of the past five years and I wonder whether your emphasis was worthwhile.

[Duke Fame]

Simone

This is the same old issue that was hashed and re-hashed by MIA. The problem isnt traffic, Marple will cope with this, its all about parking. The vast majority of people that will shop in the old Coop / new Asda will be existing Marple residents or people from those immediate surrounding towns already driving through Marple to get to an existing 'out of Marple' store. The same will apply to an 'extended' co-op / Asda store and equally to a 'new store' at Chadwick Street. New foodstores don't generate a great deal of 'new traffic' rather they redistribute existing foodstore related traffic and alter existing shopping patterns. Afterall, why should an additional store make an individual carry out more and more trips to foodstores. I can promise you that there have been many, many studies that have looked at this. Bottom line is, the vast majority of the traffic that will travel to these foodstores is already inherent to Marple - at the moment though this traffic eventually finds its way out of the town and parks in large car parks at Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda, et al. This will change......

As I've bleated on now for ages like a scratched record, Marple faces a real parking issue in future, both with and without Asda replacing the co-op. The town suffers from a limited parking supply that is scattered all over the place. Only two large car parks exist, one at Co-op / Asda and the other at Chadwick Street (CS). In practice the existing Co-op car park barely copes with demand and CS acts as the vital 'pressure release valve' for the rest of the town during busy periods, whilst also serving local shops and businesses. Should only the Asda make-over of the Ridgedale Centre take place, then I suspect that the town will probably cope - but get ready for the potential need to lug your supermarket shopping across the road to Chadwick Street from time to time, as I suspect that at busy times (Saturday mornings / early afternoon), finding a space in the Co-op / Asda car park will be very, very difficlut.

If both developments go forward, then I really fear for the town. The CS proposals are ill-concieved in the critical regard of parking. The CS scheme effectively removes the existing car park and replaces it with a woefully under-sized rooftop 'semi-private' car park associated with another foodstore. The level of parking proposed in the CS scheme is barely enough to cater for the foodstore demand (I personally don't even think that it washes its face on this score) let alone all the current 'pressure valve' / local parking that currently takes place on the exitsing CS car park. The parking case for the CS development was seemingly cobbled together based on some limited weekend traffic data collected in the summer time and was based on the principle that current presure valve / local parking on CS would effectively be forced off the current car park into the remainder of the surrounding small public car parks scattered about the town. This may well break down in practice as it effectively relies on a person driving into Marple knowing in which car park a spare space is availbale - hence SMBC's condition on the CS scheme to provide 'real time' parking signage on the approach to the town, to try to guide people to available spaces. I have real concerns as to the effectiveness and downright practicalities of such a system working successfully in Marple, as many of the car parks are cramped, difficult to access and unsuited to the effective installation of real time data.

Even if it could work (and during events such as the food festival, christmas cracker, carnival, etc it certainly will not), what also worries me is that the previous CS case was based on the assumption of the Ridgedale Centre remaining the Co-op, with all the inherent issues of poor service and the towns disenchantment with that particular offer. Combine the CS scheme with a rejuveated Ridgedale Centre (under Asda) and I can only see a potential disaster that the town is sleepwalking towards. And who will suffer? Not the foodstore operators, but the remaining local retailers on Market St, whose customers could be shunted out. Thanks community, well played local councillors.

One of the only good things about the former Hibbert Lane proposals was that it wouldn't mess up the town centres ability to react to parking demand - as it provided a nice big self contained site. The granting of the CS proposals has potentially put a great big ticking timebomb under the town, which the Council could trip if they get their way and flog the site. They have been warned about this, but chose to ignore it at the planning application stage (for political expediency?) and equally MIA were negligibly silent on this issue. I hope we don't reap what we have sowed.....


Apologies. Rant over. But we're all doomed!  

Isn;t there a car-park on the other side of the fire station, that's always empty. I tend to go there if I'm in the car as it's less effort waiting for people to park etc.

[Duke Fame]

Waitrose worse than the Co-op?

Ah yes, Waitrose: Which? magazine's second-favourite supermarket; described by the New Statesman as having a 'stellar' performance 'with significant advancements in both total and like-for-like sales'; and the food retailing division of John Lewis Partnership, one of Britain's most successful companies (no. 4 in the Sunday Times Top Track 100 league table).

You can verify all of this for yourself by searching for 'Waitrose successes'.

They're clearly much worse than the Co-op which came last in the same Which? magazine poll; whose state of its finances is so parlous it is having to sell off supermarkets, farms and pharmacies; and whose former bank boss acquired the sobriquet 'Crystal Methodist' after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine, crystal meth and ketamine. The new Chief Executive admitted the business he inherited was 'failing in its basic function for customers'.

Yes, I can see how you can claim Waitrose to be worse than the Co-op.

Try searching for 'Co-op successes': it's a bit like the old joke where Googling 'French military victories' returns the page 'Did you mean French military defeats?'

My issue with Waitrose is the price. It's often cheaper to go to a restaurant than buy the ingredients at Waitrose. IMHO, Wiatrose seems to charge a premium for fancy packaging. The co-op is expensive too.

Personally, I'd rather shop in hte Bakers, greengrocers, butcher and fish kiosk than use supermarkets.

[wheels]

Seems to me Belly and Dave are all too keen to blame others for any traffic problems, the Council, Officers, elected member, retailers when in fact they are the problem. They are the traffic they drive to the shops instead of walking or cycling to them, if you need a larger shop all the retailer will deliver. Use you keyboard to shop.

We as a society need to accept responsibility for the traffic problems we create by using cars not always looking to blame others

[Dizzy Penguin]

Everyone get on yer bicycles for goodness sake