Business & Finance The Great Takeover: Coles and Woolworths

[Tulip]

Not only are Fitzroy's independent places full of pretentious arseholes, they're expensive and a hassle. I hate franchises in general but I'm a bitch for Woolies and Coles.

Colour me shocked.

 

[Silent Alarm]

Colour me shocked.

I'd highlight independent places too. You won't go getting a place selling Tibetan goat milk in St Albans. Those places attract the worst pricks.

Also does anyone else seriously not get this whole 'what about the farmers' angle? * those pricks.

 

[JuddsABlue]

I'd highlight independent places too. You won't go getting a place selling Tibetan goat milk in St Albans. Those places attract the worst pricks.

Also does anyone else seriously not get this whole 'what about the farmers' angle? **** those pricks.

lol why?

would you rather we each farm insects in our backyard for protein?
Farmers are with all business owners, in a healthy balanced economy they'll succeed, no different from a sportshop owner or hair dresser

 

[Silent Alarm]

lol why?

would you rather we each farm insects in our backyard for protein?
Farmers are with all business owners, in a healthy balanced economy they'll succeed, no different from a sportshop owner or hair dresser

To be honest, it's the entitlement. It's the whinging, the complaining, the success and the notion of them always being battlers even when its prosperous. Some of the queerest people you'll meet are farmers, too. As Alan Partridge said, I've seen the big eared boys, so maybe that's the reason...

 

[Shellz]

The s**t service experience sounds an exaggeration but I get your point. If you made these suggestions to the owner he'd probably lecture you on the cost of labour and tell you if you don't like it go somewhere else.

My missus went to an Aldi once and we never went back because of the whole "load and bag your s**t yourself" thing. And the gerenal feeling that the quality of their products was less. Though that said, some of the products (eg. baby food tins) were clearly coming out of the same factory but marketed under a slightly different label and 25% cheaper.

What Australia needs more of is co-ops where farmers sell the products directly themselves out of a warehouse where they pay per day / week or whatever for the space. Very little overhead for them; no middle man; better quality products. Not sure why it doesn't happen more.

We need more co-ops and people need to support the ones we have now!

 

[Messenger]

To be honest, it's the entitlement. It's the whinging, the complaining, the success and the notion of them always being battlers even when its prosperous. Some of the queerest people you'll meet are farmers, too. As Alan Partridge said, I've seen the big eared boys, so maybe that's the reason...

It's a feast or famine way of living and in the last decade or so it's mostly been famine. There are rebates and tax treatments primary producers are eligible to receive, but every class of society gets middle class welfare to some degree. Whether you believe some are more deserving than others is usually an ideological argument.

 

[Smiling Buddha]

My missus went to an Aldi once and we never went back because of the whole "load and bag your s**t yourself" thing.

Jesus christ. This nation is in a lot of trouble.

 

[PP34]

Always has mate, you've just grown up and aren't so quick to run to the lollie aisle. Happens.

Definitely always has had that cheaper aspect but you just have to look at the entertainment section. Even older me can still remember when K-Mart had DVDs, video games, CDS etc all at a reasonable price and many people people went to K-Mart to purchase them. These days it is limited to a tiny section of the store. I guess JB Hi-Fi entering into all areas of the entertainment sector has killed their business.

 

[Smiling Buddha]

This thread has had a very positive effect on me.

Although I still occasionally shop at my local Coles for toiletries and so forth, my vegies all come from the greengrocer and meat from the butcher. The food is better and I feel better for it.

Cheers, JuddsABlue

 

[Flash of power]

I use Aussie Farmers Direct for the basics eg; bread, milk, juice, cheese, eggs etc It is a little bit dearer but it is delivered to my door and it supports local producers and saves me wasting my time shopping for those things so I think it is a win. If there prices were more competitive I would buy my meat and fruit an veg from them too, but I use the local fruit shop and butcher for those. I can't totally avoid the big boys, I would if I could though.

 

[Scotland]

Saw a link to this the other day:

http://www.greatgreengrocer.com/

I assume it's really just a paid-for listing of fruit & veg shops, but it's good to know how many there are near you. I live about 2km from a major centre with Coles and Woolies and about 3km from a Woollies the other way. Within that 2-3km radius there are numerous other places selling fruit and veg.

 

[little graham]

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Also does anyone else seriously not get this whole 'what about the farmers' angle? **** those pricks.

Privatise the profits, socialise the losses.

"Mr Government it rained too little/too much can I have subsidies plz"

 

[sabre_ac]

Especially in Perth, the reason small privately owned corner stores don't survive is block sizes and the lack of walking traffic, if density increased throughout the metro area and people walked more it would be more economical for the corner store to pop up and survive.

Anyone who has lived in high density places abroad should be able to vouch for how good these stores are.

 

[Scotland]

Shopping on foot is pretty rare in Perth. Most people do the 'drive to a major centre, do a big shop' thing.

My local small centre is about 10 minutes walk from my house. IGA, couple of cafes, fruit and veg shop, butcher, pharmacy, bottle-o etc. If I want meat, bread and vegetables I don't need to set foot in IGA. Likewise I can buy all of those things plus more only going to IGA.

My local major centre is about 5 minutes drive away. Coles, Woolies, bakery, fruit and veg market etc. on top of the countless other specialty shops which sell iPhones and overpriced clothes. I can buy all my meat, bread, vegetables etc. without setting foot in Coles or Woolies. Likewise I can buy all those things only going to Coles or Woolies.

Both my shop on foot and shop by car options get plenty of patronage, and the specialty grocers, bakers etc. continue to exist. People are just lazy/don't know any better. If you're already at the place where they sell good fruit and veg cheaper than Coles and walk out of Coles with $7/kg apples going 'well these are s**t' then stiff s**t.

 

[Gough]

It was interesting to see Tesco's profit has been halved as they are finding people less attracted to the whole huge supermarket deal and are moving back to local greengrocers and butchers, a trend that's being reflected here if this thread is anything to go by. I wonder if it may start to have an influence on the bottom lines of the duopoly.

 

[Scotland]

I encourage people to abandon the 'small is better', 'big is better' etc. mindsets and vote with your feet based on customer outcomes.

I went to Woolies last night. Bought some wraps, mineral water, a tin of dog food and some new kitchen sponges. Riveting, I know. I'm not going to get these items any better or cheaper elsewhere. I also wanted some apples. I walked past the apple section and they had the most dismal excuse for Royal Galas going for $7/kg. Eff that, I'll get some elsewhere. I reckon most in the same position would've just bought what they had.

 

[Smiling Buddha]

I went to Woolies last night. Bought some wraps, mineral water, a tin of dog food and some new kitchen sponges.

Party at Scotland's place.

(I'm only having a laugh, by the way. You're a good poster.)​

 

[Scotland]

Now that my memory is jogged I also got some Kettle chips and a sourdough loaf from the new in-store bakery.

NeilDeGrasseTyson.jpg.

 

[Borry]

Saw a link to this the other day:

http://www.greatgreengrocer.com/

I assume it's really just a paid-for listing of fruit & veg shops, but it's good to know how many there are near you. I live about 2km from a major centre with Coles and Woolies and about 3km from a Woollies the other way. Within that 2-3km radius there are numerous other places selling fruit and veg.

The one near me is average, overpriced and overall isn't as good as the nearest large IGA nor Spud Shed

 

[kfc1]

Thoughts on SpudShed? Love that place. Great quality steak

 

[Damon_3388]

Definitely always has had that cheaper aspect but you just have to look at the entertainment section. Even older me can still remember when K-Mart had DVDs, video games, CDS etc all at a reasonable price and many people people went to K-Mart to purchase them. These days it is limited to a tiny section of the store. I guess JB Hi-Fi entering into all areas of the entertainment sector has killed their business.

Yeah it used to be that CD stores (eg. Sanity) were expensive, but had a better range than say K-Mart or Target. JB Hi-Fi killed that market for both Sanity (beating them on price) and the department stores (beating them on range). When JB first opened in Adelaide in 2004, as a teenager who loved buying CDs and DVDs (nearly all my money as a teen got spent on CDs and DVDs), I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. The range was like nothing I'd ever seen before, and the prices were great too.

 

[PP34]

Yeah it used to be that CD stores (eg. Sanity) were expensive, but had a better range than say K-Mart or Target. JB Hi-Fi killed that market for both Sanity (beating them on price) and the department stores (beating them on range). When JB first opened in Adelaide in 2004, as a teenager who loved buying CDs and DVDs (nearly all my money as a teen got spent on CDs and DVDs), I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. The range was like nothing I'd ever seen before, and the prices were great too.

Damn, you didn't get JB till 2004?

My old man has stuff from the 90s with JB stickers on them.

 

[Scotland]

What do K-Mart actually sell these days besides cheap and nasty store-branded s**t?

They used to have a lot more stuff when I was a kid.

 

[Off The Couch]

Thoughts on SpudShed? Love that place. Great quality steak

I'm a fruit and vege snob and just don't think the quality is there but for the price you pay it is what you would expect. I think what he has done has been great on so many levels and to think it all spawned from a disagreement with the potato board.