I’m relatively new to Canberra and need to urgently find a shop that sells pre-made vegetarian lasagnes. I’ve tried Coles and Woolworths, but they only sell beef lasagnes.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

The Canberra Times brings word on the latest boneheaded stoush with the Department of Territory And Municipal Services (TAMS) and traders in Civic who’ve been putting displays and merchandise out in front of their stores.
TAMS sound moderately admirable when they say a permit needs to be obtained before taking appropriating the commons that is City [...]

[First Filed - August 17, 2009 @ 10:11]
The Canberra Times brings word that the Gubbmint is planning to tear down the old Kingston bus depot to flog off the land for yuppie hutches.
The plan is to throw up some form of building to house the markets down by the lake.
If a new building is approved, [...]

I took a trip to DFO yesterday.  It seemed surprisingly busy, at least compared to previous visits.  However, there are a large number of the big shops still empty. (As an aside, could these be used to house Canberra’s homeless?) And I know a bored look on a teenage girl isn’t unusual, but some of [...]

Any suggestion where I can buy a sari in Canberra?
Preferably a shop that also would give me some instructions on how the actually wear it correctly?

The Chief Minister’s Department has announced the brave entry of the Supermarket Review Policy into social media.
In particular this means that John Martin’s thoughts on the supermarket review have a rather spiffy YouTube channel (sadly with embedding disabled). And a foray onto facebook.
Video snobs are even accommodated with the material duplicated on Vimeo.
Perhaps more pressingly [...]

Ok, yesterday I was spending the residue of our holiday money. We badly needed a DVD / Hard drive recorder for TV programs etc, so I had the remit to go out and get a deal.
Having chosen the model I fancied, I went to play all the outlets down at Fyshwick off against each other.
All [...]

Spotted this morning at the Hyperdome – Mother Nature is swathed in black plastic with black spray-paint advising Closed for Renovations.
I think most Tuggeranong regulars have noted that the Mother Nature here has been circling the drain for quite a while – prices went up, quality down, range reduced, registers not working properly, staff numbers [...]

In our earlier discussion of the merits of self-service at supermarket checkouts in Canberra Woody Mann-Caruso has devoted some time to the different characters inhabiting the self service lines at the Erindale Woolworths.
I enjoyed it enough to give it some light editing and a reposting as its own story. So here they are:

Which self serve [...]

We’ve had ‘Yes, Minister’s’ hospitals without patients, we have ‘service stations’ without service, and now we have supermarkets where customers do their own check-outs. 
I have just been to Woolworth’s at Belconnen where there was one single solitary human at one of the 20 or so check-outs. 
Customers who didn’t spot the checkout light at the [...]

Local Canberra designer Polly Stokes will soon be launching her exclusive fashion label Polbymade.  Polly’s label brings together over ten years experience in design with distinctive fabrics to create one-of-a-kind garments for wedding, formal and everyday wear.
 
Polly’s signature is the innovative use of traditional Japanese fabrics in contemporary designs.  After graduating with a Bachelor of [...]

What do I buy here in Canberra for my father’s 60th Birthday????
Why are Dad’s always hard to buy for?????

The Chiefly Jon Stanhope has announced a program of public meetings to have your say on the ACT Government’s review of the supermarket sector.
If you want to be effective you need to send in a submission before 5pm, 24 July to supermarketreview@act.gov.au.
But if you like a good chin-wag and a low chance of getting on [...]

The Way We Wear are doing another Vintage Fashion Fair at Albert Hall.
Friday 3 July 6pm – 9pm
Saturday 4 July 10am – 5pm
Sunday 5 July 10am – 4pm
Adults $12, children $6, family $30
The theme this time is “Space Age Fashion”, because it’s the 40th anniversary of the moon landing and the 4th of July weekend.
I [...]

The 2nd hand bookshop at Ainslie (down the lane) is closing down early this week. Books are ALL half price. Lots of them are in poor or fair condition but I found a couple of gems today. I think the shop is open from 11 till sundown on Sunday …
A related thought: I must [...]

Chief Minister Stanhope has announced that he’s dragging a former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Deputy Commissioner, Mr John Martin, in to figure out what’s needed in the ACT’s supermarket sector.
Mr Martin will advise the ACT Government on a range of issues that surround the review, in particular the local implications of the ACCC’s [...]

I have been driving past once a week in the hopes that the doors will be open once again for trade  but so far, no luck.
They have been closed for renovations for over a year now, does anybody know whats going on and when  this great little organic grocer will be open again?

This sign has gone up on Cowper Street in Ainslie.
If it is indeed a protest against plans to ban disposable plastic bags here in Canberra how do you feel about the issue?
The moves they are afoot.

We ordered something from Furniture Direct in late April. Before we ordered it, we asked when it would be delivered as we needed it soon. The salesman said it would be a couple of weeks, and when questioned further, he confirmed that we could expect delivery in two weeks’ time. Satisfied that we would have [...]

I just heard on channel 7 this morning that the govt may turn Hibberson street, Gungahlin into a mall.
Do any RA readers know anything about this?

The Canberra Times has the scandalous news that the Kingston traders have been asked to fork out $10,000 a year in exchange for getting a small patch of lawn back in Green Square.
The traders have received a letter from Parks, Conservation and Lands asking them to consider collectively funding the ”additional costs required to [...]

Hi people,
I dont whinge often but I was roaming the Westfield Woden/Woden plaza on Saturday and Sunday for some mother’s day stuff and I was amazed at the number of those little crappy stores they have setup in the middle of the walkways.
From memory there was a:
– Sock store
– Perfume store
– Car > fund [...]

[First filed: May 05, 2009 @ 09:05]

Back in 1988 quite a bit of bicentennial money was spent on the Downer shops. A very nice precinct was created, almost like a monastic cloister.
Having lived in Downer a couple of times it was something I really appreciated.
Over the years the fortunes of the shops has waxed and [...]

As a public servant who works in media relations, I know a thing or two about getting a message out there. I know that if you push the same message over and over, people stop listening.
A few big retailers in Canberra obviously don’t know this as every week, another ad screams there’s a sale [...]

The Canberra Times informs us that the other shopping malls in Canberra are kicking some easy goals on the back of the Canberra Centre’s Sunday Pay Parking:
Westfield shopping centres and The G in Gungahlin said they could not foresee it happening. The Tuggeranong Hyperdome did not comment on its plans.
The G centre manager, Julie [...]

Well it’s nearly Anzac Day and I’ve been faithfully informed that this historic milestone also marks the first day of the year that I can wear my wooly sheepskin boots down to Woolies without being labelled a sook (well, ‘sook’ wasn’t the word used, but I couldn’t find the word he used in the Oxford, [...]

DJ’s in Civic has had extensive water damage from its sprinkler system and may be closed for weeks.

The Canberra Times has a bit on the trouble at Cooleman Court where asbestos has been found in the aircon and shops have had to close:
Four Cooleman Court shops are gradually reopening after an asbestos scare late last week.
The shops were closed on Thursday when asbestos-related material found in an air-conditioning duct months ago [...]

In the last fortnight pamhplets have been mailed to every house in Giralang. The pamphlet opposes the Woolworths development at the derelict shop site and is attributed to “Combined Residents Action Group”. Sound familiar? It seems that it was intended to deceive Giralang residents into believing it came from the Giralang Residents Action Group (GRAG). [...]

i guess the new woolies is gonna go ahead.
I hope they get it should be awesome to have a new shop finally.
Here’s the plans:
http://apps.actpla.act.gov.au

[ED - Before any of you start screaming. I asked Rachel to send in some information on this and no money or any other consideration has changed hands]
SpySee Mystery Shopping and Reviews are Canberra’s only locally owned and run mystery shopping specialists.  No doubt you have heard that mystery shopping is a great way to make [...]

Many of us are quite hopeful that an economic downturn might encourage retailers to rediscover the lost art of customer service.
The Chiefly Jon Stanhope has today announced that more encouragement is on the way:
Chief Minister and Minister for Business and Economic Development Jon Stanhope, has today launched the inaugural ACT Chief Minister’s Retail Excellence [...]