Rage against big supermarket chains.

IrishPete said :

Dunno about the UK reference. There are lots of chains (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, M&S) and their range, price and quality is awesome.

IP

There are lots of ‘chains’ in Australia too. In the UK however there is a concern that the big 3 over there, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda have too much market share and manipulate the supplier market.

The rest of the supermarket chains are either fill a niche market, for example M&S is bit on ready meals and has very little general groceries, Waitrose is marketed as being more upmarket with lots of organic and feel good products (Dutchy Orginals for example). Other chains like Morrisions are big in historic geographic area’s, Morrisons in the north for example. But as mentioned the big 3 still get the same wrap, rightly or wrongly that Woolworths and Coles has.

Now interestingly Coles to me is heading more down the UK way with their product offering and marketing, guess not a surprise considering their MD used to be high up in ASDA (which is owned by Wal Mart)

beardedclam said :

No assumptions at all. Facts. And sorry about living in Dunlop.

Don’t be sorry nothing wrong with the place actually, and never once seen any crime like you mention near the shops, nor in the police reports that come around monthly (except the ram raid of course).

PS Still don’t believe your story about it making a loss being a FACT and saying duty manager doesn’t cut it. Bottom line is it is doing a good job and filling a niche need.

JC said :

beardedclam said :

JC said :

beardedclam said :

Shop Local. A lot of advantages in getting back to your local shops and supporting your community.

I eat that chicken all the time. I have never been sick and it tastes so good, or that could be Mrs Clam’s wonder sauce. Mini Clam likes it too and she is growing up strong and healthy.

Also, some of the Woolies stores, the newer smaller ones, offer the convenience but not the variety or value. That’s smart business I suppose, but this is exactly what the smaller corner stores used to do. Would be good if this revenue was going back into our local communities instead of large supermarket chains, with less of an interest in the locals.

Oh you mean like the small Woolworths at Dunlop? On land that was available for a smaller player to open on yet it took Woolworths to have the guts to buy and develop the land. Whilst the range is not good it is offering conveniance at big supermarket prices.

But yeah they are the badies

Pretty sure i said its smart business. Great example, three woolies within 3 minutes of each other, that Dunlop Woolies makes no money at all, is the target of crime and provides a great community area for the younguns to hassle the customers.

No need for that supermarket, Woolies greed was all that was. Thanks for sharing.

As a Dunlop resident I disagree. The supermarket whilst close to Kippax and Charnwood is filling a niche for convieniance. It is usually quite busy certainly busier than other similar sized local supermarkets even with 2 larger shops near by. Would like to know how you know it is loosing money didn’t realise Woolworths made sales stats for individual stores public so gather you as just assuming. My assumption is the opposite.

No assumptions at all. Facts. And sorry about living in Dunlop.

JC said :

beardedclam said :

JC said :

beardedclam said :

Shop Local. A lot of advantages in getting back to your local shops and supporting your community.

I eat that chicken all the time. I have never been sick and it tastes so good, or that could be Mrs Clam’s wonder sauce. Mini Clam likes it too and she is growing up strong and healthy.

Also, some of the Woolies stores, the newer smaller ones, offer the convenience but not the variety or value. That’s smart business I suppose, but this is exactly what the smaller corner stores used to do. Would be good if this revenue was going back into our local communities instead of large supermarket chains, with less of an interest in the locals.

Oh you mean like the small Woolworths at Dunlop? On land that was available for a smaller player to open on yet it took Woolworths to have the guts to buy and develop the land. Whilst the range is not good it is offering conveniance at big supermarket prices.

But yeah they are the badies

Pretty sure i said its smart business. Great example, three woolies within 3 minutes of each other, that Dunlop Woolies makes no money at all, is the target of crime and provides a great community area for the younguns to hassle the customers.

No need for that supermarket, Woolies greed was all that was. Thanks for sharing.

As a Dunlop resident I disagree. The supermarket whilst close to Kippax and Charnwood is filling a niche for convieniance. It is usually quite busy certainly busier than other similar sized local supermarkets even with 2 larger shops near by. Would like to know how you know it is loosing money didn’t realise Woolworths made sales stats for individual stores public so gather you as just assuming. My assumption is the opposite.

Duty Manager relations

beardedclam said :

JC said :

beardedclam said :

Shop Local. A lot of advantages in getting back to your local shops and supporting your community.

I eat that chicken all the time. I have never been sick and it tastes so good, or that could be Mrs Clam’s wonder sauce. Mini Clam likes it too and she is growing up strong and healthy.

Also, some of the Woolies stores, the newer smaller ones, offer the convenience but not the variety or value. That’s smart business I suppose, but this is exactly what the smaller corner stores used to do. Would be good if this revenue was going back into our local communities instead of large supermarket chains, with less of an interest in the locals.

Oh you mean like the small Woolworths at Dunlop? On land that was available for a smaller player to open on yet it took Woolworths to have the guts to buy and develop the land. Whilst the range is not good it is offering conveniance at big supermarket prices.

But yeah they are the badies

Pretty sure i said its smart business. Great example, three woolies within 3 minutes of each other, that Dunlop Woolies makes no money at all, is the target of crime and provides a great community area for the younguns to hassle the customers.

No need for that supermarket, Woolies greed was all that was. Thanks for sharing.

As a Dunlop resident I disagree. The supermarket whilst close to Kippax and Charnwood is filling a niche for convieniance. It is usually quite busy certainly busier than other similar sized local supermarkets even with 2 larger shops near by. Would like to know how you know it is loosing money didn’t realise Woolworths made sales stats for individual stores public so gather you as just assuming. My assumption is the opposite.

milkman said :

“Support competition – Support your local (non supermarket) stores”

Support competition, buy where it is best value.

Yeah, I’m enjoying the ridiculously contradictory statement in the article too. Support competition by boycotting a supermarket for competing with a small retailer….

Undercutting price is competition. If you can’t or won’t price at the same or better, you’re losing the competition. This is how capitalism works.

Not to mention the increacingly poor quality of their fruit and veg.

Hungry beast put together an excellent video detailing the questionable business practices of the two “friendly giants” and their massive market share by international comparriosons. I think they say the in 2020 60c in every dollar spent in Aus will go to WW or Coles owned companies.

Scary stuff

There will always be supermarkets while the plebs want their slab of full fat coke, “white thin sliced bread like baked substance” and “pasta style artificial tomato flavour, ready to eat meal, with genuine bacon type bits in cream like filling and cheese substitute sauce”, on the cheap.

These people who opn veg/butchery/bakery outlets where there is already a WoolCo are onto a hiding for nothing.

80% of the food me and my family eats comes from Belco fresh food markets. Sure it means more expense and more effort and more coking, but nutritionally and taste wise it cannot be beaten. A fair other proportion of our weekly spend goes at Cook IGA as we like to support Nick and the crew there.

JC said :

beardedclam said :

Shop Local. A lot of advantages in getting back to your local shops and supporting your community.

I eat that chicken all the time. I have never been sick and it tastes so good, or that could be Mrs Clam’s wonder sauce. Mini Clam likes it too and she is growing up strong and healthy.

Also, some of the Woolies stores, the newer smaller ones, offer the convenience but not the variety or value. That’s smart business I suppose, but this is exactly what the smaller corner stores used to do. Would be good if this revenue was going back into our local communities instead of large supermarket chains, with less of an interest in the locals.

Oh you mean like the small Woolworths at Dunlop? On land that was available for a smaller player to open on yet it took Woolworths to have the guts to buy and develop the land. Whilst the range is not good it is offering conveniance at big supermarket prices.

But yeah they are the badies

Pretty sure i said its smart business. Great example, three woolies within 3 minutes of each other, that Dunlop Woolies makes no money at all, is the target of crime and provides a great community area for the younguns to hassle the customers.

No need for that supermarket, Woolies greed was all that was. Thanks for sharing.

That big pet store in Belconnen where sportsmans warehouse is has a reputation for this too. They open in new locations, drop their prices below what the small retailers can afford, then once they close jack the prices up higher than what the small retailers charged.

JimCharles said :

You can get 8 bread rolls in a UK supermarket for a pound ($1.50?), but they’re full of air. local.

Same with Coles, the bread there is shocking, wallpaper paste and air.

Solution: buy local. Go to the Farmers’ Markets at EPIC on Saturday mornings. Or try Fyshwick markets or Belco markets. But yes – no reason to not buy local where/when you can.

tommo said :

JimCharles said :

The chicken breasts are tiny and force grown very quickly with supplements, so from birth to death they live 42 days and then you eat them.

You’ve got some very bad information there. Hormones (including steroids) have been banned from use in the breeding of commercial meat chickens for over 40 years in Australia.

I thought they used antibiotic growth promoters in chickens?

JimCharles said :

When you have money it’s a helluva lot easier to make more, especially if you use your might to strategically close out potential rivalry, sometimes it’s worth losing money just to kill off a competitor.

Especially easy when you can use your might to not pay your suppliers for 270 days.

JimCharles said :

IrishPete said :

Dunno about the UK reference. There are lots of chains (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, M&S) and their range, price and quality is awesome.
IP

M+S and Waitrose are an awesome standard, and a little more socially responsible. They’d fit in well here and drive the standard up.
The rest are the spawn of the devil, purely driving price and quality down and suppliers out of business in pursuit of ever increasing profit, wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole. I’m glad the Yanks have forced Tesco out of the US by turning their backs, good on them.

A few months ago I discovered a little M&S selling only food and alcohol had opened in my home town, and although more expensive than the larger chains, it was still cheap enough and so much more convenient that I could probably have lived out of it. Lots of good quality ready meals, and fruit, veg, meat, bread and everything else you need (even beer and wine). There is a Lidl (Aldi-like) next door, but I still would favour the M&S for 90% of stuff. UK supermarkets would leave Coles and Woolies for dead, if they were to open in Oz.

IP

JimCharles said :

The chicken breasts are tiny and force grown very quickly with supplements, so from birth to death they live 42 days and then you eat them.

You’ve got some very bad information there. Hormones (including steroids) have been banned from use in the breeding of commercial meat chickens for over 40 years in Australia.

JC said :

beardedclam said :

Shop Local. A lot of advantages in getting back to your local shops and supporting your community.

I eat that chicken all the time. I have never been sick and it tastes so good, or that could be Mrs Clam’s wonder sauce. Mini Clam likes it too and she is growing up strong and healthy.

Also, some of the Woolies stores, the newer smaller ones, offer the convenience but not the variety or value. That’s smart business I suppose, but this is exactly what the smaller corner stores used to do. Would be good if this revenue was going back into our local communities instead of large supermarket chains, with less of an interest in the locals.

Oh you mean like the small Woolworths at Dunlop? On land that was available for a smaller player to open on yet it took Woolworths to have the guts to buy and develop the land. Whilst the range is not good it is offering conveniance at big supermarket prices.

But yeah they are the badies

Not strictly true, it’s hardly guts. Smaller players have higher risks and find it harder to raise finance without a smart business plan.
Woolworths made $1.8 billion profit last year, it’s loose change. When you have money it’s a helluva lot easier to make more, especially if you use your might to strategically close out potential rivalry, sometimes it’s worth losing money just to kill off a competitor.

IrishPete said :

Dunno about the UK reference. There are lots of chains (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, M&S) and their range, price and quality is awesome.
IP

M+S and Waitrose are an awesome standard, and a little more socially responsible. They’d fit in well here and drive the standard up.
The rest are the spawn of the devil, purely driving price and quality down and suppliers out of business in pursuit of ever increasing profit, wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole. I’m glad the Yanks have forced Tesco out of the US by turning their backs, good on them.

beardedclam said :

Shop Local. A lot of advantages in getting back to your local shops and supporting your community.

I eat that chicken all the time. I have never been sick and it tastes so good, or that could be Mrs Clam’s wonder sauce. Mini Clam likes it too and she is growing up strong and healthy.

Also, some of the Woolies stores, the newer smaller ones, offer the convenience but not the variety or value. That’s smart business I suppose, but this is exactly what the smaller corner stores used to do. Would be good if this revenue was going back into our local communities instead of large supermarket chains, with less of an interest in the locals.

Oh you mean like the small Woolworths at Dunlop? On land that was available for a smaller player to open on yet it took Woolworths to have the guts to buy and develop the land. Whilst the range is not good it is offering conveniance at big supermarket prices.

But yeah they are the badies

JimCharles said :

Well, with Caltex they also take government fuel cards which seems to keep the price high as the users are not bothered about the fuel cost. I’d love to use my local independent Caltex more, but it’s normally just too expensive and in some weeks, they really do take the piss with insane pricing aimed at govvies…more than the cost of other petrol stations even if you don’t use a voucher (which i do not on principle).

Supermarkets are a necessary evil. Coming from a country where they’ve banked prime land for years and left it undeveloped, dragged local authorities through the courts to get permission to destroy the fabric of communities, decimated high streets and left them as boarded up units, or charity chops, or cash converter pawn shops, or bookies….the rich quality of Canberra bakers, butchers, grocers is wonderful. People just have to be careful to make sure they support them. Your profit will probably go back into Canberra, not offshored.
When that money gets taken out of the local economy, you’re on the slippery slope because that money isn’t there to come back to you in taxes, spending in restaurants, people spending in pubs, spending on facilities, getting a Raiders or Brumbies membership…everything drops a notch when a supermarket takes over and gobbles up independents because local money just disappears.

The unseen folly with supermarkets is that they compete to force independents out of business, then when there’s no competition left they drop the quality of the produce. You can get 8 bread rolls in a UK supermarket for a pound ($1.50?), but they’re full of air. If you don’t like that, good luck finding a decent baker of the quality you get here.
The meat cuts are cheap and small. The chicken breasts are tiny and force grown very quickly with supplements, so from birth to death they live 42 days and then you eat them.
If you don’t like that, there’s often no other option so you have LESS choice in what you buy.
I keep supermarkets for cereals, boxed goods, cordial, packaged spice mixes….everything fresh i try to get local.

Dunno about the UK reference. There are lots of chains (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, M&S) and their range, price and quality is awesome.

IP

I think the applicable 3 word slogan would be “Keep Canberra Weird”. (Substitute Portland, or somewhere).

As for Woolies’ behaviour above, it’s like “I’m tired of the foxes eating my chickens”, which is a fine sentiment. But it’s the nature of the fox (Woolies).

Read the title and comments of the recent thread at: http://the-riotact.com/an-end-to-stalinist-supermarket-planning-now-incumbency-to-rule

Don’t forget the micro-competition. On the supermarket shelf you’ll find Well-Known-Brand sugar and next to that is the cheaper Budget-brand sugar – both supplied by Well-Known-Brand. In effect, Well-Known-Brand goes into competition with itself. This ensures that Well-Known-Brand gets all the
sales of sugar by keeping any genuine competition off the shelf – shelf space is gold.
Suppliers will offer the supermarket a price or other incentive to ensure they don’t get an attack of the guilts and start looking for a genuine alternative. This tactic is usually associated with high-volume items.

Shop Local. A lot of advantages in getting back to your local shops and supporting your community.

I eat that chicken all the time. I have never been sick and it tastes so good, or that could be Mrs Clam’s wonder sauce. Mini Clam likes it too and she is growing up strong and healthy.

Also, some of the Woolies stores, the newer smaller ones, offer the convenience but not the variety or value. That’s smart business I suppose, but this is exactly what the smaller corner stores used to do. Would be good if this revenue was going back into our local communities instead of large supermarket chains, with less of an interest in the locals.

I find it hard to believe that Woolworths was the sole reason the shop you mentioned closed down.

For example:

Small retailers in any Westfield around Australia would be paying a minimum of $10,000 a month in rent, plus I believe they have to also pay a percentage in their gross takings.

Retailers like Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, McDonalds, Myer etc are what are known are “drawcards” to the shopping centre. They bring the people in and pay next to no rent, if any at all.

Combine that with Woolworths buying power – of course they can sell stuff cheaper.

Well, with Caltex they also take government fuel cards which seems to keep the price high as the users are not bothered about the fuel cost. I’d love to use my local independent Caltex more, but it’s normally just too expensive and in some weeks, they really do take the piss with insane pricing aimed at govvies…more than the cost of other petrol stations even if you don’t use a voucher (which i do not on principle).

Supermarkets are a necessary evil. Coming from a country where they’ve banked prime land for years and left it undeveloped, dragged local authorities through the courts to get permission to destroy the fabric of communities, decimated high streets and left them as boarded up units, or charity chops, or cash converter pawn shops, or bookies….the rich quality of Canberra bakers, butchers, grocers is wonderful. People just have to be careful to make sure they support them. Your profit will probably go back into Canberra, not offshored.
When that money gets taken out of the local economy, you’re on the slippery slope because that money isn’t there to come back to you in taxes, spending in restaurants, people spending in pubs, spending on facilities, getting a Raiders or Brumbies membership…everything drops a notch when a supermarket takes over and gobbles up independents because local money just disappears.

The unseen folly with supermarkets is that they compete to force independents out of business, then when there’s no competition left they drop the quality of the produce. You can get 8 bread rolls in a UK supermarket for a pound ($1.50?), but they’re full of air. If you don’t like that, good luck finding a decent baker of the quality you get here.
The meat cuts are cheap and small. The chicken breasts are tiny and force grown very quickly with supplements, so from birth to death they live 42 days and then you eat them.
If you don’t like that, there’s often no other option so you have LESS choice in what you buy.
I keep supermarkets for cereals, boxed goods, cordial, packaged spice mixes….everything fresh i try to get local.

“Support competition – Support your local (non supermarket) stores”

Support competition, buy where it is best value.

ScienceRules said :

I agree. There is something not right about the duopoly of Coles/Woolies controlling so much of the retail landscape. It’s not just their supermarket outlets but also fuel and their ever increasing own brands.

Tthis situation is also just too damaging to suppliers like farmers and other producers and manufacturers. Essentially they control the whole supply chain of food and other essential products and it needs to be heel.

Can bust one myth here that Woolworths and Coles control the fuel market. Simple fact is except for SOME Woolworths stations Woolworths and Coles DO NOT own the petrol stations. With Coles all they do is brand Shell sopts and the fuel side accepts Coles discount vouchers. With Woolworths they own some stations and they brand SOME, but not all the shops in Caltex stations and again owned and co-branded sites accept Woolworths vouchers.

Around 20% of Caltex sites do not co-brand with Woolworths and are totally independent.

Aside from these two there are still heaps of BP, 7Eleven, United and independent stations around.

So far from a duopoly and far from control.

I agree. There is something not right about the duopoly of Coles/Woolies controlling so much of the retail landscape. It’s not just their supermarket outlets but also fuel and their ever increasing own brands.

Tthis situation is also just too damaging to suppliers like farmers and other producers and manufacturers. Essentially they control the whole supply chain of food and other essential products and it needs to be heel.

So shop with a forward-thinking independent retailer which is growing in the ACT and NSW, then.

At the end of the day people vote with their feet and wallets. Personally I wouldn’t shop at the chicken shop you talk of. I brought from there once and was not happy with the chicken got sick after eating it.

As for the overall claim that the likes of Woolworths force the small guys out of business, have a good look around, especially in Belconnen and see how many supermarkets or shops Woolwoths (Coles and lets not forget Aldi have forced out). A few weeks ago there was a story in the Canberra times and in my reply to that I counted the number of supermarkets that have closed in Belconnen, and guess what not one, repeat not one could be linked to the opening of a Woolworths store. Macgregor supermarket closed years ago, Higgins recently the rest going reasonably strong. So really don’t see much corellation, all I see is the likes of Woolworths offering a product people want at the price and there is of course choice if I so wish. Take your fruit shop for example, just 500m up the road is a fruit market with 3 fruit shops, a chicken shop, three butchers and more.

You mean like all those small hardware stores before Bunnings . . . ?