Boycott Tescos

[maes]

I have boycotted Tesco for about the last six months because:

- they're taking over the UK and a monopoly on food is a scarey thought
- they stock very little branded stuff which means half the time you're forced to buy their own branded goods, even though they're shit
- they blackmail townplanners to let them build new stores. In my hometown, they said they'd build a much-needed bypass. If the town would let them build a fuck-off hypermarket on it. There was a huge outcry and the application was eventually turned down. There is still no bypass
- Dame Shirley Porter

bluestreak posting....

this is pretty much why i don't use tesco. to call it a boycott is a little OTT but they are one of the stores i won't use. they.re bullies and steamroller local opinion, suck the high street dry of small traders and basically piss me off.

hmm, well shirl, looks like i'm joining you!

 

[Shirl]

Welcome Bluestreak, I always knew I liked you
and when I met you I thought you were tastey, even if you were a young pretty boy

 

[WasGeri]

- they stock very little branded stuff which means half the time you're forced to buy their own branded goods, even though they're shit

That's just not true.

Are you thinking of Marks & Spencers?

 

[Shirl]

That's just not true.

Are you thinking of Marks & Spencers?

Geri, won't you at least boycott Tesco because they have too much power?

 

[WasGeri]

Geri, won't you at least boycott Tesco because they have too much power?

And shop where - bearing in mind there are no other supermarkets near me and I don't have a car?

 

[bristol_citizen]

And shop where - bearing in mind there are no other supermarkets near me and I don't have a car?

Same where I live. If I want a pint of milk and a newspaper in the morning it's Tesco or a bloody long walk. First thing in the morning a bloody long walk ain't gonna happen.
They've got us by the balls.

 

[Shirl]

And shop where - bearing in mind there are no other supermarkets near me and I don't have a car?

There are no other supermarkets near me either, I will just feel very superior for boycotting Tesco.
The nearest Sainsburys is about an 80 mile round trip. There's lidl and netto but I would never shop there. I will have to do M & S, I'm not keen but I want to make a proper stand against Tesco.
I would rather spend more or eat less than shop at Tesco ever again.
Day 3 of my boycott coming up

 

[Bernie Gunther]

So many people seem to feel like this. Maybe what we need is some sort of 21st century equivalent of the Rochdale Pioneers? Not literally, but some equivalent aimed at affordable, healthy, sustainable food for the masses?

 

[trashpony]

That's just not true.

Are you thinking of Marks & Spencers?

No, definitely Tesco - I can tell the difference!

Where I am, Tesco sells very little branded goods if there's an own brand alternative which I find really irritating

 

[moose]

Where will Wolfie get his t-shirts now?

I do try not to shop at Tesco, but then I get a bollocking from the anti-car peeps because I have to drive many miles to an alternative. Can't bloody win!

I wish there were still greengrocers here. Yesterday I bought a whole big carrier bag of veg from the barrows in the centre of Manchester for £1.80. That's less than I pay for one aubergine and 6 tomatoes in Tesco.

 

[Guineveretoo]

So many people seem to feel like this. Maybe what we need is some sort of 21st century equivalent of the Rochdale Pioneers? Not literally, but some equivalent aimed at affordable, healthy, sustainable food for the masses?

Yeah!

Unfortunately, most co-ops have given up the ghost. I used to shop in a big Co-op hypermarket in Cambridge, as well as local co-op shops near my house, but the hypermarket, along with the Co-op Department Store in Cambridge, both closed years ago.

And the local co-op shop round here (I don't live in Cambridge anymore, and I am aware that it is a different co-op from the ones in Cambridge....) is disgusting, in every way and literally!

 

[bristol_citizen]

then I get a bollocking from the anti-car peeps because I have to drive many miles to an alternative.

I was speaking on the phone to a friend this morning who said he had to go because he had to drive to Sainsburys to get some Ecover washing-up liquid.

 

[LilMissHissyFit]

Where's that then? Reading!!?

From my house in Caerphilly to splott market on a sunday would take me 2 1/2 hours minimum using public transport.( and I would need to use three a buses each way)There is no way on gods earth you would get me treking down there.
Its a shame. Its only 10 miles after all. take it up with stagecoach and IBT though as to their shitey service.
Oh and the first train on a sunday is wait for it.... 4.30PM from cardiff!

 

[chio]

There's lidl and netto but I would never shop there.

Netto I can understand, but what's up with Lidl? There's not one here, but I've been in a few times in Germany and there's never been anything up with them.

 

[gaijingirl]

My brother worked at both Tesco and Lidl. He was treated appallingly at both. I will go out of my way to avoid Tesco - quite apart from how they treat their staff I've had pretty shitty experiences with them myself - and this is before you get into their ethics. Lidl isn't in my way especially anyway, although I will go there for their bicycle specials....

 

[oryx]

- Dame Shirley Porter

For that reason (I used to work for Westminster at the time of the Homes for Votes issue) I have only shopped at Tesco about four times since 1984. That's usually been because I want to shop somewhere in Brixton on my way home & want to use their car park. I am proud of exploiting the fact that my car sits in their car park while I'm in M & S or Bodyshop. Exploit them before they exploit you.

BTW, Lidl are fine for some things - I've found their bottled water, juice, olive oil, chocolate biscuits, butter & cheddar cheese all perfectly acceptable & very cheap indeed.

 

[Ms T]

I haven't been to Tesco for months, or indeed any of the big four supermarkets. Mainly because I read "Not on the Label" and I strongly object to a lot of their practices. I am lucky though in that

a) I live in an area with a lot of alternatives;
b) money is not really an issue;
c) I do not work Monday to Friday 9-5

 

[Firky]

Never shopped at Tesco for about three years, its a piece of piss... am i missing something?

Sorry, but it is not exactly worthy of a blue peter badge.

 

[bellator]

Tesco

Well, this is only day two but I am never going to set foot in Tescos again and neither is Wolfie.
Anyone else want to join us?

My reason for boycotting Tescos is that they have too much control over british farming and they put local shops out of business, not to mention that they don't sell what I want to buy. (they stock everything you want until the local deli or corner shop closes down and then they stock what makes the biggest profit )
BASTARDS

I totally agree, they stock whatever a fashionable chef of the mo or diet dictates then 12 months down the line they jump on another band wagon.

 

[crustychick]

From my house in Caerphilly to splott market on a sunday would take me 2 1/2 hours minimum using public transport.( and I would need to use three a buses each way)There is no way on gods earth you would get me treking down there.
Its a shame. Its only 10 miles after all. take it up with stagecoach and IBT though as to their shitey service.
Oh and the first train on a sunday is wait for it.... 4.30PM from cardiff!

If it's only ten miles, could you cycle???

 

[Stobart Stopper]

The one in Barkingside pissed me off recently. For years I have been buying Galaxy snack bars for my son from there, sometimes they have even sold out so I know other people are buying them as well.
Went a few weeks ago to get some and they have none at all, not even a label where they used to be, I asked one of the assistants and he said they have "reorganised" the stock and no longer sell it, despite it selling well, apparently it's these sillytwats with degrees in retail management who come in and start changing things, even though they don't have a clue about what people want to buy.
Clueless, idiotic fuckers.

 

[Bernie Gunther]

Yeah!

Unfortunately, most co-ops have given up the ghost. I used to shop in a big Co-op hypermarket in Cambridge, as well as local co-op shops near my house, but the hypermarket, along with the Co-op Department Store in Cambridge, both closed years ago.

And the local co-op shop round here (I don't live in Cambridge anymore, and I am aware that it is a different co-op from the ones in Cambridge....) is disgusting, in every way and literally!

Well, Co-ops are still pretty common where I live (Merseyside) but I was thinking of something a bit more radical. Urban food growing co-operatives (small c) and that kind of thing.

See e.g.

http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=150

http://bss.sfsu.edu/raquelrp/pub/2000_aug_pub.html

http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-31574-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

http://www.cityfarmer.org/

The problem with anything that works like a supermarket is that it's going to have a supermarket-type supply chain. I think we need alternatives that are as local as possible, and hence are part of the fabric of our communities.

 

[pogofish]

That's just not true.

Depends on the store. Tesco's are very up on targeting & profiling their customers. If one store's profile shows its customers prefer name-brands, then that is what they stock, whilst stores who sell more own-brand goods have that represented in their stock.

 

[pogofish]

There's lidl and netto but I would never shop there.

Don't know about Netto but Lidl can be a very useful store indeed. The quality of some of their lines is excellent - About as good & additive free as you can get & often at a great deal less than exactly the same stuff in health/top-brand shops.

 

[pogofish]

Well, Co-ops are still pretty common where I live (Merseyside)

Co-ops are reinventing themselves in Scotland. Apart from being about the only firm to still do bigger stores on council estates, they have virtually pulled out of volume retailig, instead they are buying-up local convienence/late-night stores like no tomorrow.

 

[newharper]

Dame Shirley Porter

"An internet entrepreneur's theft of emails from a business rival set off a chain of events that led to the taxpayer recovering £12m from a disgraced Tory politician, it emerged yesterday."

Tut Tut

"The emails they obtained illegally revealed that Dame Shirley was far wealthier than she had claimed after she was fined for her role in the homes- for-votes scandal. She ended up paying £12.3m in full and final settlement for the scandal, which saw council homes sold off in marginal wards to people thought to be Conservative voters, while Labour-voting council tenants were placed in asbestos-ridden towerblocks in safe Labour wards."



"Tim Owen QC, defending Stanford, said: "Some of the material eventually went to the BBC without any approach or threat or anything. That triggered a series of events which led to the settlement to Westminster council of the claim.""



20 grand, cheap at the price for him.

 

[Echo Base]

The whole "£1 in every £8 spent in this country is spent with Tesco" thing is hyperbolic bullshit.

 

[baldrick]

The whole "£1 in every £8 spent in this country is spent with Tesco" thing is hyperbolic bullshit.

yes it is, 'cos you haven't even got it right

one in eight pounds SPENT ON THE HIGH STREET is spent with Tesco


i don't shop at tesco either. fortunately we have a co-op round the corner.

 

[_angel_]

I'm still not convinced how they are worse than any other major supermarket, and why shopping at Asda (Walmart) or Morrisons (just plain depressing) is any better.

What Shirl's saying about Tesco could be said of Morrisons in my local area. If I don't use Morrison's I have to get on a train or bus which takes time and is inconvenient.

 

[LilMissHissyFit]

If it's only ten miles, could you cycle???

LOL I take it you dont know this area very well then?
Not with three kids downhill one way and uphill all the way back ( no cycle routes, busy main roads etc) over a mountain ( not just a little ennymeeny hillock) not an option. how on earth would I get a weeks worth of fresh food for a family of five and three children home in one piece?
It would take me roughly 2-3 hours to cycle it