Tesco

[NormanH]

Why do you think Tesco has never established itself here, as it has in Eastern Europe for example?

[basquesteve]

The last time I was in Tescos was over 3 years ago and I thought how drab it was, very few choices, No butcher, fish monger, few cheeses fresh bread etc it was piled it high and limited stock

The staff never said hello or goodbye Its time for them to go and allow suppliers to make an honest profit

[YCCMB]

Funny, that. My local Tesco has a butcher, a fishmonger, a cheese counter, a bakery, a pizza counter.... and on top of that it has a huge Asian section, including subsections representing almost the whole of Asia, a Caribbean section, Polish, American, Irish (yes, really, for the last two), Italian, Turkish....It also has an optician, dentist and pharmacy.

The staff are extremely friendly and helpful, too.

They don't roll out the red carpet and greet customers individually, mind you, but you can't have everything.

[idun]

I wouldn't say that Tescos around here were drab, they aren't, they are light airy and well stocked. The small ones do not usually have a fresh butcher, fish, baker and deli counter, but their pre cut/prepared stuff has lots of variety. The bigger stores have all the aformentioned.

BUT so do the other supermarkets and then it is down to other things as why someone shops there.

And the figures, surely unless they own all the buildings where they have their stores and are acquisition rich, then at some point they need to be selling the products they should sell.

[basquesteve]

That's interesting the last two posters are not French residents and one thought it " Funny " but have mega posts here, ten thousand between them on a French site Do they really know what its like to live here for 20 years full time in France

Tescos are crap compared to any French super market

One said "Am I interested in its huge Asian section, including subsections representing almost the whole of Asia, a Caribbean section, Polish, American, Irish (yes, really, for the last two), Italian, Turkish... A bit upsetting if you are English.It also has an optician, dentist and pharmacy" so b what

NO I live in France and like the local produce and by the looks of it you prefer the Asia, a Caribbean section, Polish, American, Irish (yes, really, for the last two), Italian, Turkish. so why bother posting

[Thibault]

As the subject of this thread is a British supermarket which does not have stores in France, what's wrong with people who are not French residents, but who have experience of shopping in said supermarket, contributing to this thread?

[powerdesal]

basquesteve wrote :-

'' Tescos are crap compared to any French super market ''

I live in France as you do, I don't know which French supermarkets you shop at but our local Intermarche, Casino and Carrefour don't compare at all to the Tesco / Sainsbury / Morrisons that we use when we visit UK.

The choice in French supermarkets cannot be compared with the choice in UK.

Things are changing thankfully, LeClerq and Auchan are making great improvements, it's just a pity that there aren't any within many many kilometres of where I live.

[PaulT]

I will admit that where we lived in the UK there was a Lidl but I did not use it for what could be described as snobbish reasons. Locally there was Waitrose which I very much liked (which is increasing market share) and a very large Tesco + all the others. Always Tescos - look at the pricing per kg / unit of a small pack and a large pack and very often the larger pack is dearer per kg / unit. That always says to me 'this company takes its customers to be mugs'.

Where we live now in the UK the two nearset supermarkets are the Co-op and Lidl and we have started using Lidl, as well as the Co-op. Must admit very surprised at the quality in Lidl. Their stores may not be as large or as tidy as the others but the bills seem much lower. Plus at times things such as washing powder are on offer at a comparably very low price so we stock up. The only other problem is their twice weekly offering of all sorts of gadgets and things, I am always tempted.

Yes, we do use other supermarkets further afield but always with Tescos think 'what are they trying to con me on'.

In France, there is L'Eclerc but they are not exactly cheap - and if you want a box of Bozo Washing Powder do you really want to pay more because it is a 'nice store?'

Think I have also read that at times when Tesco has an offer on a product they lose nothing because they tell the supplier to drop their price which to me seem to be bully boy tactics.

[YCCMB]

[quote user="basquesteve"]That's interesting the last two posters are not French residents and one thought it " Funny " but have mega posts here, ten thousand between them on a French site Do they really know what its like to live here for 20 years full time in France

Tescos are crap compared to any French super market

One said "Am I interested in its huge Asian section, including subsections representing almost the whole of Asia, a Caribbean section, Polish, American, Irish (yes, really, for the last two), Italian, Turkish... A bit upsetting if you are English.It also has an optician, dentist and pharmacy" so b what

NO I live in France and like the local produce and by the looks of it you prefer the Asia, a Caribbean section, Polish, American, Irish (yes, really, for the last two), Italian, Turkish. so why bother posting[/quote]

Dear Steve.

I first lived in France full-time in 1976. Since then, I have either lived, worked or had a second home in France for that whole time. My personal choice is NOT to live full time in France, but yes, I do know "what it's really like".

You pointed out that the last time you visited a Tesco was three years ago, and it had none of the things I mentioned above. Must have been a very small or out-of-the-way Tesco, but you seem prepared to base your opinion on that one experience. As has been pointed out, this thread is ABOUT Tesco, so my post was a damned sight more relevant that yours.

As you live in France and "prefer the local produce", I guess it is more relevant to question why YOU bother posting on a thread about Tesco???

[Clark Kent II]

[quote user="PaulT"] In France, there is L'Eclerc but they are not exactly cheap.....[/quote]

L'Eclerc? I don't know this chain, but near my French home there is a hypermarket called E.Leclerc.[6] This store, by the way, is not owned or run by the Leclerc company but is franchised. The same is true of another local store, Geant Casino. Franchising means that you are not going to get uniform standards throughout that chain.

 [quote user="PaulT"]Think I have also read that at times when Tesco has an offer on a product they lose nothing because they tell the supplier to drop their price which to me seem to be bully boy tactics.[/quote]

And do you think that Tesco is alone in doing this?

ALL supermarket chains pressure their suppliers - including the sainted Waitrose. Possibly the most famous example of this was the way yhat Marks & Spencer treated its suppliers during the M&S glory days.

Do you recall the milk price scandal of a couple of years ago, when farmers were complaining that they were being forced to sell milk below production cost? It turned out that the good customers were Tesco and Sainsbury. The real villains were the German discounters and the milk converters like Muller-Wiseman.

[woolybanana]

Talking of franchising, am I right in saying that most UK chains are not franchises? I know that most in France are, which, IMNVHO, leads to higher prices and sometimes reduced choice.

Any thoughts?

[YCCMB]

AFAIK, the only franchises in the UK are mini-supermarkets like Spar. And I'm not even conviced that they are.

[andyh4]

One of the big advantages of franchising is that (at least round here) the supermarkets tend towards local sourcing.

One of the big disadvantages of franchising is that the supermarkets tend towards local sourcing.

The first encourages local suppliers and producers who in their own right would not be big enough to supply a national distribution system. When I was still in Germany, one of the vineyards we visited talked of a visit from the wine tasters of Tesco who were impressed with the wines (contrary to popular belief Germany does produce some excellent wines totally unlike the well known Blue Nun or Black Tower blends). The taster asked the owner if he could provide 50 cases, at which point the owner's face broke into a broad smile, and then finished the sentence with, "per week." The owner's face fell since this would be more than his annual production of that wine.

On the second point localism means that excellent products from elsewhere are ignored. Staying with the wine theme, our local supermarkets are full of Rhone wines, which I admit to liking mostly. However looking only 200km north to Burgundy and the selection is at best poor and in some cases diabolical. As for foreign wines, do they make wines outside of France? Ah yes they do, 2 bottles of Algerian red, 4 bottles of Chilean Gato Negro, and that is about it.

Similarly with the foodstuffs. I have nothing against French food and very much enjoy it, but that does not mean I should not be allowed to also enjoy, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Hungarian and yes, even Turkish foods. What do we have? A small section of indo-Chinese foods - mainly ready meals rather than ingredients - and (of all things) Mexican.

Where we are we do not even have an English aisle - well perhaps that is another advantage on the list?? In deference to the Dutch ex-pats we do occasionally get vielle Gouda on the cheese stand!

Until 18 months ago I was travelling to the UK 3-4 times per year and used the opportunity to stock up on the "essentials" not easily available here. The most convenient store was usually a Tesco and I was always surprised by the breadth of the range of goods available compared with even our not so local Auchan.

[YCCMB]

As has recently been alluded to on here, there was a regular discussion on "another forum" regarding the cauliflower index: the relative price of said vegetable in the UK and France being something of an obsession.

I recall on one occasion visiting France and returning to the UK and being somewhat baffled by the fact that the caulis on offer in our local Tesco were marked as being of French origin, whilst those in our local Leclerc in France were marked as being UK produce.

Tesco do occasionally have fruit and veg (well, mostly veg and apples) marked as being "local" produce, though how local to the actual supermarket I have no clue.

[woolybanana]

The Vendeens are so obsessed with cabbages that you get queues of people waiting for the arrival of the choux primeur. And they even have tasting sessions.

[JSKS]

What do Vendeeens taste like?

[woolybanana]

[quote user="JSKS"]What do Vendeeens taste like?[/quote]

You know those big jellyfish that crash land on the beaches, well,imagine one of them liquidised with a serious dose of used diesel oil. And no salt.

[JSKS]

Mmmm. Yummy!

[Alan Zoff]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29640117

But what does Warren Buffett know about investments?