Why are Spars so expensive?

midgey

Years ago the Spar shop owner told me that cat food (for example) was cheaper in supermarkets than he could buy it in in the cash and carry store. Nothing much changes!

Our local independent shop is great, the owner often asks if there is anything in particular we would like to buy. But he also tells me that it is cheaper for him to buy some things in the local Morrisons than from his wholesaler. His fruit and veg merchant went out of business and he used to buy from Morrisons so that his older customers didn't have to go anywhere else. I think he buys filtered milk there too.
We're happy to shop there for our top-up shops, he's open long hours and sells most things we'd need out of hours.

Big supermarkets have the ability to buy in bulk. Use their own labelled stuff . Even the small supermarkets such as Morrisons local are cheaper than co-op and Spar. The difference is local stores generally mean you don't need to take a bus or a car .

Economies if scale. Even the major supermarkets charge more in their small convenient stores.

A price difference of 60p seems hardly worth complaining about to me.

If it is a consideration for you, then plan your household shopping so you do not run out of things at times where you are not prepared to go to the nearest supermarket.

How much does driving to your nearest supermarket cost by the way?

I really don’t understand why people who have difficulty in getting to the shops don’t have supermarket deliveries. I can get out but choose not to spend my time driving to the supermarket, doing the shop, paying, loading it into the car, driving home, unloading and putting it all away. I have a weekly delivery at a time which suits me. I might buy some fresh fruit and veg when I’m out, though the quality of what I get from the supermarket is excellent. and I get (free) home deliveries of meat and fish. There really is no need to rely on convenience shops for anything other than the odd emergency item.

My criticism of Spar is that the local television advertisements are all about low prices for junk food and alcohol. I don't know if that is the case for everywhere, but it makes me cross.

They advertise what they know will sell. They need to make a profit to make a living.

I can remember Jamie Oliver going to Bradford and persuading a local shop to stock fresh fruit and vegetables. At the end of the week they were hrown away as they were going off and nobody was buying them.

Most low income areas used to have vibrant street markets selling fruit and vegtables, but many of these, like the greengrocers have gradually died because no one was buying from them.

When I was a child growing up in south London, around Lewisham, there were three or four within easy reach, they could be found all round London, now, where they still exist they sell all sorts of things, but not fruit and veg.

All the little market towns around me still have local markets, all have at least one really good fruit and veg stall.

These small shops can only advertise what they know they can sell.

I know how advertising works and I was just making a comment about Spar ads.

Germanshepherdsmum

I really don’t understand why people who have difficulty in getting to the shops don’t have supermarket deliveries. I can get out but choose not to spend my time driving to the supermarket, doing the shop, paying, loading it into the car, driving home, unloading and putting it all away. I have a weekly delivery at a time which suits me. I might buy some fresh fruit and veg when I’m out, though the quality of what I get from the supermarket is excellent. and I get (free) home deliveries of meat and fish. There really is no need to rely on convenience shops for anything other than the odd emergency item.

I can't work that out either.

Don't ask on a strictly dancing cheese sandwich thread!

Why people who have difficulty in getting to the shops don’t have supermarket deliveries.

They are likely to be the same people who have all their lives done their shopping once a week, paying cash for it, prefer to see what they are buying with their own eyes, have very little experience of using computers, and don't trust the internet.

And that once-a-week shop adds up to less than the minimum spend set by the supermarket.

Sometimes it's interesting to see a range of versions of the usual shopping items. I'd not want just deliveries of the same old things every week. Fine have the boring necessities delivered but check out what's new, what's fresh, some new ideas etc. Also sometimes it's nice to be tempted by an unexpected potential treat!

I can do that online - I don’t just get the same old stuff each week. I plan meals in advance and order what I will need to cook them.

I always wait and see what I fancy each day. DH is sometimes out sometimes not. Just go with the catering flow!

Elegran

Why people who have difficulty in getting to the shops don’t have supermarket deliveries.

They are likely to be the same people who have all their lives done their shopping once a week, paying cash for it, prefer to see what they are buying with their own eyes, have very little experience of using computers, and don't trust the internet.

I think the above is very patronising.

I do not have supermarket deliveries and yes, broadly I shop once a week, but I haven't paid cash for at least the last 40 years, may be more and I have been using computers since 1979 and the internet since the early 1990s.

I shop weekly in person because although I work to planned menus, they are flexible, my choice of fruit and veg wil be decided on what is available, and so I can take advantage of special offers. I can also make last minute changes to my menus, if I see something special.

If something I want is unavailable, I again my change my menus completely while in the shop, not just be faced with a delivery with a key item missing or substituted with something I do not want and may not like.

I am a Waitrose shopper because Waitrose stores are almost invariably in town centres, so as well as doing the food shopping when I go into town I can do any banking I wish, meet friends for coffee, have a haircur, browse other shops of every kind and visit our local museum or take a walk along the river to the lock and back.

And if people arent doing those things, using the internet, etc it might be a good idea to support people to do those things or they will be massively disadvantaged their entire life.

I wasn't being patronising. It was an answer to GSM , who doesn't know "why people who have difficulty in getting to the shops don’t have supermarket deliveries."

Running a car has been estimated to cost nearly £4,000 a year, (breakdown in picture) That is just not affordable if you only have an old-age pension or a small occupational one, Not everyone was in a position to increase their contributions to benefit them after retirement.

You described your own Waitrose shopping routine, but you missed out the part where you carry home a week's shopping, including the toilet rolls and kitchen rolls and the bottles of detergent , plus any other non-grocery things that are needed. Supermarkets are often on the outskirts of a town, where there is space to build them.

The people who use corner shops like Spar are often those who live too far from a supermarket to carry home their bags, and/or don't have the strong backs to do it. Buses don't take you door-to-door, and taxis add £££ to the bill (though my 90-year-old aunt takes a taxi to and from the supermarket weekly)

These days I seldom set foot in a supermarket myself, and my small local Co-op is down the hill from my house - which means an uphill walk back, with even a few items feeling like lead ingots by the time I get home.

I get an online order every two weeks. I can do that because I have had a computer for decades and know my way around the internet. My aunt doesn't - she sends emails and can use Zoom, but that is it. Many people of my generation are afraid to venture on the net because of the horror stories they hear.

Corner shops serve the needs of those who can't easily shop at supermarkets, for whatever reason. The best ones keep a wide stock and get in things that customers particularly want. Being a small shopkeeper isn't all a bed of roses.

Any shop that you can stroll to is worth supporting.No petrol used, a beneficial walk and a small shop to get around as opposed to a huge supermarket that you can’t wait to get out of.Paying a bit more for a few items makes it worth it.
I have the main shop delivered but use a small local shop for bits and bobs.

I dont think I have any responsibility to the Spar I am afraid. Or any shop for that matter.

Elegran, could you get a trolley for schlepping back up the hill, maybe.

I have one, Welbeck which I used until about a year ago. It was also useful for taking canvas and paints to my art group. and adding the shopping to haul back up. However, wheels only take half the weight of trolley and contents so there was still a lot to pull. I now take smaller canvases and fewer colours, in a backpack, and only buy one or two light items. Tesco brings me the rest.

Aveline

Sometimes it's interesting to see a range of versions of the usual shopping items. I'd not want just deliveries of the same old things every week. Fine have the boring necessities delivered but check out what's new, what's fresh, some new ideas etc. Also sometimes it's nice to be tempted by an unexpected potential treat!

Online doesn't mean getting the same thing each week. I order what we want for each delivery. I don't have to drive to the store, park, shop with others all round me (yes, I'm quiet, shy, and dislike crowds). I have the delivery person drop the food on the counters inside the back entrance to our home.

I don't particularly enjoy trips to Bury unless I have a reason for my husband's business or my every so often haircut.

Last week, I had my hair balayage and cut, made a business offer, visited our accountant, and bought the food I can't have delivered from ethnic shops. Plenty of time away from home.

Apart from Church, I likely won't need to leave home for 6-8 weeks.

Auntieflo

Does anyone know why buying 4 pints of semi-skimmed milk is only a few pence more than buying 2 pints?
e.g. Tesco. 4 pints = £2.00
2 pints = £1.20
Waitrose. 4 pints = 1.55
2 pints = 1.25

Presumably the packaging and processing for 4 is cheaper than for 2 x 2.

Galaxy

And awful in terms of products. I wish we had any other than a spar in my village.

I usually do my main grocery shop at Tesco, which is about 4 miles from here. We have a Spar in our village and I often get a few goods from there too, saving myself a journey.