Tesco's losses

I don't think any of the big supermarkets have a great track record but some appear to be worse than others, and Tesco's aim to dominate the market was achieved by what some commentators felt were ruthless means.

In 2006 the Independent gave details of a Friends of the Earth report which had found that Tesco's was the "worst culprit" in bullying councils, who were afraid of being bankrupted by the costs of appeals when Tesco's were refused permission to build.

There has also been the very questionable practice whereby Tesco's offered to provide certain local amenities as part of their building application, some of which have allegedly not been honoured.

They have also been accused of "bullying" suppliers and setting what many would think are unfair trading conditions, including payment by suppliers of £75 per store "list fee" and 90 days' payment terms.

I think the speed at which Tesco's was increasingly dominating the market was, in the long run, dangerous for communities and consumers - here and in other countries - and I'm not sorry to see its expansionist policies stalled for the moment.

Having worked in Industry for large multi national companies, they are all ruthless, bully their suppliers to lower costs, driven by shareholders. If shareholders (very often the institutions that provide our pensions) don't see high returns, they move their funds. These big companies often use tactics that would be frowned upon by many of us, if we found out about them.

Our Tesco is colossal and I hate it. It's a pain going round a store the size of a football pitch with my list. Takes ages to find things. Much rather nip round Lidls. Tesco got too big for its boots IMHO, they thought they could dominate us. How are the mighty fallen. Also I didn't like their ruthlessness. It's all in a book called Tescopoly. Anyone read it?

Our Tesco is the perfect size, no clothes, cafe etc. Just food & essentials. But it is large enough to stock everything we ever need, and easy to navigate (as I will be doing very shortly). Our nearby Sainsburys is huge but apart from clothes etc, it just has more of the same stuff, takes forever to get round.

Waitrose for the sound of silence (no piped music) and, in our local one, the wide aisles.

Just wondering, if Tesco is closing some of its stores and have had council permission to build there, perhaps the council can now give permission to build housing on the sites? Roads, and the basic requirements must surely be there, and we need houses, rather than shops obviously, if Tesco is closing theirs.

I have to say that I cant fault Tesco staff for their friendliness and helpfulness at our store. Cant speak for other T stores though.

I wonder, in amongst all of this, whether house prices and land prices have reached some sort of national peak? So selling at a profit might be problematic?

Certainly with some of the out of town ones, the land would perhaps have been cheaper for businesses than for housing, but it would vary depending on the area.

They rely far too heavily on alcohol sales, just look what the fad for a dry January must have done to their sales. They have only very recently started to stock locally produced goods. Their selection of 'free from' is very limited, compared to other large supermarkets. Even my local Aldi, which is teeny by comparison, has a better and more imaginative selection, and Sainsbury's is excellent. Their clothes are nicer than Tesco's. I used to really like Tesco years ago, but I think they tried to enter a niche that was already filled. I wanted to go there and stock up on cheap foods that were good, then go elsewhere for luxuries. Tesco tried to become another Sainsbury's and it just isn't.

According to Stephen Fry....'Tesco keeps the scum out of Sainsbury's and Sainsbury's keeps the scum out of Waitrose'

Just quoting!!

I find the very large Tesco stores oppressive, especially the one closest to where I live. It used to be all on one floor but then built a mezzanine which made the original floor much darker. Clothing, electricals, linens and so on are upstairs. Waitrose is about 200 metres from my door, and there's a Co-op convenience store even closer. Who needs Tesco?

We had a Lidl open a few years back. It's a bit too far to use regularly, so I drew up a list of non-perishables that I could stock up with on occasional visits, then took the list around Tesco, Sainsbury, and Lidl to compare the prices.

What I found was that Tesco were the cheapest for virtually everything. Sainsbury's were cheaper on a few things, but Lidl were hopeless, alot of the list was unavailable, and what I could find wasn't any cheaper. I couldn't even find a jar of decaff coffee. When Morrison's opened I did the same thing again, with the same result. We also have a small Iceland, but I've never been in.

I think that the people who argue that Lidl are cheaper are not comparing like with like. Of course Lidl will be cheaper if they're compared with Tesco Finest, but if you compare them with Tesco Value they're the same or more.

The main thing that Tesco do to irritate me is that I now have to keep flitting between two branches to buy everything that I used to be able to find all in one branch. I buy bread in Sainsbury's because it's the lowest salt on the market.

crun! What a wonderful image I have of you flitting...

I wouldn't put much credence in anything that Stepehen Fry says, especially as he seems like a terrific snob anyway.Tesco do a job, just like all the other supermarkets, although it has become fashionable to slag them off.All the supermarkets are there to make a profit, not for altruistic reasons.It just comes down to which you prefer to shop in.

I like Sainsbury the best.

It was a joke, roses, hence the

I like Sainsbury's too, I have just come back from there. However I do a monthly basics shop from Tesco, which I have delivered, because as crun said, Tesco is the cheapest.

I went around our new Lidl (which used to be exactly the same as Aldi) and found that it too is trying to go upmarket and failing. It's far more expensive, although it does have a few things that I would like to go back and try one day. I prefer our Aldi. As the Lidl has been plonked right opposite our Sainsbury's, I can't see it working, but if it had only stayed as it was when once it was my main shop, it would have been a serious threat.

Every time I do an online Tesco shop, something else gets discontinued or becomes unavailable. It loses out because I just go to Sainsbury's and buy their equivalent, rather than go up a notch.

Yes, Merlotgran, I know it was a joke, but being Stephen Fry he probably did mean it.I know one or two people that would go along with it as well.

I wish we had a Morrisons here, but am happy with Sainsbury anyway.

I love Asda, and I'm not ashamed of it!

(and it's certainly cheaper than Tesco on the whole)

The large supermarkets have reaped their just desserts. If the competition as in Aldi and Lidl hadn't rolled in, they would not have been challenged. The arrival of this competition has been to the advantage of the consumer.
Tesco appears to have been the dirtiest dealer in the ways it has put the screws on it's suppliers and mislead it's customers.
I do feel sorry for the many suppliers who will be seriously affected by this downturn in turnover - many could go out of business.
Give me smaller shops with less choice anyday. I've no wish to use my precious energy traversing the miles of shopping aisles.

You're very lucky to have smaller shops with less choice gangy!
Certainly I'd struggle, especially as starting a new full time job next week, to do a full shop in any of the towns near me, without visiting a supermarket.
I suspect it would be an expensive and frustrating experience sadly.

Even in Bath you'd struggle big time as no greengrocer other than periodic stall, no fish shop other than Waitrose and certainly no small grocers shops that I can think of. Traipsing from one side of the city to the other is a non starter.

People complain about the negative effect of supermarkets on the high street. However in our village Tesco has had the opposite effect. It has provided parking, which we did not have, and brings shoppers into the village that would have gone to more major towns nearby. No shops have closed as a result of Tesco, in fact the butchers, right opposite has expanded and is busier than ever, as is the bakers. Tesco do not try to compete with existing stores, their butchery is minimal, but as we do not have a wet fish shop, their fish counter is excellent. Many new businesses have started due to the extra footfall, we now have 5 cafes. Tesco also support many local groups and events. I worked for Age Concern in the village day centre, Tesco helped us out at Christmas by providing staff to serve and all the food at no charge. They allow local groups to use their meeting room when it is available and of course provide valuable employment for local people. I'm not suggesting that other companies would not have done the same, we had Tesco (we also have an ASDA, they do nothing.) Because they employ local people, visiting the store is a pleasant experience meeting friends and shopping.

Sorry loopylou I didn't make that very clear. I do actually shop in Lidl and there are only a few items I don't manage to get there.