Tesco's losses

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.

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?

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

Just quoting!!

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

Look at the figures in the papers tomorrow, granted some of the £millions can be attributed to capital losses, the fall value of property etc, but trading figures are 78% down , that's bad by any standards!

I don't dislike Tesco for some things to be fair.

What I found amazing about Tesco is the fact they spent millions owning private jets!

In my area at least, Tesco has always lagged way behind Asda and Morrisons (and even the Coop!) in the customer service department.

It's only in the last year or so that the checkout operators have actually engaged with customers and asked whether they need help with packing etc. This particular branch has also been prosecuted and fined for selling out of date produce at least twice.

I feel they've been resting on their laurels for far too long and now their chickens are coming home to roost!

Poor old Tesco - not so many years ago it looked as though Tesco would take over the world and now look at it. I believe a lot of its losses are to do with the sites it has bought on which to build future super stores which are no longer viable because our shopping habits have changed. However, it can surely redeem some of these 'losses' by re-selling the sites. Planning consents have been made easier so why can't Tesco sell to builders?

I used to have a netto years ago. They were very good.

Tesco lost money trying to expand onto the continent. Seriously, why would any self-respecting European wish to shop there when they can go to Geant or whatever? I suspect the only branch that was successful is the vast one on the coast where all the brits returning from their holidays stock up before they go home on the ferry or through the tunnel.

I do have to buy some things from them, but I do have an Aldi and very recently, a Lidl. Both are far busier than the local Tesco.

Our local Co-op is being taken over by Netto- No-one seems to have mentioned them.Anyone got any opinions?

Yes I seem to remember that when I was self employed profit/loss was taken over a few years for tax.

Yes, pompa, I realise that, but losses can be carried forward and offset against the next few years; I think it's three years. No doubt someone will know.

I guess if you pay tax on profits, you don't pay them on a loss.

Does that mean that Tesco might not have to pay tax next year as they can offset losses against profit?

I buy organic, and Tesco's has very little organic produce.

I hate going into a strange shop, I like to know where things are, shop and get out asap. Got used to our local Tesco, know what I like and can be done quickly.

I have tried Tesco, Morrisons and Asda but I wasn't impressed with the range or quality and found myself having to go to Sainsburys, Waitrose or M & S for items I couldn't buy at the aforementioned supermarkets. We also have a Whole Foods where I buy certain items, especially their range of fresh bread and fish, caught locally.