Waitrose.........wait for it.......are looking at "Dulwich"

[Mick Mac]

Why EDOldie - don't you know they come to you if you ask them nicely ?

*quickly unpacks Ocado shopping in between posts*

[EDOldie]

Shoppings a social activity Mick Mac. You need to get out more.

[zephyr]

Our Ocado shopping came today.

Would still love a Waitrose in ED though.

[Mick Mac]

EDOldie Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Shoppings a social activity Mick Mac. You need to

> get out more.

I do get out EDO - I go to the pub and my wife is at home organising it all on the interweb. It's like magic.

[RosieH]

I like the rillettes from Waitrose. They used to sell rillettes in the ED Deli but don't now. I think I was the only buyer.

But love for the potted pig is not enough.

Screw Waitrose, I want a Fresh N Wild....

(not really)

[SimonM]

I think if a Waitrose was somehow able to open locally - and short of them taking over the DKH Sainsbury's I cannot see it happening - then the principal sufferer locally would be Ocado. I use Ocado for all the boring and heavy stuff which I'd otherwise have to use my car to collect. And then use local shops for meat, bread, fruit and veg etc, as basically these can all be carried home. When I fancy a Waitrose visit I just head for Beckenham.

[Keef]

I can't believe I'm getting involved with this thread, but Sean, the butchers / veg shops would onlt really be threatened if a BIG (size of Sainsbury's) shop opened. A small Waitrose, or M&S would make no difference to them I reckon. Besides, not everybody gives a toss about the nice little local butcher, struggling to make a living, because he doesn't exist.

I don't know why people would really want an M&S. Okay, they sell some nice bits, like the Valencia fresh orange ice lolly (try them, they rock!), but for the most part it's all just ready meals. Not that I'm a food snob like Sean, and would occasionally eat a ready meal if I was in need of a quick easy dinner, but a Waitrose would be much better.

Aint likely to ever happen though.

[matthew123]

I bought a punnet of strawberries on lordship lane last week and the bottom layer were engulfed with mildew.. people may say what do you expect for 56 pence... well I expected the kind of quality that wouldn't mean next time I'll trust the supermarket.

The only butcher I am aware of on lordship lane is william rose, now surely a bit of price competition from Waitrose (say on the site of Iceland) can only be good for local customers.

[Michael Palaeologus]

There is also the well thought of Sparks on North Cross Road - who have a good reputation for their meat and customer service; but they operate out of a trailer which is only their on market days. Somerfield and Iceland sell supey priced meat and Sainsburys isnt far away, so there is already price based competition. The charnel houses of Peckham High Street are a short bus journey away.

William Rose dont compete on price, they compete on perceived quality and focus on that segment of the market who are happy to pay a given price for that perceived quality.

Waitrose might nibble at the William Rose clientelle, but I suspect that only a second butchers shop would make significant in-roads.

Perhaps if Sparks managed to get a shop unit on the Lane the William Rose grip on the up-scale carnivores of ED might be weakened?

[SeanMacGabhann]

I could be wrong MP but that doesn't read like one of your tongue in cheek posts so...

Butchers do compete on price - many purchases work out cheaper than supermarkets

"percieved" quality - what's with the perceived. Buy any cuts of pork, beef or whatever and do a blind test - note the lack of water ruining the meat. Even premium cuts in the supermarket have been in those horrible cellophane wraps for how long?

But the main problem I have when people compare butchers with supermarkets is this:

Butchers provide a butchering service. You can't go to any supermarket and have a chicken boned. You can't have your meat trimmed. You can't get bones for stock. You can't ask for thicker or thinner steaks. You can only buy pre-packed slabs of often-watery meat

Surely all told that is plenty to differentiate than just "perceived quality"??

[Keef]

Yeah yeah, great. Other people just want to by a couple of cheap rump steaks in a pack. Who cares. Much like some insist on vinyl, others are happy with the cd.

[Michael Palaeologus]

What Keef said :))

['bout now]

1 Standard organic Chicken at William Rose ?6, i standard organic chicken from sainsburys( similar weight, maybe 100 grammes difference) ?8.10. I honestly think that if you look at the price per kilo of meat in supermarkets it will generally be more expensive than even William Rose. And as Sean says you get EXACTLY what you want from a butcher, greengrocer, fishmonger etc.

Supermarkets work on convenience, relying on the customer doing their shop in one hit, in one place and price accordingly. You'll find some noticeable bargains and on the other hand they will be fleecing you.

[sb]

.

[Gubodge]

I love Waitrose, but although their meat is without doubt the best of all the supermarkets, it is still far inferior to that sold by WR, Kim Libretto and Sparks. Given the ease of on-line shopping with ocado, it would be a terrible shame if having a real life bricks and mortar waitrose close by led to the death of any of those businesses.

I wonder if Waitrose are looking in the locality because Ocado now runs in competition with them. Ocado get an awful lot of business in ED.

[Jah Lush]

I'd love a Waitrose here but only as a replacement to one of the existing supermarkets. Fortunately there is a huge Waitrose where I work and I use it often. The Police station would seem the only viable site though.

[Mick Mac]

Having shopped with Willam Rose for some time we recently went back to supermarket steak. We reverted to WR again at the weekend and on Saturday had 2 medium cut steaks for ?10 - it was the nicest juciest steak i had had for a long time - will not be going back to supermarket steak.

I saw a guy being quoted ?16 for an organic chicken in William Rose a couple of years ago. He responded by saying he would "have a less grand chicken". My wife seems to get good value there though, the bacon is really good as is the sausage/chicken fillets - I agree with Sean - no excess water in their products makes a big difference.

The OP was more about having an upmarket store looking seriously at ED and it suggests the area is continuing to improve. Change may not be to everyone's taste but a better quality supermarket available within the area would surely be a good thing.

[macroban]

Kwik Fit

Merton Timber

BuildCentre

All three are suitable sites.

[Keef]

Just as long as Iceland doesn't go, because I love the fact it just sits there annoying some people with nothing better to worry about.

[Jeremy]

I agree that there's not really a need for another supermarket. I wouldn't lose any sleep of Somerfield were to go, I don't really see what sector of the market they cater for... perhaps people in need of bog roll who don't drive?

[Lizziedjango]

I was told by my friend who works in the Sainsbury's Head Office, that its Dog Kennel Hill store is the most lucrative one in the country, and in particular for organic produce which 'flies off the shelves'. I am not sure how Waitrose would compete with another store which is so lucrative, especially as Sainsbury's and Waitrose are not THAT dissimilar in terms of produce.

I like Waitrose but it is very expensive, whereas Sainsbury's seem to be becoming more competitive in its pricing. It's not as cost effective as Asda, but is fairly similar in cost to Morrisons. However, I find the food quality better in Sainsbury's compared to both Asda and Morrisons.

On topic, until ED gets a Waitrose, residents cannot truly consider themselves living in a 'middle class area'. Boo hoo. :(

[matthew123]

Somerfield is good if you just want to get a few staples on the way home rather than hike up to Sainsbury's - I also think there is room for a Waitrose / M&S on lordship lane preferably replacing something no longer in demand..

Iceland may have been great for the chicken nuggets and frozen pizza brigade but East Dulwich has moved on and is now in need of something more upmarket.

[James]

Standing by for an onslaught from the "chicken nuggets and frozen pizza brigade." And I thought I was a snob!

[Gubodge]

I'd rather keep Iceland than have an M&S/Waitrose. I'd like those locals who are less well off to have some alternative to the more expensive shops. Anyone who would regularly shop in M&S/W are unlikely not to have plenty of other options, be it WR and Moxons, Ocado or shops in town.

[Jeremy]

Gubodge, I agree that we should have options for different budgets.