The former Ox Public House opened as a Tesco Express yesterday. Tesco staff held a small opening ceremony.
I have a comment from Sri from Best One next door. I hope he does not mind me repeating it here …
“I hope all of you have a very good start in 2012. As you know, I am the owner of the Best One shop that just opened last year in January. And have built a very successful business and customer relationship. Today is 20/01/2012. The Tesco express opening day. I can’t describe my feelings and stress. So you can imagine it’s not a good start of the year 2012. However my lovely local customers have encouraged me with support. Today I have seen in my shop, most of the customers who are very close. All said to me ‘Stay steady and we will support you’. I think it is extra ordinary… Thankyou … Sri”
Hope all goes well for Sri.
I also hope that those horrible, garish plastic advertisement posters will be taken down as soon as the launch is over.
i wont be going tesco ive just walked past tesco to best one
What do we do with the “£4 off when you spend £12 or more” voucher?
Take advantage by spending as little over £12 as possible?
Throw it away?
Return to sender?
Give it to Sri?
as someone who hasn;t visited either yet, which shop is employing the most people?
Who opened the store?
Well, it wasn’t me!
It seemed to be a very furtive sort of opening….
A furtive opening? Who would you invite to do that?
Secret Squirrel springs to mind.
I remember them making quite a hoo-hah about the opening of the store on Wootton Road. Perhaps they think public opinion is not quite with them on this one, for some reason.
Do they have planning permission for those horrible banners outside? Even if these ones are taken down, will there be more whenever they have a promotion? if they don’t have planning permission i hope the Vale’s enforcers will be as quick to rip them down as they are if voluntary groups or other ordinary mortals put them up without authorisation.
Learn more about ‘Tesco whether you like it or not’
here at
http://www.tescopoly.org
Well I am pleased to have a shop there at last that sells a wider selection of daily items. I wish Sri all the best I was a customer of his but he just didn’t stock a wide enough range of goods [ not his fault I know ] I now do not have to spend hours at the weekend doing a big family shop. I can quite easily pop into Tesco on my way past from work to buy what I need and still claim my points.
Shopping at locally-owned businesses means 80% of each pound spent remains in the community, whereas 80% of spend at big chains goes out of the community.
well i went and walked around the tesco its not cheap they are expensive because its an express store and they just not getting the amount of customers they expected its the busy road and the cars popping in that will keep it going not the local community
Just keeping fingers crossed for you Sri – tough times ahead I’m afraid but you have my support, and it sounds like lots of others. I can’t remember who said ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’, but I hope it’s true for you – keep fighting!
Really Clare? Have you taken into account how many local people will be getting a wage from this new store? I should’nt think Sri has or will be matching that sort of contribution to the community. Im sure his suppliers are no more local than tesco’s either. I really do believe you will be putting more money back into our town if you spend it in tesco.
native – u must be a media campaign worker for tesco im sure im right but i can’t prove it. they have in the past spent mega money in changing public opinion to favour there express stores. its not about u spending it in tesco or best one. its about competition and these small shops have been here for years and been local when its snowed they have remained open when big chains stay shut or disrupted and these same small shops support the elderly, paper boys, and also lets say you are 5p 10p short they will say next time. where as tesco will say put it back. tesco has over 30% grocery share it has ruined farmers and suppliers do some research
I went to buy gas in The Best One and was horified to be charged and Extra 10% on top of my gas for the privilage of using my debit card, a service for which the shop does not get charged, If the best one wants to provide for the local community then starting by not ripping them off may help! And no I shant be using Tesco either I will stick to paechcroft farm and Budgens who are a local franchise thanks!
love the comments that anyone who doesn’t hate tesco must be a secret agent for them!
remember – there isn’t a rich mr tesco pocketing all the profit – it goes to the shareholders – i,e anyone with a pension. if you want to talk local, tesco,sainsbury,morrison (but not asda) are the true locally owned stores.
I suspect that James might be right. Native and other Tesco Apologists may have more than a passing personal interest in The Evil Empire inching its grasp round the throat of the Abingdon Consumer. Why people can’t see that these Express stores aren’t just a means ot putting the existing locals out of business, but, also, a means of making Abingdon less attractive to new and more substantial competition I don’t know. Of course, these stores are intended as defensive … even Iain agreed with me on that a while back. Tesco don’t necessarily want for Abingdon what Abingdonians want.
As ive said on here before i understand the bigger picture but its all the silly little points that people are dreaming up that i dont get. I said before, most of the things people are saying wouldnt matter to them if it was an independant store. So issues about unfair competition, traffic etc hold no real weight. The real issue is that this is another tesco store and most people dont want it. Or do they? I guess we will see wont we…. Oh and no, im no secret squirrel. Ive been posting on this blog for a few years now and know at least three of the posters above….
All i know is that at least 20 people have got jobs out of this shop opening and another 20 odd at the other express, not to mention the near 1000 who work at the big tesco, say what you want they are one of the biggest employers in this town and we should be thankful for that at least, othervise there would be a lot more unemployed in this town and far less spending money in the independents,
I’m sorry for Siri, but i’d rather have 1 unemployed than 1000.
On debit card charges. I went to one shop on Saturday who didn’t like debit cards payments under £8 as it was costing him 35p a transaction. But another shop told me that £8 would only cost them about 12p, not a huge difference for the charge on banking cash. He thought the first shop ought to shop around to get a better deal. Credit cards are a different matter and more expensive, and easily confused by more junior staff.
Well I hope Sri does Ok still. I will certainly not be going in this new Tesco, I’m sick to death of them trying to take over the world!!!
Im with Karen on this one – it’s fractionally closer to my home than Best One and ill freely admit im the lazy sort.
Also if it werent for Tesco’s a member of my family would still be unemployed despite an excellent career record and CV as there are so few places in Abingdon which are still open let alone hiring staff.
tesco no no no i live oppostire im walking to budgens to get milk etc i will never go tesco at first glance they have cheap promo bays and as u walk around very expensive my god help abingdon and save us from becoming another tesco town