A new superstore will not support our growers
Wednesday 24th March 2010, 3:00PM GMT.
From Julius Olsen.
IT is extremely difficult to understand the prescription for disaster being promoted by Senator Maclean for another supermarket, it is totally unnecessary; a large superstore needs enormous space and the only available space for such a project is probably a green site. We must not sacrifice any more of our much reduced countryside.
We have a wealth of supermarkets, shops and farm shops spread over our small Island that serve us very well. The attempt to have another superstore is unthinkable, it will have short term benefit and terrible consequences.
The local shops will either close or much reduce their outlets making it far more difficult for many to shop locally and doubtless ruin our growers who depend entirely on the local outlets and would create considerable unemployment. Add to this that Tesco or similar brands would not pay Jersey tax, and import all their fruit and vegetables.
To even consider a large store in Bath Street is ridiculous. Just imagine the extra traffic in the area that awaits a town park.
Common sense must prevail, or should it be ‘might’ prevail? There has not been much of the former in our States of late.
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My view differs from that of Mr. Olsen. I would like to see another supermarket in order to enjoy more choice of products and hopefully some lower prices.
Where I do agree with him is that the suggested location in town would not attract me as I go there as rarely as possible now. The parking situation used to be good, many years ago when we would pay for the time used. Now we have to predict how how it will take to look for what we usually cannot find.
I would be very happy to see it located in St. Brelade where it would be near to my home and also that of Mr. Olsen.
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I have to say I would love another supermarket in Jersey, as I for one am fed up paying well over the odds!!!!!!
I go back to England a lot as my wife is from their, and their fruit and veg, is alot cheaper, and have to say better.Come to think of it 80% of food is cheaper their.
Why not build a Supermarket, something the public would welcome with open arms, beacuse if they don’t you can bet the states would agree to houses going their in its place
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There is a lot of talk that a new supermarket will have to be built in a green zone.
Is there something wrong with the large derelict site on Plat Douet Road? Large warehouses and ample parking that is not used at all, but apparently cannot be used for a supermarket?
I have to be honest, a large supermarket will not care for local growers. It will care for profit and it will do anything to make that happen. Just because there is a new multinational superbrand of a shop open does not mean that people have to go there. We can still CHOOSE to shop locally and support our growers. I think the real point is that the said “local growers” are fully aware that they are overpriced and their goods are no better than would be available at a fraction of the price. People will shop at a new store because they want to and local businesses know that their captive market will be able to go elsewhere and not be forced to pay over the odds just because it’s “local”
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A wealth of supermarkets?
Owned by 2 companies.
As for farm shops 2 or 3 are real farm shops,the rest jumped on the bandwagon and turned them into mini markers to make a buck or 2 selling luxury food only the rich could afford.
Vegetables twice the price as UK of course they don,t wan,t to give up their nice little earner.
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“We have a wealth of supermarkets” – No we don’t!
we have two providers that have built lots of stores to flood Jersey to head off competition by this very argument.
We need more competition by different providers, and I don’t mean franchises controlled by those that are already here.
If space cannot be found the competition board should force the existing stores to reduce there stores. It’s been done in other industries so it is possible.
Lets not forget folks we use to have four operators in Jersey now we only have two!!!
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If Jersey Dairies can move to the countryside in Trinity surely a site could be found for a proper shopping mall with a supermarket as anchor tenant.To keep all new development in the Waterfront is only leading to more traffic chaos.
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A simple solution would be to place a new supermarket on the waterfront which has a major road link to both east and west, ample parking in a residential area. Being adjacent to the port it would also save imported food and goods being ferried by artic lorries around St Helier. I thought these were the sort of ideas we pay planners,architects and politicians for.
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Why not go the whole hog and build a bridge to France so that people can have more choice? Then we wouldn’t need another supermarket as we would have more competition. Isn’t this what the JCRA is all about or is it mainly restricted to teleco’s?
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#7
I was just saying that to my O/H this morning.
Every-one could use bus easy to get in town and save on traffic as well.just put on a few more routes.
A win win situation,Is that too simple for those in the big house.
A second choice would be at harbour again easy to get to by bus.
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@ Adrian #8
“Why not go the whole hog and build a bridge to France so that people can have more choice?…”
Because it’s very likely not to be economically viable.
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A bridge to France? What are you on? It would cost a billion or two to build. And then there is supply and demand. Its feasable to link two countries together (such as Denmark and Sweden) but a small island and a large country? What makes you think there will be lots of French wanting to come here? A few maybe but not in their droves. And secondly how many people from Jersey will want to go over to France? Out of a population of 90,000 not that many I expect. More than now but not everyone likes France anyway.
Therefore the actual traffic on the bridge and therefore the tolls will not be enough for the bridge to pay for itself in a short enough time to make it worthwhile. By the time the bridge does pay for itself the bridge will require more money for maintanance.
Then there is the problem of illegal immigrants, more drug trafficking and increased customs costs. The only advantage I see is reduced freight costs for goods shipped from mainland Europe and a cheap way to get to France (make a change from “little Jersey” aka St Malo I suppose!
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One thinks that a touch of sarcasm from Adrain at “8″ was missed by some.
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Flymo #12
Agreed this time!
But remembering his usual red tinged cost effective submissions we could be mistaken.
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When I think back to the 70`s, there were seven retail food outlets in Jersey, Liptons in La Motte St.,the Co-op, B.H.S., Woolworths, Le Riche, Alliance and M&S. We are now reduced to two.
I an sensible enough to realise that the arrival of for instance a Tesco would not mean a massive reduction in prices, I know from personal experience that the Tesco branch in Clydebank, and the Tesco branch in the city of Bath appear to be different companies, as one area has high unemployment and the other is affluent.
The reason is quite obviously regional pricing, the same practice would apply in Jersey, seen as a very affluent place to live.
However, the arrival of another player in the Island would create “offers” and mean fierce competition as well as a welcome choice.
There should be nothing to fear.
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I think that people should shop more at the market and shop in season, it is cheaper and fresher and better for the environment.
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Readers may (or may not) be aware that M & S do not stock any locally grown produce – with the exception of milk and occasionally bread. All your nice M&S branded stock is imported from the Uk & Europe (as well as beyond) daily which, when the sea is rough and no boats sail, is why the shelves are empty. Good ole Sandpiper have no loyalty to the local growers who struggle without grants from the States or EU
Farm shops (Holme Grown, Lucas Bros & Woodside) all buy from a local co-operative called Amal-grow which is Genuine Jersey . To be fair both Checkers & Co-op also do, though if it is cheaper elsewhere (UK Europe etc) they will go there.
A new supermarket would be good for the consumer but the States would win some much needed brownie points if they stipulated that they had to be seen to support local growers.
In the last 2 years the largest grower of tomatoes has finished growing as has the Pepper grower – partly due to the cost of importing Gas,more M&S’s buying out of island produce & popping up all over the place – which in turn reduces Co-op’s & Checkers foot-fall , the increasing and increasing costs of Condor in/out of the island (strange how the States don’t mention that they are STILL surcharging businesses “FUEL SURCHARGE” at 8% (from 2008)…. – cold produce such as veg/salad costs £110+ a pallet!! to be freighted form Portsmouth , though Huelin’s are rapidly becoming the preferred choice as it is approx £95 per pallet from Southampton..
A few politicians are making “eat local” twitters but alas they won’t raise any points of this in the States…..
GROW LOCAL, SUPPORT LOCAL , EAT LOCAL please!
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Thank God we have M&S. it is the tastiest food from the shelfs anywhere in jersey, everybody does not have the time to cook a meal every night, a bit pricey, but you ket what you pay for.
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Au contraire Monsieur Julius Olsen. You said,
“We have a wealth of supermarkets, shops and farm shops spread over our small Island that serve us very well.”
Supermarkets in Jersey charge far too much and need more competition. Also supermarkets in the U.K. make every effort to sell local produce and there is no reason to think they wouldn’t do the same in Jersey. Less food miles should equate to less cost. Having said that I can reacall seeing Jersey potatoes cost more in Jersey than in England. The term ‘rip off’ springs to mind.
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If 2 supermarkets is a wealth then I’m rich and don’t know it ( I’ve a fiver in my wallet! )
17 Bean Bag – Thank God we have M&S. it is the tastiest food from the shelfs anywhere in jersey, everybody does not have the time to cook a meal every night, a bit pricey, but you ket what you pay for.
Grammatical errors aside ( shelfs – shelves, jersey – Jersey, ket – get )I can only conclude that you can’t cook, mass produced food cannot compare to good fresh home cooked food. Forward planning ensures that you don’t spend hours over the stove. Cook double batches and freeze half. I can cook a good meal from scratch in less time than it takes for your microwave dinner to re heat.
It’s such a misconception that cooking is hard work and time consuming, it’s a rare day that I spend more than half an hour cooking, even if the food takes an hour most of the time is spent waiting for it to cook whilst doing something else. I think people are just lazy, they come in from work, crack a bottle of wine and collapse in front of the TV and either order a takeaway or stick something in the microwave.
This is of course their choice but don’t confuse it with proper home cooked food, it simply cannot compare, not to mention it’s cheaper & healthier. When I look at some of the junk people eat these days, no wonder we have an obesity problem.
Excellent suggestion by the way, supermarket sited at the Waterfront, makes too much sense for the states to allow.
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This should have nothing to do with government. I don’t want a new supermarket but as long as it uses an existing site it should be a commercial decision to be made by those wishing to establish a supermarket.
There are plenty of potential sites: Plat Douet, the Odeon, the Liquid site on the waterfront.
No doubt any new supermarket will offer exactly the same products as the existing supermarkets at much the same price, but as long as there is no building on green land, I don’t see why this is an issue.
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Get a bridge in and be done with all this messing around. Give the people the full choice they deserve, no one is an island.
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Bean Bag#17
Most oven ready, salt laden,fatty processed M£S (that £ is not a typo)food, takes 40 odd minutes in the oven.
A grilled, fresh Tuna steak, with boiled Jersey royals and a salad takes less time to prepare and cook, is better for you and your family, can be bought at the coop and will most certainly be cheaper.
If you want to lazy OK. but dont try to pass it off as better.
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The only good thing about M&S is the UK price is on the label,so they can,t charge you their inflated price.
Some have 3 items for £6(UK)and that is what you pay,so as there is no waste in their food it is cheaper than the supermarkets.
I stay away from natural foods,at my age I need all the preservatives i can get !!
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A certain supermarket (country estate of the UK PM…) is selling imported tomatoes to the public at the same price that a local grower has to sell at COST to them!! ie the local grower is being finacially black-mailed into selling at half the cost of production – just to get rid of them before they go off…. me thinks the States need to step in & stipulate that supermarkets have a local duty to help these growers.. where-as the supermarkets are obviously driven by us, the consumer , to sell the cheapest – i don’t think the majority of shoppers know how dire the growing industry here is getting & therefore would support local produce more if this was made more apparent
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Like Blue Knight I was disgusted to see Jersey potatoes much cheaper in the UK than the price our ‘local’ supermarkets were charging for them. Buy local people cry – yeah I will when said locals stop ripping us off.
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