1

Voo Voo Zayler

Hip Hip Hooray, Hip hip Hooray,
OK I’m not niaive enough to think that prices will drop but quality and choice can only improve.

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3

J

Am I a terrible cynic? As Sandpiper will run the stores until the deal is ‘completed’, could this silence the “we need another supermarket” argument without actually lowering prices??

I hope it’s an honest deal…I really do.

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5

Sudafed

the most expensive supermarket in the UK coming here – how does that increase choice and lower prices? Now bring in Lidl to balance it out for those of us who will never be able to afford Waitrose but also like to have good food. The Lidls in the UK and France are of a very high standard and choice while being the best value for money I’ve found, unlike Waitrose …

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7

Mark

Waitrose is a good middle of the road player, just the thing for Jersey. Good news.

Personally no surprise, I have been speculating this for some time now. Mr O’Neil will now be free to play with his first love, M&S. Again good news.

What about Guernsey?

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9

bella

Great news brilliant store.
Hope it has the salad selection carousel like the ones in UK like pick and mix.
More choice is always good for the consumer.

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11

Phylls Lad

PJ – Co-op joined forces with Somerfield,

At last we can have a bit of what the mainland has, more variety!!

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13

Andrew

No Co-Op went in with Somerfield. Waitrose part of John Lewis not always as cheap as Tesco but much better goods.

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15

Jersey Cow

Another high end supermarket commanding high end prices.

Why not allow in Asda so people have more choice and more ‘bang for their buck’ ?

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17

wan13

Smart move of the Sandpiper guys !
Instead of another supermarket arriving and give them unpredictable competition make a deal with the enmemy you know for some of your outlets and keep the profitable M&S and Checkers express ones
Safeway has been selling Waitrose products for a while so Sandpiper has had dealings with them
Is there a seperate deal behind the scenes ? Sandpiper have taken the wind out of the “we need a third one” supporters on their own terms. Very clever !

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19

Dottie

All this will do is increase prices! Waitrose is a high-end supermarket….

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21

James

Hmm. The thing is that Waitrose will no doubt be extending their UK distribution network to Jersey to serve these stores.

If you think Checkers is expensive, wait till you pay Waitrose prices plus the extra shipping charges!

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23

Graeme

Waitrose (part of John Lewis chain) are an upper middle class of store and their prices reflect this.
You’ll need extra pennies compared to the old Co-Op prices. Choice should be good too, and of course they don’t just sell food.

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25

jim

will they be able to sell there milk here no chance to cheap at 86p a litre

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27

Michael

A total waste of time no real competition, bring Asda in this is just a sop to the public to prevent real competition in Jersey. As for selling Jersey produce why is it cheaper to buy English imported vegetables then locally grown veg? Farm labourers paid next to nothing in Jersey no freight charges so why is Jersey food so dear? O I forgot the old Jersey custom GREED!!

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29

bella

17
That’s exactly what I thought!
Why would turkeys vote for Christmas?
Still it,s a move in the right direction and M&S had better watch out too.They have been charging 15% on top of UK prices for certain foods because they could,

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31

Sanity

Over the years every other comment on this subject have stated as fact that all UK corporations are in fact non profit making charities who, if only they were allowed to set up in Jersey, would subsidise the additional transport and logistical costs of operating in Jersey, employ only local staff and pay premium wages.

Good – Now we will either have low prices and fantastic choice or a definitive answer to the moans about greedy Jersey businesses charging inflated prices and offering little choice.

Sudafed #5 – Do Lidl actually want to setup in Jersey or have you a cunning plan that will force them?

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33

upper class

This is a chain for the well off as a middle of the road store but i will shop there anyway as the quality is excellent. But as a reminder Jersey is full of snobs who like to think that lidl or aldi is for the trash class and Jersey has that too so yes we need them over here too so that all classes of people can shop where they can afford to. Personally i would love to have seen the european chain carrefour or supervalu bought in as we are abit french….aint we? or arn,t we today

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35

Mr Sensible

lets get a forth supermarket or better still give full support to local growers use their farm shops keep the money in Jersey and not in the pockets of the UK companies

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37

Facto

I am amazed and amused that people haven’t grasped the fact that our island isn’t big enough for the big boys in the UK because of logistics. We are concentring on the wrong issue. It’s the cost of moving goods onto the island that increases the cost base.
What’s the answer lets leave that to our politicians?

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39

not going to happen

Bringing over an Asda/Lidl/Tesco/Aldi will only put so many local businesses..out of business, it’s never going to happen.

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41

donald pond

Great news, Waitrose sells top quality, imaginative stuff and is known for sourcing locally and responsibly whenever possible. And its wine range is fantastic, particularly if, like Mrs Pond, you like a racy German number now and again.

“As a “foreign” company am I right in thinking that Waitrose will not be paying tax?”

Err, its not a company. Its part of the John Lewis Partnership.

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43

The Naked Chef

It’s generally a myth that the Co-op and Safeway are much cheaper food stores in Jersey.
However, there is little doubt that the vast majority of their ‘fresh’ products are far from that description, or they are at least the lowest quality available locally. The price does not reflect this. Just compare what you pay for veg or meat between say Mks & Spencer and any of the other supermarkets. Any extra cost is generally well worth it in my experience.

Waitrose is similar to Mks and will increase competition in that higher end of the market in theory, but in reality, pricing is largely dictated at a national level anyway for all of the big chains.

I personally don’t know how lower incomes can afford decent quality food in Jersey for a family. A budget/ non-brand-focused chain like Aldi or Lidl are probably the answer but they have to make their own way over here, not ‘planted’ at the will of the public or even the states! Unless they offer them a subsidy of course, a la Easyjet!

Inevitably, we tend to pay for the budget option in life, one way or another.

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45

Hugh Janus

Donald Pond # 41. Would Mrs. Pond settle for some good German lagers? Aldi and Lidl sell some pretty good German hooch including wines. Apfelschnaps is my favourite – I am told it is a bit like Calvados.

Thanks for clearing up whether or not John Lewis is a company…..we can always rely on our on line lawyer.

I am sure Waitrose will do well in the Island.

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47

Gerald

Your perception of Waitrose pricing is a little dated; where I live we have 2 close by and they are increasingly competitive as part of a recent policy change..and have a value range.
See
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs/article.html?in_article_id=505769&in_page_id=5

Also one other thing, in respect of “mark downs” for stuff coming near to shelf life expiry, they mark down more than any other chain.

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49

(Not So Smart) ALeC

Unfortunately, I do not expect the total range of goods on offer in the UK; the demographics are such that Jersey represents a ring-fenced market catchment the size of a small-medium town and although Waitrose does have stores in similar sized (open) catchments, the logistics in the UK are more cost-effective to supply & hold a large range of goods. Waitrose has done the math and will supply a selection of goods according to existing demand rather than to attempt to create demand by introducing ‘new’ goods; it is not financially feasible for Waitrose to completely fill its shelves with a large variety of goods it may not sell (particularly if perishable).
I welcome a change in choice and look forward to seeing competition opened-up. However, I would selfishly like to reserve the right to moan after the event.

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51

Cheryl McCrae

Due to work, I now live in the UK. Waitrose are too expensive for me and Aldi and Lidl are awful. What Jersey needs are either Tesco, Sainsburys or Morrisons. I´d say Somerfield but the COOP took them over so I´m unsure if they have ´moved´over to Jersey yet. My father, who I visit on a regular basis, loves coming to England to see us as he can go to Tesco and stock up on a few necessary, not luxury, items. That just shows if he thinks there is a saving over here, then he´s struggling on his pension over there.

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53

Keyser Söze

Dorset Dave @ 38

We have very different experiences of shopping at Waitrose, and certainly the sales figures suggest that they are doing something right. With sales that will be approaching £5 billion this year, an increasing share of the overall market, they must be doing something right.

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55

Andrew

I live in London and use Waitrose. They can be expensive for certain items but equally I can find some real bargains compared to Tesco et al and of course the quality is excellent. You get what you pay for. As part of the John Lewis Group Waitrose is owned by its employees – surely better than some faceless corporate giant (Tesco anyone….).

Last week on the local BBC London news they reported on an Essex company who transport Tesco/Asda food orders out to France for English expats who are struggling with the EURO. It seems these Britsare saving a fortune by ordering food on line and having it delivered by refrigerated van and ferry. An opening their for an enterprising Jersey business?

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57

C Le Verdic

#35. Mr Sensible

‘lets get a forth supermarket…’

..It might need a continuous painting regime, Mr S.

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59

R B Bougourd

I’m enjoying reading all the comments about Waitrose being owned by the employees.

Is this really going to happen in Jersey?

It says in the article above “(that)The 480 staff members who work in the five stores were informed this morning and were told that they will all be offered positions by Waitrose on the same terms and conditions of employment.”

Does that mean that they won’t become “owners”, then?

I would love to see Aldi and Lidl in Jersey. They complement each other. Having only either one or the other would mean missing out on many lines and removing the competition that keeps them both cheap (but by no means nasty). No town is complete without both within easy reach.

#18, Were you alluding to Abbey Wood and Thamesmead branches (respectively), or are you voicing a pan-European perception?

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61

roger phlegm

Here is a typical comment:

“Waitrose – whilst they may have quality, they will not have lower prices. Why is it that this was allowed to happen.”

It happened because Sandpiper wanted to sell some stores and Waitrose wanted to buy them. It was entirely a private deal.

Is there any other place in the world where people expect the government to choose who can run shops? Well yes, Iran, North Korea and Zimbabwe spring to mind.

If Aldi or Lidl want to come to Jersey they can. Nothing stops them buying an existing shop and converting it to a supermarket. The fact that they don’t maybe indicates that they dn’t believe their business model will work in jersey.

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63

Al

“Supermarkets are taken over” Not yet, should read “Supermarkets may be taken over”
Has to be passed first. Yet again headlines premting reality.

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65

Get real Jersey!!

Actually the biggest “winners” of all this is Co-op… because (as I lived next to one for 5 years) Waitrose is appealing to the same consumer as S & M do (in price/speciality. Quite why Sandpiper sold to Waitrose is bizarre because the majority of their own M & S stores will lose out more than Co-op.Therefore most ex-Checkers customers will go to Co-op rather than the “high ticket other two” I agree with the majority of sane-minded posts by saying Lidl/Aldi would’ve been a better chain but their again the whole 100k brigade can exalt themselves by saying “ooh we have M & S AND Waitrose here in Jersey”…… The biggest problem is the loss of a lot of local producers to Checkers (tomatoes, Russell Meats,Herbs,Fish etc…) yes Waitrose have got a better relationship with farmers/growers in the UK than Tesco or Asda but these “contracts” are already in place with UK farms/greenhouses so I can hardly see them taking on a small Jersey grower/producer , can you?

What will happen is the same as M & S… have local milk & occassionally bread but import all the rest, which when the sea is choppy in the winter you will see empty shelves of fresh produce & then bleat that it’s not fair…
so

BUY LOCAL, SUPPORT LOCAL

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67

Scarlett

The monstrous ‘Waitrose’ are ALREADY fully staffed with Buyers, HR, payroll, IT, Area Managers and all manner of ‘in-house services’ at their HQ, so those deluded enough to think that jobs won’t be lost – think again.

Waitrose is not a cheap option supermarket in the UK, neither will it be so here. They probably figured that as the CI’s is one of the few places left with some spare cash sloshing about, it’d cash in on that.

Goods with god know what size carbon footprint are going to hauled over here and the cost of that transportation will be passed onto customers.

‘Fresh’ fruit and veg will have sat in containers for hours on end, if not days, before they get to the shelves, though worrying, will still probably last another week or so looking the ‘perfect’ standard that some claim in currently unavailable – how? With chemicals, and plenty of them, that’s, how, still better to ingest all that than get some locally grown, organic produce with a blemish on it, eh…?

More choice? Are you for real? How much choice do you want, for goodness sake?!
Hens teeth and chocolate coated Yeti nipples currently OOS, but we have a HUGE selection of anything and everything here, and those who state otherwise must either fail to shop around, do so with their eyes shut, prefer the chav-vy ready meals of Iceland (with their fabulously uncreative, limited, unhealthy choice – but oh, so cheap) or simply not appreciate how lucky they are, and that there are, indeed, worse things than not having INFINITE choice of foods from all over the known universe on their back doorstep.

Waitrose’s might is going to surpass most if not all of it’s competition, at which point they will have to compete or die. Many will die, and have, all over the UK, with the local shops, and in some cases, whole communities, being ‘loss leader-ed’ to death.

Don’t believe me, don’t believe their advertising and PR spin, do your own research, then you decide whether this is good for the CI’s, because in my opinion, it certainly ISN’T.

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69

H.J Masterman

Our little town 7000 pop. Amid alarmist talk Sainsbury moved in ! Benifits ? 200 locals, part/full time taken on # huge range of food, clothing and d.i.y at competitive prices # friendly ,courteous, and helpful service # several cash gifts to local charities, causes, and events . No local businesses closed down.
Jersey was always a greedy rip off island with their perpetual lies of “No vat here ” The bubble has burst for you, and now it’s pay-back time !

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71

Igor

It strikes me that it is impossible to please anyone in Jersey and once many people (certainly on these threads) have lost something to moan about they find another target for their uninformed vitriol.

We have done nothing but moan about Checkers and their high prices for years, demanding a UK supermarket opens up in Jersey and when this happens it’s the wrong supermarket and we want one from Germany or France.

For god’s sake grow up! Jersey is not the centre of the universe there is no great profit for anyone in adding more supermarkets providers to the mix; we have five major outlets already, how much green-field land do you want to bury to provide a supermarket, a car park and storage? Given the finite population the other supermarkets will lose out and jobs will be lost. The only way forward is to have a change of existing supermarket/retailer ownership which is what we are getting.

This will break the almost monopoly situation we have with Sandpiperci owning the Checkers/Safeway supermarkets, the Checkers Express brand, Iceland and the Marks and Spencer franchise. I would expect the latter three brands to be sold off together if the competition authority allows it; otherwise M&S might have to go it alone.

If we count Spar this will give us four (or five if M&S is isolated) major competing retailers on the island. To be honest Jersey is not really big enough to support another competitor unless these other brands are sold to existing retailers from the UK or Europe.

What is wrong with Waitrose? It is part of the John Lewis Partnership and with a little luck we might get access to this side of the business as well. John Lewis is one of the best value quality department stores in the UK and will frequently better the price of another outlet.

Waitrose is not the cheapest in the UK but it does market quality produce and will frequently open a supermarket in areas the ‘majors’ do not see as profitable enough. Waitrose also has a policy of supporting local producers and in the rural areas of the UK they will make a point of selling locally grown or sourced produce such as cheese, meat and vegetables. Many of their supermarkets make a conscious effort to collect for and support local charities in an effort to be seen as part of the community and area where our local shops have lost the propaganda battle.

All this talk about voting with our shopping trolley is a joke! The Checkers/Safeway outlets have consistently been more expensive than the Coop with the Express outlets charging ludicrous prices which appear to change at a whim. Yet these shops are still busy and not boycotted.

The one thing it will be easy to do is compare Waitrose prices in the UK and what they charge over here in Jersey. We have not been able to make such a direct comparison before.

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