The No Mill Road Tesco Campaign
The No Mill Road Tesco campaign has brought out conflicting opinions in me. On one hand, sticking it to The Man is always fun, and healthy, and a sign that people are awake. On the other hand, the rainbow Nazi streak running through the no campaign is The Man in dungarees. Having played devil's advocate in my local, only to be stonewalled by a fen troll hence onwards (even when I met him in the soulless Sainsburys supermarket) I am naturally inclined towards bringing Tesco to Mill Road myself. Political differences over minor matters shouldn't become personal. Big things like racism, sure, but the little things shouldn't come between friends. Oh well.
But then I agree that Tesco are bloody everywhere and their
insatiable appetite for squeezing the grocery trade pips is dulling
high streets and village centres up and down the country. But they
succeed, in spite of people feeling this way because they literally
deliver the goods. So far the NTOMR campaign has focussed on the
negative: stop it before it gets there. That's legitimate: despite it
being anti-capitalist and illegal, big companies like Tesco can and do
practice dumping to drive their competition into the ground. The
Competition Commission will not stop this happening and without the
financial clout of another big corporation to back them up the
competition can be wiped out by these anti-competitive practices.
However, what about the worst case scenario, i.e. that Tesco do get their planning permission? This ties in with another fundamental reason why Tesco succeed: local, independent shops need to provide the services and goods people want: specifically, they need to open later so that people can actually use them after work. There's no need for a butchers to open at 9am. Open at 12noon and stay open until 9pm. That way they can increase trade. In case no-one has noticed, housewives are thin on the ground and households with all adults working full time are the norm these days. Next, there is nowhere on Mill Road where you can buy high quality, fresh vegetables. Co-op veg is always limp; and even people I know who are part of the NTOMR campaign say the veg shop next door to the Co-op sells poor quality vegetables (one even experienced off veg from there). We're in the middle of Britain's bread basket so why can't we get great, locally produced, fresh, veg?
For me, and many others in affluent Romsey, price is not the major factor. Ability to buy at a time when I'm not at work and good quality goods are major factors. A couple fewer beers a week for the sake of good quality food sounds a good deal to me. Time the independent shops capitalized on the massive good will they have in their customer base and provided stuff we want when we can buy it. Else you'll find even the most ardent anti-Tesco campaigners still shopping in Asda and Sainsburys and, no doubt, the third part of the holy trinity of grocers, Tesco.
However, what about the worst case scenario, i.e. that Tesco do get their planning permission? This ties in with another fundamental reason why Tesco succeed: local, independent shops need to provide the services and goods people want: specifically, they need to open later so that people can actually use them after work. There's no need for a butchers to open at 9am. Open at 12noon and stay open until 9pm. That way they can increase trade. In case no-one has noticed, housewives are thin on the ground and households with all adults working full time are the norm these days. Next, there is nowhere on Mill Road where you can buy high quality, fresh vegetables. Co-op veg is always limp; and even people I know who are part of the NTOMR campaign say the veg shop next door to the Co-op sells poor quality vegetables (one even experienced off veg from there). We're in the middle of Britain's bread basket so why can't we get great, locally produced, fresh, veg?
For me, and many others in affluent Romsey, price is not the major factor. Ability to buy at a time when I'm not at work and good quality goods are major factors. A couple fewer beers a week for the sake of good quality food sounds a good deal to me. Time the independent shops capitalized on the massive good will they have in their customer base and provided stuff we want when we can buy it. Else you'll find even the most ardent anti-Tesco campaigners still shopping in Asda and Sainsburys and, no doubt, the third part of the holy trinity of grocers, Tesco.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: The No Mill Road Tesco Campaign.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.robbiebow.co.uk/mt/mt-tb.cgi/40
Leave a comment