5 ms·

As a resident, I would never opt to drive to the supermarket, I prefer to walk, or take my bicycle if necessary.

by eterps 3y ago

mytailorisrich 3y ago
It's the same in most large cities. Of course this is paid for at the till...
- yokoprime 3y ago
  Not really. Where I live, big box supermarkeds are often more expensive, at least for non store-brand items. Also I buy less when shopping using my bike or walking. When I drive, it's so easy to just throw in a fridge pack I don't need etc.
  - mytailorisrich 3y ago
    There's always one... Where do you live?
- rsynnott 3y ago
  > Of course this is paid for at the till... I’m not sure how true this is everywhere. Within walking distance (inner suburb of Dublin on the edge of the city center) I have two Tesco Superstores and about eight Tesco Expresses and Metros (Tesco splits its shop types into broad categories). The ‘superstores’ have the same pricing as each other and as suburban ones, the Expresses and Metros have the same pricing within each category, which is sometimes slightly higher than the Superstores. There’s also an Aldi and a Lidl; both are priced the same as any other Aldi or Lidl, as far as I can see. If anything it’s more rural areas where you may see higher prices, in that your local ‘supermarket’ may be essentially a jumped-up chain convenience store.
  - beaeglebeach 3y ago
    The elevation in price is less location and more whether you're able to buy in bulk. With careful rotation discipline and a handcart it's achievable on foot though, although clearly more convenient with a car and a nice wide lot.
    - yorwba 3y ago
      How heavy are your bulk purchases that you need a handcart? And how much do you save compared to just buying a kilogram of everything you ran out of this week?
      - beaeglebeach 3y ago
        For dry goods I don't even look at total price, I look at price per weight (wet goods, same but volume). It's almost always lower the more I buy. I'll buy the largest quantity I can consume before it spoils. Off the cuff I'd say I save about 20%, and buy a few hundred pounds per trip. Probably saves us amongst a family in the vicinity of $1000/yr. This same concept extended to all other non-food consumables.
- Semaphor 3y ago
  Nah, we have a very competitive supermarket system in Germany, stuff like that would kill you, just like Walmart died here.
- Reason077 3y ago
  > “It's the same in most large cities. Of course this is paid for at the till...” I think it can actually save you money. I’ve lived in London flats where there were multiple large supermarket brands (Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, ASDA) all within easy walking distance. And smaller corner convenience stores like Tesco Express and Co-op and even Amazon’s one. And also some of the discounters (Iceland, Aldi) only slightly further afield. If you want to save money you just go to whatever supermarket(s) have the best offers on whatever you want to buy. Waitrose, for example, would often have good deals on olive oil and coffee beans but tended to be expensive for fruit & veg. So I’d buy my olive oil and coffee there but go elsewhere for my apples and tomatoes etc… easy to do when all the shops are close together and you’re walking by them anyway! Besides, you’d be mad to drive to a supermarket in London anyway, waste of time even if you’re buying more than you can carry: just order online, free delivery is usually available (with a minimum order value).
  - mytailorisrich 3y ago
    If you can save by going to Waitrose you know you're in a massively expensive area ;)
    - Reason077 3y ago
      If you stick to the offers at Waitrose it can be surprisingly cheap! (And the fish counter after 9pm on a Friday can be a gold mine of delicious deals for seafood lovers!) Of course once they have you in the store they’re relying on you buying all the other overpriced (and highly profitable) items…
  - Ancapistani 3y ago
    Coming from an American perspective, this seems nuts: > So I’d buy my olive oil and coffee there but go elsewhere for my apples and tomatoes etc… easy to do when all the shops are close together and you’re walking by them anyway! You're just walking into a supermarket carrying bags from other stores? Do that here and you'll quickly have "personal security" in the form of loss prevention following you around the store - if they don't stop you at the door.
- Muximize 3y ago
  > Of course this is paid for at the till... Not needing to own a car more than makes up for that.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    But once you have a car, the marginal cost is negligible, hence the death of main streets and proliferation of big box stores.
zajio1am 3y ago
Even if supermarket is in walking distance, the limiting factor is ability to take all the purchase with me. Using a car i could fill half the car with the purchase, so i do not need to visit it again for several weeks.
- Hardwired8976 3y ago
  But because stores are in walking distance, the need for big trips goes down and you just go after work sometimes in the week

As a resident, I would never opt to drive to the supermarket, I prefer to walk, or take my bicycle if necessary.

by eterps 3y ago

As a resident, I would never opt to drive to the supermarket, I prefer to walk, or take my bicycle if necessary.

mytailorisrich 3y ago

It's the same in most large cities. Of course this is paid for at the till...

yokoprime 3y ago
Not really. Where I live, big box supermarkeds are often more expensive, at least for non store-brand items. Also I buy less when shopping using my bike or walking. When I drive, it's so easy to just throw in a fridge pack I don't need etc.
- mytailorisrich 3y ago
  There's always one... Where do you live?
rsynnott 3y ago
> Of course this is paid for at the till... I’m not sure how true this is everywhere. Within walking distance (inner suburb of Dublin on the edge of the city center) I have two Tesco Superstores and about eight Tesco Expresses and Metros (Tesco splits its shop types into broad categories). The ‘superstores’ have the same pricing as each other and as suburban ones, the Expresses and Metros have the same pricing within each category, which is sometimes slightly higher than the Superstores. There’s also an Aldi and a Lidl; both are priced the same as any other Aldi or Lidl, as far as I can see. If anything it’s more rural areas where you may see higher prices, in that your local ‘supermarket’ may be essentially a jumped-up chain convenience store.
- beaeglebeach 3y ago
  The elevation in price is less location and more whether you're able to buy in bulk. With careful rotation discipline and a handcart it's achievable on foot though, although clearly more convenient with a car and a nice wide lot.
  - yorwba 3y ago
    How heavy are your bulk purchases that you need a handcart? And how much do you save compared to just buying a kilogram of everything you ran out of this week?
    - beaeglebeach 3y ago
      For dry goods I don't even look at total price, I look at price per weight (wet goods, same but volume). It's almost always lower the more I buy. I'll buy the largest quantity I can consume before it spoils. Off the cuff I'd say I save about 20%, and buy a few hundred pounds per trip. Probably saves us amongst a family in the vicinity of $1000/yr. This same concept extended to all other non-food consumables.
Semaphor 3y ago
Nah, we have a very competitive supermarket system in Germany, stuff like that would kill you, just like Walmart died here.
Reason077 3y ago
> “It's the same in most large cities. Of course this is paid for at the till...” I think it can actually save you money. I’ve lived in London flats where there were multiple large supermarket brands (Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, ASDA) all within easy walking distance. And smaller corner convenience stores like Tesco Express and Co-op and even Amazon’s one. And also some of the discounters (Iceland, Aldi) only slightly further afield. If you want to save money you just go to whatever supermarket(s) have the best offers on whatever you want to buy. Waitrose, for example, would often have good deals on olive oil and coffee beans but tended to be expensive for fruit & veg. So I’d buy my olive oil and coffee there but go elsewhere for my apples and tomatoes etc… easy to do when all the shops are close together and you’re walking by them anyway! Besides, you’d be mad to drive to a supermarket in London anyway, waste of time even if you’re buying more than you can carry: just order online, free delivery is usually available (with a minimum order value).
- mytailorisrich 3y ago
  If you can save by going to Waitrose you know you're in a massively expensive area ;)
  - Reason077 3y ago
    If you stick to the offers at Waitrose it can be surprisingly cheap! (And the fish counter after 9pm on a Friday can be a gold mine of delicious deals for seafood lovers!) Of course once they have you in the store they’re relying on you buying all the other overpriced (and highly profitable) items…
- Ancapistani 3y ago
  Coming from an American perspective, this seems nuts: > So I’d buy my olive oil and coffee there but go elsewhere for my apples and tomatoes etc… easy to do when all the shops are close together and you’re walking by them anyway! You're just walking into a supermarket carrying bags from other stores? Do that here and you'll quickly have "personal security" in the form of loss prevention following you around the store - if they don't stop you at the door.
Muximize 3y ago
> Of course this is paid for at the till... Not needing to own a car more than makes up for that.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  But once you have a car, the marginal cost is negligible, hence the death of main streets and proliferation of big box stores.

zajio1am 3y ago

Even if supermarket is in walking distance, the limiting factor is ability to take all the purchase with me. Using a car i could fill half the car with the purchase, so i do not need to visit it again for several weeks.

Hardwired8976 3y ago
But because stores are in walking distance, the need for big trips goes down and you just go after work sometimes in the week