Metropol

WillPS wrote:

Martin Phillp wrote:The board of Home Retail Group have approved the sale of Argos to Sainsbury's. Up to 200 stores will close.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35941233

Close as Argos branches anyway. I think a good number have a future as Sainsburys Local branches.

There's an Argos concession in Homebase which is 1/2 mile from a Sainsburys which will certainly either move into the local store or into the large ex Savacentre 2 miles away.

Brand Match is being discontinued from April 28th according to notices on top of the self-checkouts.

Shame. I enjoyed nicking other people's discarded vouchers at the self service till and getting about 14p off my shopping.

Martin Phillp wrote:Brand Match is being discontinued from April 28th according to notices on top of the self-checkouts.

And they're e-mailing all Nectar card holders with the news as well.

gottago wrote:Shame. I enjoyed nicking other people's discarded vouchers at the self service till and getting about 14p off my shopping.

I got told off for doing that once when the self-checkout assistant spotted me doing that.

Martin Phillp wrote:

gottago wrote:Shame. I enjoyed nicking other people's discarded vouchers at the self service till and getting about 14p off my shopping.

I got told off for doing that once when the self-checkout assistant spotted me doing that.

So did I. Responded that they should have removed it and ripped it up if they didn't want me to use it.

I think Sainsbury's has made a mistake replacing the last traces of Blue Highway on product packaging and in-store signage with their most recent primary font, which looks incredibly ugly in big blocks of unbroken text (ingredients lists, etc.).

Not as bad as the truly hideous slab font (used until the superfluous Safeway swoosh was added to the logo) would have looked but nowhere near as clean and legible as before, in my opinion.

I think the last font was actually Interstate, I could probably check back in this thread but I'm sure the newer one is called Mary Ann.

I thought all the shelf edge labels are the Stag slab font, which I have to admit has grown on me a lot - esp for price info, but yes, it can be a bit less legible on the smaller product names.

Slab serif fonts seem in vogue at the moment. GWR using one all over their publicity materials, and rather distressingly, for new station signage at Oxford as the platform numbers have been rejigged. Sits SO well alongside the already existing mishmash of Rail Alphabet and extant Network SouthEast signage.

scottishtv wrote:I think the last font was actually Interstate, I could probably check back in this thread but I'm sure the newer one is called Mary Ann.

I thought all the shelf edge labels are the Stag slab font, which I have to admit has grown on me a lot - esp for price info, but yes, it can be a bit less legible on the smaller product names.

SELs changed from the awful slab font to Mary-Anne quite a while ago - maybe 18 months now?

Sainsbury's finally acquired Home Retail Group last Friday.

The new company will be known as Sainsbury's Argos for Habitat and Argos, while J. Sainsbury Plc will continue for the supermarket/local business.