The Co-op Thread
Posted: Mon 01 Aug, 2016 21.30
Seeing as the Co-op has became Metropol's new supermarket of discussion, thought it might be nice to bring things into a new thread (if I am wrong and this is not a good idea, feel free to banish it to the depths of history)!
So, a busy few months/years in the land of Co-op - the bank scandal, a rebrand back to the old cloverleaf design, and more recently the announcement that the national chain would be selling a bunch of smaller stores.
In local co-op land (something I always hark back to because I find the difference between the main chain and the East of England Co-op interesting [although I will try not to bang on about it too much as for others it will be tediously dull]), things are similar in some areas but different in others. In the past few years a number of smaller stores have been closed, but they've also opened new ones (in some cases to replace the closed stores), and after many years they seem to be finally refurbishing some of their stores (although a couple of stores I visit fairly often still have 'local and convenient' written in green and gold in a faux-handwriting font above the shelves many years on from the EoE Co-op dropping the cloverleaf the first time around! In addition to this, they've started fitting a fair few stores out with Subway outlets, something I presume in some places will replace the in-store bakeries they've been axing to make way for stuff from local bakeries instead (although I did see recently that they were boasting an in-store bakery on an article about an ex-Budgens they were buying, so maybe they've gone full circle). In Ipswich, in at least two normal Co-ops they've closed a small Co-op funeralcare has opened in its place, which seems slightly odd - is there demand for a funeralcare service around the corner? As a result of these new locations being ex-food stores, they also have odd little quirks like cash machines built into the wall, and stickers on the doors mentioning deliveries and the like.
Anyway, here we are.
So, a busy few months/years in the land of Co-op - the bank scandal, a rebrand back to the old cloverleaf design, and more recently the announcement that the national chain would be selling a bunch of smaller stores.
In local co-op land (something I always hark back to because I find the difference between the main chain and the East of England Co-op interesting [although I will try not to bang on about it too much as for others it will be tediously dull]), things are similar in some areas but different in others. In the past few years a number of smaller stores have been closed, but they've also opened new ones (in some cases to replace the closed stores), and after many years they seem to be finally refurbishing some of their stores (although a couple of stores I visit fairly often still have 'local and convenient' written in green and gold in a faux-handwriting font above the shelves many years on from the EoE Co-op dropping the cloverleaf the first time around! In addition to this, they've started fitting a fair few stores out with Subway outlets, something I presume in some places will replace the in-store bakeries they've been axing to make way for stuff from local bakeries instead (although I did see recently that they were boasting an in-store bakery on an article about an ex-Budgens they were buying, so maybe they've gone full circle). In Ipswich, in at least two normal Co-ops they've closed a small Co-op funeralcare has opened in its place, which seems slightly odd - is there demand for a funeralcare service around the corner? As a result of these new locations being ex-food stores, they also have odd little quirks like cash machines built into the wall, and stickers on the doors mentioning deliveries and the like.
Anyway, here we are.