lee on solent

could anyone convert these to australian equivalent

super markets first what is the australian comparison
waitrose = ?
sainsburys=?
lidl=?

record shops
virgin / hmv =?

clothes shops
river island=?
tk maxx=?
new look=?

diy
focus / homebase=?

chemist
superdrug=?
savers=?

do they have boot sales in oz in case i want some new underpants

cheers
from
tony and myrtle

bridie

Supermarkets, you only have two big players Woollies and Coles, I'd probably say they are both more like Tescos only they just tend to sell food, not clothes, music, DVDs etc (not on any grand scale anyway). We also have IGA which is Independant Growers Association, and some other states have Aldi but not here in WA.

Clothes shops, music shops, chemists no idea really, obviously they do have all of them but cant remember the chemists names off hand and cant really compare clothes shops, never really noticed music shops.

DIY: Bunnings is the major one, unfortuantely they seem to have a bit of a monopoly. Where we are we also have Mitre 10 and Thriftylink but their stores are tiny so hardly worth bothering with.

Yes, they do have boot sales but here they're called barter marts or trade your trash.

HTH

kez81

[QUOTE=lee on solent;4548707]could anyone convert these to australian equivalent

super markets first what is the australian comparison
waitrose = ?
sainsburys=?
lidl=?

record shops
virgin / hmv =?

clothes shops
river island=?
tk maxx=?
new look=?

diy
focus / homebase=?

chemist
superdrug=?
savers=?

do they have boot sales in oz in case i want some new underpants

cheers
from
tony and myrtle[/QUOT

super markets first what is the australian comparison
waitrose = ? The supermarkets are coles woolworths and there is also IGA,choice not as good as you will find when you get over, you will have too get used to cookng from scratch if you dont do so already!!
sainsburys=?
lidl=?

record shops
virgin / hmv =? SANITY along the same lines of virgin /hmv

clothes shops
river island=? i wish, i have founfd the best shops here for me have been sportsgirl, jeanswest and portmans along the same lines but quality of cloyhing not as good!!
tk maxx=? not sure
new look=? supre a bit like new look but not as good in my opion!!

diy
focus / homebase=? bunnings thats the only one i can think off dont do much diy lol!!!

chemist
superdrug=? priceline cheaper than local chemists for tolietries etc but not the same as boots not much in the way of 3for 2.
savers=?

hope that helps you,

kez

bridie

Priceline, that's it, and Chemart as well

chels

Supermarkets - there is also Franklins (suposedly cheaper than the Big Two but I think they charge more for branded goods), BiLo (being rebranded as Coles) and Foodworks. If you're desperate for something when the shops are closed, there are usually 'mixed business' shops which are like mini-supermarkets and also 7-11 type places.

A lot of people swear by the more old fashioned method of shopping ie visting individual shops such as butchers, greengrocers, bakers where the quality of food and the price can be better. Unfortuntely I don't have the time to fart around doing that.

You can't buy booze in the supermarket - some have bottle shops next door, otherwise you can go to your local pub for a carry out or go to a drive in bottle shop...

Record shops - Virgin is over here too. Otherwise department stores like Big W, K Mart and Target sell CDs etc.

Clothes shops -
But seriously - Portmans is similar to River Island, in that it occasionally has something decent mixed up with all the man made fibre shiny things. Other shops in that price range include Sussan, Jacqui E, Espirit etc
Myers and David Jones are the better quality department stores and can have a good range of brands and their own brands. Target, Big W and K Mart sell your cheap and cheerful range (unless it's by Stella McCartney!)
Jeans - Jeans West, Just Jeans, Jag etc. Jeans seemed to be made for Amazons.
Bit more pricey clothes shops - Witchery, Country Road, Review, Marcs, Cue, Events, Ojays
There's no shop like TK Maxx here
New Look - as well as Supre, try Jay Jays, SES, Tightrope, Valley Girl

Basically the best thing to do is to go in and check the prices out, there's a few shops I've been fooled by the clothes and thought it was quite a cheap place but turned out it wasn't.

Chemists - I prefer Priceline or to buy my toiletries at the supermarket when they have their (very rare) special offers. But there are also Soul Pattinsons, Youngs, Blooms and more.

PS I'm not a shopaholic (well, not much) - I work in the NSW retail marketing industry

bridie

Depends where in Oz you are though, I've never heard of Franklins, Bilo or Foodworks and we dont have 7-11s in Bunbury either (not sure if they have them in Perth though?)....

chels

OP had better let us know where they're planning to move to!

Woolworths is called Safeways in some states... that's the only real difference I know, I have to admit my 'expert knowledge' in shops stops at the state boundaries

Re the point about boot sales - garage sales are very popular (well, in NSW they are!)

bridie

Yes, that would help!!

Yep, garage sales popular here too

themerlin

I think it's a must do for meat, but I agree it's too much farting around for most stuff.

NickyC

Whatever the shops are like, I can promise you they're a million times better than the ones in Lee-on-Solent (or Gosport or Fareham).

fraser

There is no comparisan, UK shops piss all over Aussie ones. So if you're moving here for the shopping stay put

NickyC

Depends where you're coming from and going to.

The shops in the area of the UK where I come from (Southampton/Portsmouth/southern Hampshire) are pitiful compared to my local shopping centre at Bondi Junction in Sydney.

They've got a newish 'mall' in Southampton complete with a new-fangled food court containing about 6? outlets. There's no comparison with what's on offer around here.

bridie

We tend to use independant butchers (if we're buying a lot of meat) and fishmongers and we have Bunbury Farmers Market which is fab for fresh and mainly local fruit and veg - and cheap as chips to boot!

You can certainly tell the difference between supermarket bought fruit & veg and farmers market, just no comparison.

yanH

I'd second that. The North Shore where I live has huge shopping malls at Chatswood, Hornsby and Waringah. They make UK shopping centres look tiny and limited. Just the main food court at Hornsby has around 20 different food outlets and there are many others scattered around the mall.

Where you will find shopping more limited is if you are located away from a city. Its not that the small places have less shops than in the UK (I'd say in general they have more (unless you're really in the sticks) its just that its so much further to go to a city.

You also don't have to pay for parking unless you are more than 4 hours and then its generally a reasonable charge not the 2-3 pounds an hour you get in the UK.

And definately forget about 'ready meals' as they don't seem to exist here.

I think the only area where "UK shops piss all over Aussie ones" is in the area of poor customer service and general unfrienldliness. Being rude and surly seems to be a pre requisite to work in a shop in the UK.

chels

Yes, huge shopping malls you have to drive to and which are full of the same chainstore shops as the rents are exhorbitant for smaller businesses. Thankfully where I live there are many smaller boutiques and independent shops and I don't have to drive to get to them. I'm not a big fan of the huge malls, I like fresh air and being able to see the sky - where I used to live in the UK there was a lovely high street and a small shopping mall that was just the right size for when it started to rain!

Have to say that, with regards your final point about customer service, I don't find that in Sydney CBD. Plenty of surly shop assistants working around here (but I won't name names). It also depends I think on what time you go to the shop - if it's during quiet times you're more likely to be served by the owner, whereas on a Saturday it's staffed by teenagers who don't give a toss. Conversely, when I visited the UK last year I was served by a variety of really pleasant shop assistants who I bored silly with my tales of living in Australia. But I'm sure that if I'd been in London's Oxford Street on a saturday the assistants wouldn't have had the time to chat and quite possibly could have been surly.