Amazulu

I went into a Tesco in the UK recently - I don't understand all the fuss on here about them. Rows and rows of cheap prepackaged meals, electrical goods that are cheaper elsewhere, shite clothes etc.

There are better stores/supermarkets in the UK than this mob. Same for Next and Primark.

Amazulu

M&S are the real deal - a quality UK retailer.

Buzzy--Bee

Correct. I would have no problem with M&S opening here - just never want to see Tesco, Asda etc. They are a different shopping experience and one I have left behind in a previous life.

BB

seat151

I just returned from the Uk, went to next to stock up. Went into target a few days into my return and saw almost everything I bought in Next there!

expatasia

Out of curiosity, how did the prices compare?

Anastasia Beaverhausen

Not long after I moved here 4 years ago, I was browsing Kmart and saw a few tops that I had bought in H&M a couple of months before moving. More expensive, but you do eventually get used to the price differences.

Coles and Woolies are perfectly OK for food. My locals do a lot more fresh stuff and a lot less pre packaged. We have 3 bakeries, 2 butchers and 3 grocers all doing a roaring trade in town. Personal service is great and all next to a relatively small Coles and Woolies. I was in Reading prior to moving and they had only 1 or 2 butchers left operating and grocers and bakers were few and far between. The differences in prices are relative to what you earn, so the sooner you stop comparing prices to the UK the better.

There is a lot more to Oz than where you buy your clothes and groceries.

Centurion

If I were Tesco I would look at Australia and say "meh...22 million people". Let's face it, we're not worth the bother on an economic scale.

Which is essentially why we shall always be doomed in retail choice I suspect.

Buzzy--Bee

I do not consider that we are "doomed" because we haven't got Tesco, in food shopping I think we have more choice because we haven't got Tesco!

I am amazed for instance at the choice in the chiller cabinets at local and chain butchers, far far more choice than in even the largest Tescos in the UK.

BB

Centurion

Oh absolutely. I certainly didnt mean Tesco. I wouldn't shop there ever and never did in the UK.

I meant in the broader and generalised sense. We essentially pay more for everything and have less consumer choice because the market size dictates what will be traded, at what price levels and volume. Reality is that our market size is tiny by comparison to say the US who enjoy massive choice, online traders who you actually want to use and of course, lower prices for pretty much everything.

Basic economics keeps us a very captive audience to fewer traders.

seat151

Dam sight cheaper in Target!

Pollyana

Oh I'm with you, dreaming of shopping...... I do all my shopping now on trips back home or via mail order

I'll be coming back with my next haul just as you're going

Very true, but it is a big part of some of our lives. One of the drawbacks of my working hours is the antiquated Qld shopping hours - even if I was able to get to smaller shops, butchers, delis etc fairly easily I don't have the time to do it as a regular thing. Long working hours just make good supermarkets very attractive and Coles just doesn't fit the bill I'm afraid. On the good side though, I now eat so much less partly cos of the standard/quality of food that my waistline and my food bill have shrunk dramatically!!

Buzzy--Bee

We have just been to Best and Less at Southland shopping centre and have bought 2 girls fleeces from the "essentials" range for $7 each. I believe this is the same range stocked by Primark in the UK for much the same price.

BB

JulieFulie

I am totally amazed by your comments regarding grocery shopping in Australia. There are many great things to enjoy about living in Australia but unfortunately grocery shopping isn't one of them! Leaving clothes shopping aside because I believe that is very much down to personal choice regarding different budgets, when was the last time you visited a Tesco, Sainsburys or Marks and Spencers?? We have only been in Perth 10 months and really my only bugbear about living here apart from missing family and friends is the lack of choice when I go grocery shopping plus the inferior quality of products in the supermarkets. I'm wondering if people who have lived here for a long time have forgotten how good the supermarkets are in the UK, some of the best in the world. Or maybe my standards are just very high... In any case, I believe that the supermarkets here are about 20 years behind the UK or maybe more. Having said all that, the benefits of living here certainly outweigh the few negative aspects like shopping.

ianhutch1

hahaha that is absolute BS im afraid, they might have been cheap copies of the clothes which were in Next but they werent the same thats for sure!

Australia desperately needs Next, decent quality mid priced clothing is so hard to come by over here.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Sorry pal but that really is just nonsense. My closest ASDA in the UK was the size of a couple of football pitches and about a quarter of that was chilled/frozen food selection. Now I know you spend your time on here bigging up Melbourne, but to claim that your local butcher has "far far more choice" than that, is just daft... unless your butcher is in a Tardis of course.