OzTennis

An amusing cartoon from yesterday's (Glasgow) Herald - on the day Tesco,000,000,000 announced that they achieved profits of £1bn for the first half of the financial year and are on target for £2.5 bn for the full year.



OzTennis

mr mover

George Orwell will be spinning in his grave...... ........... mm

MartinLuther

Are you referring to the name? Part of the deal was that they could keep the name for a while (maybe even forever). I have a friend who works for them and I think he said they were getting ready to change to Coles Group Ltd. as well as re-branding all the stores (as mentioned above).

moneypenny20

How obscene is that Not the cartoon obviously but the 1bn in 6 months - there is something seriously not right about that

OzTennis

Yes, you'll be right, deals quite often involve retaining a name for a while, keeping the same management for a while and other 'funny business' eg David Lloyd sold his chain of leisure clubs a long time ago to Whitbread and as part of the deal, he was not allowed to set up in opposition or use his name in another business - so after he sold he immediately started up a chain of leisure clubs in his son's name and called them Next Generation!

OzTennis

OzTennis

Now, I know the Tesco thing has been done to death but ....

Tesco now has 31.4% of the market in the UK (twice as much as Asda or Sainsbury's) and 1 out of every £7 spent in the UK is at Tesco. The Office of Fair Trading defines monopolistic power as 25% or more of the market.

The Tesco board sees the writing on the wall because Asda and Sainsbury's have also increased their market shares by 1% each in the last 6 months as they fight back and Tesco are worried also about being referred to the OFT. So they are looking to overseas and to markets other than groceries and non-food items to keep the juggernaut going (they're after Argos with a new catalogue business). Profits up 21%, what will the shareholders want next year and how will they achieve it?

Yep, they certainly cut your shopping bill but the bigger picture includes their effect on small businesses, corner shops, on farmers, on suppliers, the environment, the state of towns and cities the length and breadth of the UK and so on.

Final thought - the farmer near us receives less for his milk than he did 10 years ago (any of us receive less income than we did 10 years ago for doing the same thing?) It's sell it to the local creamery at the price they dictate which has a contract with Tesco and Asda (who dictate the price they pay the creamery, you know the millions of gallons a year contract, do better than last contract or we go elsewhere trick) or tip it down the drain or go out of business.

OzTennis

moneypenny20

BUT it's good for the customer so what does it matter

Let's not go there

jad n rich

Dont think about it next time you are in Coles :scared: , 2006 profits up 82% to 1.2 billion, not bad given the tiny size of australias population.

The bi lo wind down its interesting as they change the packaging some products double in price, one pack of teas price trebled as it got its new box

Ozzidoc

I think that it depends. I was in Oz when there was "late night shopping" one night a week, and shops closed at 12 or 1 on a Sat, and were closed on a Sunday.

I hadn't come across that for years, until some British friends living in Berlin were telling me that's still the situation in Berlin. (That conversation was 3 yrs ago, so things might have changed).

Anyway, we felt that shops being closed on a Sunday was a fantastic thing for sports, family, hobbies etc. I feel that shopping has become a leisure activity to replace spending meaningful time with friends and family.

(I'm not religious and dont have kids, but I'd imagine that I'd feel even more stronly about this if I were/did have.)

On a similar thought, am I the only person who is horrified at what other peoples' shopping trolleys contain? It seems as if no-one knows what a vegetable is, nor how to cook. At a pikey supermarket here in Norwich, I am constantly amazed at trolleys that are filled with pizzas, chocolate, fishfingers, iceream, biscuits, tinned custard, savoury pies, etc all along with one week's vegetables:2 tins of mushy peas - I kid u not!

Here endeth....

Stunned of North Balwyn.

OzTennis

Not to mention the 2 ladies in Rotherham who counteracted the local school initiative to only sell healthy products in the school dining hall and to ban snack vans from operating near the school. They ran a 'service' ordering fish and chips, hamburgers etc for the kids and passing them through the railings. They said they were protesting against the 'overpriced, low fat rubbish' on sale at the school.

OzTennis

Ozzidoc

Yeah - I couln't believe that either....soon there'll be no need for cookers in the UK!

Country Boy

There is more domestic violence in those countries that keep Sunday 'special' than those that don't. That goes for Germany too.