Former Lancastrian

Now I know most expats miss their UK goodies such as Robinsons squash, bags of cheese and onion crisps, chocolate bars and biscuits but I think ASDA need to rethink their marketing strategy as I know this would not work over here especially at this time of year.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...Christmas.html

Any WalMart or Crappy Tire executives reading this then DONT DO IT HERE.

Souvy

WalMart owns ASDA.

Former Lancastrian

So how come Canadian WalMart stores dont carry Robinsons squash then

Dashie

Now what they should be doing is selling copious amounts of 'fall decor' and hallowe'en tat in August. Then they wouldn't put the Christmas stuff out until after they'd made lots of money selling crap for people to pile outside their houses from the previous holiday/season. At least it's variety I s'pose.

Souvy

Even WalMart shoppers have some standards.

AlmostThere12

This is what I hate about the UK. I think I will miss Sainsburys though. I did love the Xmas toy sale event in July that they did in Australia. You could load your trolley with toy stuff in the sale, hand it all over at a counter & pay it off over the weeks up until your chosen date before Xmas! It was excellent.

What Canadian supermarkets are there? What is the typical idea of an evening meal there? I won't miss crips & biscuits, so that doesn't bother me. What is gravy like in Canada? I love a roast with decent gravy! Australians cannot do gravy at all.

nativenewyorker

Gravy is bad over here every visitor we have has to make a trip to Sainsbury's for tubs of instant gravy granules, stuffing mix and spray- on deodrant

AlmostThere12

Same as when I was in Aus then! My friend got pulled by customs because he didn't fill out the declaration form. It was ok to take but needed to be declared. I assume it's ok to take into Canada then?

Souvy

Declare it. Declare anything foody. I mean anything, even a Toblerone bought on the plane.

'Fess up on the form and the worst thing that will happen is you get it taken away from you. If, later, the Agriculture Canada sniffer dogs in the customs hall find something you haven't declared, you in big trouble.

I got that first-hand from a guy on the immigration desk in Ottawa. I'm not making it up.

Lychee

Eating gravy is a UK tradition, not a Canadian tradition. Culture shock 101. If you're looking for instant gravy granules, it exists, but not the brands you recognize. Most, I'd argue, make it from scratch if they even make it at all.

JamesM

ASDA was consistently in the Top 100 UK employers. Then Walmart bought it.....

MarkG

So if I tell him I'm importing a kilogram jar of Marmite, will he have any idea of what I'm talking about or will I be off to the inspection line?

nativenewyorker

Our last visitor declared the gravy and stuffing. He just asked what it was and was amazed at the culinary skills of the brits - pour boiling water on everything and stir lol

Paul_Shepherd

Hey that is my EXACT shopping list! My cousin is coming over to visit me next month and he asked if I wanted anything bring over - that was my list! LOL!

Oh and the fact that you can buy Canadian mature cheddar in Asda Sainsburys where ever inUK a fair bit cheaper than in Canada! work that one out! However i told him to hold the cheese as its a dairy product and customs may get funny about that!

castra

ASDA have been very "Wal-Mart ised".

My nephew worked at ASDA for a short time. He didn't go for an interview, but some load of bollocks called 'ASDA Happy Magic Time' or something?! The assessment process consisted of a group project, building something with balloons, sticky back plastic & a bag of marshmallows!

The induction course was basically a brainwashing session that North Korea or China would have been proud of. Lots of happy clappy smiley bullshit too. Woe betide if you referred to a workmate as "staff" instead of "associate" !

Management were sent on courses to WallyWorld HQ in The States. The style of management was predictable.

Unsurprisingly, my nephew left after a week.