ALDI for Callan - again!!

foxcoverteddy

It was nice to see the more senior member of Boards taking an interest in Aldi for Callan, naturally one respects such opinion's, which i guess is what Boards is all about.
However, one doesn't have to agree with all that is written, perhaps we were unlucky with the checkout operator in Aldi, we vowed if we ever had such treatment again we would leave the trolley and walk out of the store.
I personally have no desire to be got out of a shop as quickly as possible, having spent, the amount is not necessarily a criteria, money, and supporting them.
As for out of date food complaint, basically your own fault, should have checked it in the store, as I say most if not all stores have out of date foods on the shelves, yes even Aldi, as well as mixing dates, I think you will agree let the buyer beware rules.
Sainsbury's, well I think you went over the top there, as you know, any UK store coming to Ireland, will buy as much Irish produce as possible, one has to accept that to-day local produced food is almost a thing of the past, if you can afford the local organic food at the parade market one might give oneself a pat on the back for supporting Irish producer's.
Aldi, Lidl, Tesco buy Irish produce so Sainsbury's would have been no better or worse.
One final point they would have employed local people, so I do care.
As for Callan being dead, you have only got to take Bridge street I am told it was the centre of the town and all the shops were doing great business, look at it now, better if you don't really.
Supervalu, if not them someone else would have come, well the era of the small grocer was coming to an end, there are a few small shops around but one would be hard pressed to compare them with earlier days when cheese and butter were not packed and bacon cut whilst you wait.
I would say Ray Hackett was one of the last real grocery shops in Callan.
So the post that did not like waiting in supermarkets would have had the screaming abdads in the old grocer's where one person served and the rest queued whilst the person in front did a weeks shop.
I would ask that the knocking of Supervalu at this stage is really sad, we do need to protect the jobs of the staff employed, however any suggestions should be put to the management, though using boards could make more people aware of your complaint or suggestion.
One good point it is going to save a lot of petrol not having to go to Kilkenny or Clonmel every week, though I personally will travel to Clonmel for Dunnes, Iceland and M&S and of course Tesco.
Thank you for the post it was really great, take care foxy

foxcoverteddy

The new store is going up at some rate, no wonder they are known as flat pack stores, at least we are going to have the opportunity of choice.
I do have concern about Aldi staff, I hate to see them running round the store, you can call it German efficiency if you like, then compare it with the laid back attitude of Supervalu, personally I prefer preserving the Irish way of life, even if it costs a few shekels more.

road_high

foxcoverteddy wrote: »

The new store is going up at some rate, no wonder they are known as flat pack stores, at least we are going to have the opportunity of choice.
I do have concern about Aldi staff, I hate to see them running round the store, you can call it German efficiency if you like, then compare it with the laid back attitude of Supervalu, personally I prefer preserving the Irish way of life, even if it costs a few shekels more.

How come then you appear to be one of the main cheerleaders for Aldi to come to Callan here on boards?

Dan Jaman

Probably a brown envelope job.

foxcoverteddy

Very cheeky Dan, you are forgiven as one appreciates there are so few really honest people around.
However I do not subscribe to such underhanded way's, so there are some people you can trust.
Have a nice day, and a very Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Regards, foxy

foxcoverteddy

Ah Mfitzy, life can be very strange and some of the people even stranger.
It would not have mattered whether it was Aldi or Lidl, the same principle would have applied.
Callan needed a choice, without having to travel to either Kilkenny or Clonmel. Firstly there was the escalating costs of travel and secondly there was no incentive for the one store to charge the rock bottom price, it was a take it or leave it situation.
It might just surprise you and others that I might not in fact abandon Supervalu, which is not to say I will not go to Aldi.
The problem being Aldi does not carry the same number of lines as Supervalu, making weekly shopping difficult, however it is in many ways considerably cheaper, a factor which could well benefit many in Callan.
So you will go to Aldi, yes but I will also travel to Dunnes, Lidl, Superquinn and M&S and even Iceland.
So Aldi for Callan was a genuine attempt to improve the buying ability of the people of Callan and not for the benefit of Foxy.
Merry christmas to you my friend, Foxy

Sky King

The problem being Aldi does not carry the same number of lines as Supervalu, making weekly shopping difficult,

How? In my experience they move way faster.

foxcoverteddy

Not to sure what you are saying about things moving faster, can't really help with that one. But seing as we are on Aldi, hopefully like me you compare prices, one classic is M&S tinned Mackeral, 2.07 euro, I think Aldi 0.79, okay M&S came from Denmark, it pays to shop around

road_high

foxcoverteddy wrote: »

Ah Mfitzy, life can be very strange and some of the people even stranger.
It would not have mattered whether it was Aldi or Lidl, the same principle would have applied.
Callan needed a choice, without having to travel to either Kilkenny or Clonmel. Firstly there was the escalating costs of travel and secondly there was no incentive for the one store to charge the rock bottom price, it was a take it or leave it situation.
It might just surprise you and others that I might not in fact abandon Supervalu, which is not to say I will not go to Aldi.
The problem being Aldi does not carry the same number of lines as Supervalu, making weekly shopping difficult, however it is in many ways considerably cheaper, a factor which could well benefit many in Callan.
So you will go to Aldi, yes but I will also travel to Dunnes, Lidl, Superquinn and M&S and even Iceland.
So Aldi for Callan was a genuine attempt to improve the buying ability of the people of Callan and not for the benefit of Foxy.
Merry christmas to you my friend, Foxy

And many happy returns Enjoy Aldi when it opens!!

foxcoverteddy

Seeing it is Christmas, I thought a quick mention might be welcome, "New store coming soon" Aldi have now put up a large notice, it looks like we might have it up and running as per NHG by St Patricks day.
Despite the new layout of supervalu, which is an improvement though the drinks section seems to have acquired more space to the detriment of groceries, but it is christmas.
Now here is an interesting fact, last week I was looking at Tea, I enjoy a nice cup and enjoy trying different brews, Lyons 160 teabags Gold blend were only 3.62 a box which is half price or thereabouts, but there was no mention of cheaper than "Uncle tom cobbly and all", I spoke to someone and said why are you not putting something to tell us this is probably the best deal in the store, I will have a word she said, well the very next day the price was back to normal, it obviously had been priced wrongly, I patted myself on the back for buying two boxes, good saving.
Now there is another side to this story, if that can happen what about the other way round, the wrong price with benefit to the store?
Who keeps a check, who audits? I know it sometimes pays to buy two small tubs of Connacht Gold butter than a large one, I think that has been addressed now, the same as Oxo supervalu only sell the six pack of the rad ones at 87c, go to other stores and buy 12 for 1.27, not much of a saving but nevertheless cent's add up.
One other thing it is christmas my family indulge in mince pies, right our
local store with real people etc, try and find the mincemeat, one brand after much searching, Christmas pud, it is traditional to have Hartley's tinned Strawberries, you'll be lucky, I said you'll be lucky, I didn't look at the other tins, no Hartley's or chiver's same firm, I refuse to buy Chinese tinned Strawberries, go on make a stand, Irish or nothing, looks very much like the later.
Become a professional shopper, why not use Boards to keep an eye on what we are paying in Callan, people power.
Merry christmas, Foxy

Dan Jaman

I noticed last week the packet soups are scattered around - one brand and SV's own up by the front, next to the other stuff you might expect them to be with, while another brand down by the soap powders - that's the kind of thing that is bleedin' annoying and necessitates a lot of trekking around to find stuff. I didn't see any Erin soups at all.

foxcoverteddy

Dan Jaman, yep this really p..... people off, despite having a chance to get things right poor old supervalu seems to be going the other way, sad really because I was hoping they would blossom, they have the staff, they are brilliant, but even they must bde taking a lot of flak from some customer's and they do not deserve it.
Hey have you taken the chance with the50 cent melon and pineapple, dam good saving, looks like the foxy household will be living on them for some time.
I did see Erin soups near the floor, normally make my own, chop a couple of leeks a carrot an onion and a potato, pop them in a suacepan with butter to coat, ten minutes, I stir them frquently to stop them sticking, then put a stock cube and water and boil and simmer for 20 minutes or so, then pop in a blender and hey presto, brill quality soup with no additives. One of billy Keogh's loaves with lashings of butter, what more could one want, I know you going to say a by-pass.
Merry merry Christmas peace on earth and good will to all Foxy

Dan Jaman

foxcoverteddy wrote: »

I did see Erin soups near the floor, normally make my own, chop a couple of leeks a carrot an onion and a potato, pop them in a suacepan with butter to coat, ten minutes, I stir them frquently to stop them sticking, then put a stock cube and water and boil and simmer for 20 minutes or so, then pop in a blender and hey presto, brill quality soup with no additives.

Sounds good, simple is best. I try to avoid pre-prep stuff with too many additives and MSG especially - any MSG and I can't stop eating stuff.

One of billy Keogh's loaves with lashings of butter, what more could one want

Ah now, there's another thing I can't eat - white bread, even if it's Keoghs' and I love Keogh's country loaf. I limit myself to perhaps four slices of that a fortnight. You know the half-loaves SV sell? One of them. Any more and I bloat, like a Zep. I notice Keogh's well-fired loaves are gone - perhaps a change of oven operator, but I really prefer the well-fired taste, it's just like a Scottish roll with that country loaf dough.

Wimbago

mfitzy wrote: »

How come then you appear to be one of the main cheerleaders for Aldi to come to Callan here on boards?

+1

Talk a about turning full circle


My only genuine knock on the current SV is their lack of own brand gluten free bread. My aunt is in her 60's and has only being recently diagnosed as coeliac. It's a tough adjustment the later you are in life imo (diagnosed at 2 so no difference to me) and the only bread she has taken to enjoy is SV own brand gf bread - and from my trials and testings its by far and away the best.

Which of course is not stocked in the store. Aldi do their own brand which is terrible so that's not point here. I travel into SV Loughboy just to get it for her because newly diagnosed coeliacs biggest adjustment is lunch time. Breakfast and dinner are easily solved and negotiated but lunch time is the hardest to get used to. Not to go too far off topic, the fact that one of their own brands isn't stocked there is poor. Especially since SV Loughboy struggle to keep it in stock so they are losing out on their own profits.

Aldi also an overall better packaging vs. the SV range in terms of for those with allergies - insofar as it's harder to go wrong a person that is indeed a coeliac. Do to almost everything being their own brand its labelled correct unlike the likes of Mars who think they are too profitable to bother label their sauce ranges :mad:

Best of luck to Aldi in Callan, it's great for the town imo and I just hope some of the other businesses don't suffer too much from it. Inevitably there will always be a few

Shelflife

Foxcovertteddy, If you get a chance over xmas or early in the new year, write down all the businesses in Callen and if you can the approx number of employees (include the owners).

Then do the same in november next year. Im sure that it will make interesting reading.

Happy xmas.

foxcoverteddy

Merry Christmas Shelflife, and all who have followed the attempt to get Aldi into our small town. At last we are going to have a choice, though me thinks Shelflife is suggesting Aldi will have a detrimental effect on employment in Callan.
Personally I fail to see that as we do not have any other grocery outlets, well not ones that give shoppers the opportunity to do a weeks shopping.
Yes, we have Londis, in truth it would be impossible to do the same shop as Supervalu, it just does not stock sufficient lines or variety, it is great as a convenience store, petrol/diesal and I forgot this or that.
John the butcher, he sells quality meat and is always available for advice and special deals, Aldi will not bother him as neither does Supervalu, neither store comes up to the standard of john Murphy - Butcher, he may well be a master butcher, no one would willing swop the other stores for John.
What Aldi will do for Callan is stop people going into kilkenny or clonmel, they will now have a choice on their doorstep.
This not like when supervalu arrived and virtually killed the town, the small shops just were not able to cope, we now have no small grocer's, it is unfortunate perhaps but the world has changed and is still changing at an alarming rate, how many people purchased presents on-line, yes the internet.
You might say the price, possibly, but availability is the key, it is the world wide web, and now we have the Parcel motel at Topaz we have very little problem getting goods to Ireland.
Back to aldi, yes food is cheaper, in some cases much cheaper, but there again they may not stock what you want so it is still supervalu's shout, and I have said it before Loughboy supervalu is some shop, it is or seems far busier now it has competition from lidl and aldi, there is even a Butcher in the unit, Gerry, the other shops have not diminished his trade.
So all in all i reckon Callan will be on the up and up, perhaps Lidl might fancy coming or even the dreaded Tesco.
All of this will bring people into our town, jobs, money etc.
Whilst talking about our town, it doesn't look Christmassy does it, anyone been up the 691 to Ballingarry? The place is like a wonderland for lights and they have'nt got a large store, if they can do it why can't we.
Oh one thing i was delighted to see Toms new cabin, great.
So merry christmas everyone. Foxy

Shelflife

As I said earlier foxcoverteddy, keep a tab on all the small, bread shops, butchers and the numbers working in all these small grocery outlets as well as supervalu.

Just as a simple exercise and compare again in Nov. I hope im wrong but I forsee a net employment loss in the area, keep an ear out for any local suppliers to supervalu as well, its something thats forgotten in the overall scheme of things when looking at job losses.

Best Wishes.

Dan Jaman

SupaValu was heaving today, with everyone getting in the last-minute stocks. I don't understand this - you'd think the shops were going to be shut for a week the way people carry on. I was hearing of the panic buying in some parts of the UK and shelves in Tescos being stripped bare.
Wtf is the point of that? It wasn't helped, of course, by some idiot on Sky News describing it as queued-out panic buying with traffic jams of cars waiting to get in to some stores. All that does is encourage the other idiots to get in their cars and go down to grab a loaf or two before they all disappear. A self-fulfilling prophecy, in other words.
Why, oh why, does society play host to so many tossers? And why do we listen to them?
Beats me.

Captain Havoc

It's crazy. So much pressure put on people this time of the year, I'm going through hell here because of crap that was or wasn't done. You see people all year round and all of sudden there's this weight of expectation on your shoulders.

foxcoverteddy

At least we have had Christmas, a wonderful time of year, we look forward to the New Year.
Yes we should have aldi up and running before too long, which might lighten the burden of the Christmas shop next year.
However, it is not a yearly thing this shopping lark, so without mentioning any names I do have a few worries, these complaints are down to lack lustre management, though the staff responsible for these area's must shoulder much of the blame.
What am i talking about? Stock that has passed the sell or use by date, left on the shelf and in some cases deliberately mixed in with later dated items.
I do, but really should not have to check every date, Yogurts are a prime example, there should be labelling telling cusomers if stock is short dated or long dated, no one would willing buy yogurts for the week with only a couple of days to go, the same goes for suasages and various cooked meats.
We hear so much about health and safety and consumer protection but it can be sadly lacking.
Bread is another dodgy subject, sell by dates are sometimes difficult to find, but anything less than four or five day should be avoided, if it is wrapped, fresh rolls have by virtue of being fresh be that day's bake.
Complaints should be dealt with by the store, in that the customer receives a written version of the complaint and given a date as to when the matter should be resolved, it is your money and your food that is in question.
One last thing some companies have and do reduce the content of what is in the package, now that won't tell you, nor will the price go down, it has just gone up, it is fine to say let the buyer beware, but sharp practice should be brought to the shoppers attention, I don't care if it is the same price as uncle tom's tell me I am getting less for my money
I have deliberately not named any supermarket because it is a problem nationwide, and at the moment very little if anything is being done to safeguard you and yours.

Foxy

Cabaal

foxcoverteddy wrote: »

What am i talking about? Stock that has passed the sell or use by date, left on the shelf and in some cases deliberately mixed in with later dated items.
I do, but really should not have to check every date, Yogurts are a prime example, there should be labelling telling cusomers if stock is short dated or long dated, no one would willing buy yogurts for the week with only a couple of days to go, the same goes for suasages and various cooked meats.
We hear so much about health and safety and consumer protection but it can be sadly lacking.

Use by and best before dates are on all the products you've just mentioned,

If customer's are too lazy or stupid to look at the dates on such products before they buy then you can't blame the store for this one, the information exists for customer's protection and own well being.

Complaints should be dealt with by the store, in that the customer receives a written version of the complaint and given a date as to when the matter should be resolved, it is your money and your food that is in question.

What a massive waste of company resources, so you want all complaints raised with the store responded to in writing?

So to cover the extra resources and staffing costs needed for this are you ok with the store increasing prices?

foxcoverteddy

Sorry mate I know what you are saying but if the store mixes sell by dates, igt could be sharp practice, I pick up one from a display and it is fine, the next one is out of date, they don't get there by accident. Do you honestly think some people have the time to examine every item.
Complaints, yes i do and it is not a waste of resources, I took back a loaf because there was string in it, this particular store, the manager came out looked at it and took it away and gave me my money back, said not even sorry.
I got home and thought about it, well that wasn't a good thing, so i telephoned the head office, of course the manager made out a customer complaint form, no, he took your name and address, no, have I had any response as to how string was baked in my loaf, no.
It was not serious except how did the string get in the bread? All sorts of objects appear in manufactured items of food, I think you are totally wrong in your opinion.
At what stage do I get some sort of satisfaction and able to progress the matter failing a satisfactory response?
Excuse me did you find the person the finger belonged too, err no we know nothing about it. Over to you.

Cabaal

foxcoverteddy wrote: »

Sorry mate I know what you are saying but if the store mixes sell by dates, igt could be sharp practice, I pick up one from a display and it is fine, the next one is out of date, they don't get there by accident.

You'd be surprised how items can be mixed up, ever been in a supermarket and find an item from one aisle in another or ever find bread in the freezer section?

I know I have, almost weekly and its all down to customer's moving stuff around.

All stores rotate stock, this means if for example they get bread they put the new stuff at the back and the older stuff at the front.

This is common knowledge but at the end of the day customers can and often will mix up stock no matter what the store does.

Do you honestly think some people have the time to examine every item.

Yes, yes they do have the time,
If you are in anyway interested in buying goods that will last the longest amount of time then you should always check dates on items like milk, cheese, meat etc. Only a fool doesn't.
:rolleyes:

Complaints, yes i do and it is not a waste of resources, I took back a loaf because there was string in it, this particular store, the manager came out looked at it and took it away and gave me my money back, said not even sorry.
I got home and thought about it, well that wasn't a good thing, so i telephoned the head office, of course the manager made out a customer complaint form, no, he took your name and address, no, have I had any response as to how string was baked in my loaf, no.
It was not serious except how did the string get in the bread? All sorts of objects appear in manufactured items of food, I think you are totally wrong in your opinion.
At what stage do I get some sort of satisfaction and able to progress the matter failing a satisfactory response?
Excuse me did you find the person the finger belonged too, err no we know nothing about it. Over to you.

You are making an assumption here that the manager that replaced the bread didn't log it as an issue.

There's also a massive difference with any company in making a general complaint and a head office complaint, head office complaints are always formal complaints.

If you want all general complaints to be dealt with like head office complaints then this means more costs to the company and these costs will be passed to the customer. Seems you agree with such costs increase I guess.

So it'll be a waste of resources and by your logic if somebody raised any complaint in store they should get a response in writing, does this include billy joe bob who complains about plastic bags costing him money?

Should the company waste, time, money and resources on officially logging such a nonsense complaint and then providing billy joe bob with a written response to his complaint about plastic bags costing money...remember somebody has to:
- log the complaint
- compose the response
- print, pack and address the response
- the company has to then pay for postage

Nonsense, you seriously need to think through your suggestions before you post them foxcoverteddy
:rolleyes:

Dan Jaman

As an aside, I had one of SV's own-brand Xmas puds - it was ok, but I know from previous experience it improves with time.
I bought another one for next year and will use that when it's a year old. So much for sell-by and use-by dates, eh?

barneygumble99

who owns the different supervalu's?? caulfields??

foxcoverteddy

C abaal you have some good points there, however the issue was not really to do with trivia, I would agree that any complaint should be of substance, though what you or I might think is a waste of time and energy, could well be of importance to the other person.
I feel that the sell by/use by date synopsis is an easy way out, blame the customer for moving things around, not really on is it. If one lives a fair way from the supermarket long dates are important, only yesterday there were 3rd and 4th Jan stock in with 12th 13th and 14th stock.
We buy for weeks rather than days, so having to check 20 odd pots of yogurt is a pain.
My piece of string was not logged by the manager, his staff nor his head office were aware, you might say ah German efficiency, destfroy the evidence, give them the money back, end of story, well yes. But any foreign matter discovered in the future will be taken to the HSE, hopefully we won't find any.
At least with our Supervalu any matters are resolved on the spot, we are lucky to have such brilliant caring staff.
Foxy:eek:

Dozen Wicked Words

foxcoverteddy wrote: »

C abaal you have some good points there, however the issue was not really to do with trivia, I would agree that any complaint should be of substance, though what you or I might think is a waste of time and energy, could well be of importance to the other person.
I feel that the sell by/use by date synopsis is an easy way out, blame the customer for moving things around, not really on is it. If one lives a fair way from the supermarket long dates are important, only yesterday there were 3rd and 4th Jan stock in with 12th 13th and 14th stock.
We buy for weeks rather than days, so having to check 20 odd pots of yogurt is a pain.
My piece of string was not logged by the manager, his staff nor his head office were aware, you might say ah German efficiency, destfroy the evidence, give them the money back, end of story, well yes. But any foreign matter discovered in the future will be taken to the HSE, hopefully we won't find any.
At least with our Supervalu any matters are resolved on the spot, we are lucky to have such brilliant caring staff.
Foxy:eek:

http://download.lardlad.com/sounds/season9/thohh2.mp3

foxcoverteddy

dooferoaks, that was really clever how do you do it please.

foxcoverteddy

According to information our Aldi might be up and running by the end of February, which can only be good news for the people of Callan and the surrounding area. One forgets the town is so close to the Tipp border that there are many villages that will benefit from Aldi in Callan.
At last the people of Ireland have escaped from the stranglehold of the rip off retailer's, despite the german discounter's, one can go round some of the stores and see little cards saying same price as Aldi/Lidl on a few items, not many though.
One supermarket has gone to the trouble of showing the price of their food against two other supermarkets to show the prices are identical, neither of which was Aldi or Lidl.
However Callan is very fortunate, yes Aldi will sell bread cheaper than anyone else, but no one but no one sells bread the quality of Billy Keogh,
I would say unless someone can prove me wrong the Billy's bread is probably the best in the Island of Ireland, there are bakers who come close.
The bread issue is important, sorry supermarkets but toast your bread and then toast Billy's, there is no comparison.
At one time in South London, like many other places there were small bakers like Billy, along came the supermarket with wrapped sliced bread, the bakeries died one by one, and every one was eating bread that would last many day's, it had neither the taste or the substance, so the answer buy Billy Keogh 's bread.
One other John Murphy, our butcher, the supermarkets cannot compete with him, he is a man on his own, quality, quality, and he knows what he is talking about, keep supporting him.
Guess one must now include the Friday fish man, Norman, he is part of the Callan scene, it is fresh fish, not frozen or in a wrapper, it is real
if you have not tried Norman's fish on friday morning do yourself a favour, you will never go back to supermarket frozen fish, again quality.
That is enough for sunday morning so have a super week and remember BJN, what is that Billy, john and norman. TTFN

Dan Jaman

barneygumble99 wrote: »

who owns the different supervalu's?? caulfields??

Crehan and McCabe in Callan. I think SV Callan used to be Caulfield - it changed hands about five or six years ago.