Advice for Pirates

Wasn't "Pile it high and sell it cheap." Jack Cohen's strategy for the growth of Tesco? Although they have moved on from that.

It was indeed. However, the main growth has come from giving people what they want.....

I read somewhere that their most profitable stores (per area) are the small ones, Metro, etc which sell loads of pre prepared foods to the busy single types. And very good some of it is too. A far cry from Mr Cohen's original strategy.

The real 'formula' for success is/was; - "Make something for a penny, sell it for a shilling, ... and make it habit-forming!"

FAIR is the key word in that.

So it is said.

I don't shop at Tesco, I wouldn't shop at Tesco however cheap their goods were because they make profit at the expense of the suppliers. Some other supermarkets do that too but imo Tesco is the worst. I don't shop at those other supermarkets either.

Mary

That depends on what your interpretation of 'success' is.

It seems that today success = money for most peopple.

In those terms I'm unsuccessful - but I have no worries.

Mary

No one has to be a supplier to Tesco. And existing suppliers, one presumes, are free to walk away at relatively short notice. But they don't. So perhaps being a Tesco supplier is not such a bad deal as often claimed.

Of course there may be just a few who are in so deep with Tesco that they can't afford to pull out, though they would like to. That just reflects bad management: putting yourself in a situation where one customer can make or break you is not a good policy in most cases.

All the above will not persuade me to shop at Tesco.

Probably your loss, then. Do you have to pass one to get to a more ethical supplier?

One would be passing quite a few in that case.

None of the food stores are charities.

Indeed. My local Tesco does sell some Fair Trade stuff, though.

I think that that's a good thing and something I'd support.

Once upon a time; 'Fairtrade' was an after-Mass church-hall style operation usually with some rather earnest happy-clappy sandal wearing type flogging 'ethnic' goodies at 'ethical' prices off trestle tables. I personally have welcomed the appearance of FairTrade type goodies (of all relevant brands) into the main stream of Supermarket shopping. it permits a little twinge of smugness at the check-outs and assures one that the money will feed itself back to the Fair-Trade communities effectively. {Besides the coffee and tea tastes nice!]

And Tesco is launching designer organic clothing (at least, clothing made with organic cotton).

Owain

Err, my SIL who is an elder of the kirk and runs such a scheme isn't

The bananas are my favourite.

NBo, its not like that..

The way it goes is like that. Tesco comes along and says

Can you supply us X units at Y price..

amd te supplkier gets exccited, does his sums, takes out a mortgae and investes and comes back and says 'tyes'

The next th9g tesco comes along and says' oh we have just halved the price we can pay, and by the way, we will be paying you 180 days from invoice, instead of 90. Sorry, but you can walk away if you like'

Of course, if he does, he is bankrupt.

Its almost inevitable with a supplier as big as Tesco using little guys as suppliers.

In my case, I have to go further to Tesco than any other supermarket, and 50% further than a small spar shop, a quality butcher and a real greengrocer, and even then I only have to go 50 yards down the garden for free vegetables and seasonal fruit..

I don't have the original post on my computer, but after reading an article in the Daily Mail last week, I am having serious doubts about buying fair trade goods from the likes of Tesco etc. The article mentioned that the supply chain made more out of the fair trade goods, than they did out of standard goods. Have you noticed that they are just that much more expensive than the standard goods and wondered why?

Dave

Because people are willing to pay more for coffee-beans hand-ground by opressed Ethiopian virgins as it salves their social conscience.

I don't think Tesco or anyone else has ever pretended, and it would be naive to think, that just because the coffee costs £1 a jar more then the oEv actually get all that £1. They probably get about fourpence extra, but it's still a better deal for the oEv.

Owain