Weird,Aldi selling B&D tools now

You have to have a Matalan card to shop. It used to cost £1 but I believe it you can now get one free - just fill in a form at customer service the first time you visit. This is no different to any other store loyalty card.

Your name and address will be used to send a mini catalogue or a notification of 'sales' every couple of months. You may be asked if you have an email address by the cashier at the till - my reply to this question is always 'yes' - and nothing else. :)

"There's a sale at Penneys"

Hmmm .... just _why_ a 'tax inspector' would be involved , I shudder to think !

The department is a 'Benefit' office that's reluctantly paying me OUT for all the pennies I've been obliged to pay IN.

Apparently they said that the Left Hand (receivers of Contributions) hadn't informed the Right-Hand (Payers authorises of State Pensions et.al.) that the 'demand' was about to rise and this was causing a back-log in the processing of applications.

During my conversations with the 'phonier, I pointed out that the 'Family Records Office' held the indices for BDM and a casual glance at the green 'Birth' Indices stacked on the shelves showed the quantity of people born each year and that their staffing should be based on the anticipated demand (65 ~62.5 ~ 60) years hence. B*gger me; they've not only removed the indices off to some warehouse near Poole(?) but they're also making folks work longer to qualify for a State Pension.

If you can't / won't resource to meet the demand ... reduce the demand !

Thanks for that.

First time I went to Matalan they asked me for my name and address and wouldn't take a made up one - they wanted to see ID.

I thought it was so bloody stupid I never went back.

That's ridiculous.

Do they have some kind of club membership? If so, it might be a planning permission and insurance issue - i.e. commercial vs. retail premises.

I use a postcode that exists but no one is supposed to know. I sometimes wonder what they do with the mail.

I've seen the products made by an Italian friend who is an artisan baker in TK Maxx. The shock of seeing such goods on sale there is second only to the shame of having gone in to have a look.

It's a bit like seeing a Versace kitchen on sale at MFI.

AIUI, Yes!

I think that was the original marketing model - in the seventies IIRC cards would only be issued to 'clubs'; company HR departments etc. , and women would pass _the_ card amongst themselves.

Nowadays most Matalan outlets seem to be on out-of-town premises, although the pretence of 'commercial' versus 'retail' outlets seems to have been down-played in recent years as these premises are sometimes cheek-by-jowl with Asda; Argos; etc. etc.

AIUI, Matalan have had changes of management and marketing methods since their early days in Skelmersdale.

Still the same Liverpudlian owner, a Mr Hargreaves. They tend to be good at retail there with the Next founder from there, Littlewoods is there and the top man at Tesco also from there too. Tesco now take £1 in every 10 spent in the UK in all retail. Smaller national chains like Ethel Austin and TJ Hughes are also from that city too. Good buyers and sellers it appears!!!

Aren't Tesco buying Everton FC most of a new stadium? One powerful organisation. Those Tesco Expresses are clearing up the High Streets.

Euthenasia for all who reach retirement age would solve a whole host of problems.

MBQ

There are some genuine bargains to be had but you really have to visit often to catch them, and know when to avoid the stuff that only looks like a bargain. There's also a lot of what I would regard as tat.

MBQ

Or seeing Queenie on UTube

Given the way they're pushing up the retirement age we'll be dead before we reach it.

Statistically, quite a lot of people in some parts of Glasgow already are.

Owain