Retail Day
Retail Week, today
Frozen out
Really pleased to see the slaughtering Pret a Manger is getting from over importing chicken frozen from Brazil and then passing it off as “fresh” in its stores. If there’s one thing I hate it’s holier than thou businesses which use all sorts of ultimately meaningless words to claim that they’re responsible companies and then can’t back it up. If any big retailer tried it on the way they have they’d be absolutely roasted, and I’m glad Pret have been caught out.
I must admit I fell for it. There’s a Pret opposite our office next door to a Sainsbury’s, and I laboured for a long time under the illusion that because Pret is nice and cuddly and uses lots of clever marketing guru-ish language that, for example, its meat might be free range, or at least be produced in the UK. Whereas credit to JS, its convenience store experience might be pretty grim but at least all the meat in their sandwiches is British, and that generally means higher welfare standards. Good on them - I have bought my sandwich there today. Although actually it was a vegetarian one anyway.
“Son of Woolworths” Alworths opened for the first time yesterday in Didcot. Nicola went down and apparently the staff did the conga round the store to “Is this the way to Amarillo” before it opened. Good luck to them but I can’t see Alworths working. What’s the point of reinventing something which failed, particularly as all the best ex-Woolies stores will now have been taken by other retailers? As one very sage poster on our site said a couple of weeks ago, “The son of Woolworths already exists - it’s called Wilkinson.” Couldn’t have put it better.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Don’t forget that McDonalds has a stake in Prets. I still have to be physically restrained from throwing things at the screen every time I see their current happy meals TV ads! Its a shame, as prior to that Prets seemed much more trustworthy and a lot less corporate. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Innocent go the same way now they share a bed with Coca Cola.
Alworths? Absolutely agree. There’s so many people in the variety retail sector now that I really can’t see what they’re going to offer that’s any different. Can you really base a business on customer nostalgia and pick and mix? I suppose we’ll find out.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Tim,
Good for you for nicely articulating a deserved kicking! I think
many people will quietly agree that Marketing is sometimes
responsible for vast tracts of holier than though, facile,
vacuous crap in companies!
Cool to see Nick Bubb commenting on Retail Day, by the way.
When I was at WHSmith HQ people used to whine about his take
on the firm but he usually seemed on the money to me.
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
You must have been at WHS a long time ago Rich, Nick’s Kate Swann’s number one fan!
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Times change since 2005, I guess!
on Nov 10th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Does this mean you won’t be visiting the Pret A Manger in Barrow?
on Nov 10th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Pret is so self righteous! It deserves to be exposed