I am extremely happy about the Sainsbury’s opening and the free cash point. I will definitely continue to support the independents and be grateful that I don’t have to use my car to go further afield anymore for bits and bobs. But I do think a good deep clean in the grocery shops and off licence would be a wise move and maybe a rethink into their merchandising, cleanliness and floors, especially as Sainsbury’s is so sparkly and new! It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to do a bit of rearranging and give everything a good scrub.

I do hope that the independent supermarkets use this as a boost rather than to worry that we won’t shop there anymore. They should take a chance to walk into their own shops with fresh eyes to see what we see. I have never experienced cold customer service from any of the independents or Sainsbury’s, everyone is really friendly in Honor Oak Park, so that isn’t an issue. I just think that some shops haven’t thought about taking the opportunity to reinvigorate what they already own. If they were thinking about opening their shop again would they open it looking the way it does now? The best way to see messiness is to take a photograph and look at the pictures and make notes of what needs to change. When you work in the environment every day you become blind to the everyday mess and commotion.

On Saturday afternoon I had to walk through Honor Oak Park 3 or 4 times and I have never seen it busier!!