I find this really interesting - I couldn't disagree more with with the 'supporting local shops' banner (as far as Honor Oak High Street goes).

In my opinion I find the local shops on the high street extremely poor in terms of choice and whats on sale (apart from that one with the orange sign Forest Hill Supermarket is it? which seems to be pretty good but too far away for me). The shops don't sell anything different, unique or fresh - if you think they do your in denial.

If you compare this to the one local shop I do support - the wonderful Turkish shop on Forrest Hill Road (which is closer to my house than Honor Oak High Street) - this shop knows how to compete with the Co-Op down the road and the new Sainsburys, better selection of fresh fruit and veg than co-op by far, great selection of flowers and plants, meat counter (which btw does lovely lamb chops), fresh olives selection, good choice of breads etc etc...

So far I see the shops on the High Street have done absolutely nothing to respond or compete with the opening of the new sainsburys (apart from putting the odd wine offer on). All I've heard is a lot of whinging and moaning from the shop owners. Take a leaf out of the Turkish Shops book.

The shop owners need to understand that Honor Oak Park is getting to be a little bit more of an up-and-coming area, and whilst they may sell some of the products that Sainsburys sell for cheaper (some jarred sauces, ceral and bottles of wine) a lot of people are more interested in fresh, good, produce than something being a little bit cheaper somewhere else.

Moaning that they sell a handful of products that Sainsburys sell for a bit cheaper and they can't understand why anyone would shop in Sainsburys doesnt cut it for me - sorry.

This post was last modified: 06-11-2013 12:25 PM by robbie t.