Tinkerbell - you're right of course about the discernable quality of the produce you're gonna find in a mini Tesco or Sainsbury's but this could work in favour of someone who'd be prepared to jump in and fill the niche for satisfying the local demand for higher-end stuff. Look at Lordship Lane,(I know it's on a different scale to HOP), a few years ago there were run-of-the-mill supermarkets like Tesco and Iceland as well as a few ordinary food shops. The demographic changed (as is happening in HOP) and loads of expensive top quality shops turned up to fill in the gaps and supply the demand. For years people have been talking about what they want to see in the parade but no-one's been bold enough to really go for it. So most of HOP is still kack and it needs a kick up the bum; and I reckon the arrival of this Sainsbury's will be catalyst to get things moving in the right direction. Unfortunately, it seems like the way it works is that some business people need a kind of assurance of knowing that a big player has seen fit to invest in the area before they will. So let's hope the Sainsbury's offerings aren't top notch and, you never know, a mini-Waitrose might beat Sebastian Roche to the corner shop!

Oh, and with a letter like that, are Sebastian Roche estate agents or polititians? (or are those two groups not dissimilar! (and does this confirm my comment about tax?))