Looks surprisingly big in there, getting so excited I might pee!

Looking good looking good, they're not hanging about are they

All I can say is: at last a free cash withdrawals cash machine by the station! I've been waiting for one for years!

I was a bit shocked to hear another customer in the Honor oak supermarket ask the owner "so when are you selling"
The owner was taken by surprise and asked why he would be selling , the guy responded by saying well you'll have no customers when Sainsburys open.

I hope this will not be the case and it must be scary times for the local shopkeepers.
Honor Oak supermarket does have a surprising amount of stock at reasonable prices.

looking good in SBs. on other hand tried to get some milk, bread and paper this morning at the shops on HOP. only the paper shop was open at 8.30-9ish. Local shops will need to do better than that to complete. I was hoping they would do more.

People can, alas, be charmless and inconsiderate. Fancy saying that to someone trying to make a living in difficult circumstances. Anyway the key to surviving and competing is to offer something Sainsbury's don't. Typically with big corporates like Sainsburys this is cusomer service, which is usually rather formulaic and anonymous in places like Sainsburys. The HOP Supermarket is always friendly, particularly the young guy. I think really ramp up the customer service, stock less but make it as many things Sainsbury's don't supply or if they do, are the bog-standard things you can get in any Sainsbury's. So HOP supermarket could stock interesting meats, deli items from the Asian sub-continent. Offer advice on Asian cooking and meals and supply the ingredients. As pointed elesewhere on this forum some of the staff in Hills and Parkes can be curiously stand-offish and lacking in warmth, so good customer service is not an innate preserve of small independents. If you can do this sort of customer service naturally, make a virtue of it. Incidentally the HOP shop does a very good range of beers and wines at competitive prices.

This post was last modified: 09-09-2013 09:21 AM by Nick M.

Bubble would have been open on Brockley Rise - near Babur - they are always open, even managed to get ice cream on christmas day. I will still continue to support Bubble and the other local supermarkets but I'm looking forward to getting fresh fruit and veg from Sainsburys. I think it is difficult for smaller businesses to sell perishables - there will be a lot of wastage where as Sainsburys are large enough to cope with this.
It is important to support local businesses, we don't want our high street full of empty shops.

I agree with tinyem - bubbles is nearly always open. I make a point of shopping there as I like the staff. If they have what I want I'll go there, if not will be Sainsburys.

You are so right tinyem. Just tried buying a fresh loaf of bread on the parade. Complete fail - Coopers Bake have a day off so none in Nandi Nandi, deli is shut and HOP Supermarket only have packaged sliced (sorry, draw the line at that). Am not as mobile as normal so Budgens and other options not on this time, decided against making a sandwich for lunch at this point.

Will try and avoid this scenario in future (mental note, keep backup loaf in freezer) but, were it to occur next week, would find myself buying Sainsbury's bread, not the best but still better than processed.

Am not making a judgement here but found it interesting that such a basic item was not available.

Bubble usually have some from a local bakery - I've also found their sliced bread to be fresher than bread I've bought from the Sainsburys in Sydenham.

I went to see the HOP Sainsbury to check how it looks like on my way back home today and it was not opened yet. I asked one of the staff members when it will open and she said on Thursday this week.

It looks quite big inside and there is a free cash machine.

Cash machine is now working.

So tomorrow's the day.

Death of the high street or the boost it needs. The coming months will tell.

I hope and expect the latter, but let's see.

well can only see the good in it for everyone!

I ventured in earlier and was rather impressed... Quite a novelty to nip round the corner to the parade and pick up a tasty-looking salad for lunch plus salmon, king prawns and an array of fresh vegetables for dinner. And they stock Gourmet Perle so my cat will be delighted.

It's a brilliant addition to the parade. chuffed its finally arrived..!

I popped in on the way home for a baguette (and picked up a bottle of wine as well) and was very impressed. There was a long queue to pay but it moved very quickly and there were plenty of staff who all seemed very efficient. If they keep up the same standard of service it is a welcome addition to the parade

I am very disappointed that they are not selling higher welfare chicken.

Am amazed that anyone looks to buy meat from a supermarket. Poorly sourced, poorly kept, poor choice and poor value. It is not like this shop has supplanted or directly competes with another that sourced better meat.

I welcome this Sainsburys to the parade but am not expecting it to be anything other than what it is. There a quite a few good butchers locally. Why not use them?

I'm going to send them a request asking for at least some free-range chicken. I'm sure the demand would be more than enough. If we all do it, I think they should hopefully listen. That was my only gripe too after visiting yesterday. I wouldn't buy the chicken they currently stock.