On queues, maybe I've been lucky but they do seem quicker lately in opening up another till. Also, their cashiers operate at the speed of light - I don't think I've ever shopped anywhere where they're faster than Lidl's operators.
Maybe they now have extra staff due to increased demand or a new manager maybe. If they do a refit, maybe a couple of self checkouts (which I used to hate but you get used to them) or a "fewer than" items checkout when it's really busy. They must have done a revamp when they introduced the fresh bakery section, so maybe checkouts is next in the queue <-- no pun intended.
Lidl shut
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Hissing Syd
- Posts: 118
- Joined: 7 May 2012 15:09
- Location: Sydenham
Re: Lidl shut
For the record, the staff in Lidl are fantastic, fast and friendly, and it's the only supermarket in Sydenham that seems to keep an eye on queues and have any concern about whittling them down as fast as possible.
We all have our preferences, and there's little point trying to change perceptions; Britain remains a very, very class-conscious country, as the last few weeks have demonstrated all too well. Nevertheless, it's worth pointing out that many Lidl products are consistently rated above those of their posher stablemates by Which and the like - their Olive Oil famously outranked M&S, and their are countless other examples. German friends of ours visiting last year were utterly nonplussed and amused by the British attitude: "We don't shop at Lidl because it's cheap; we go there because it's good quality".
However I think there's something particularly unpleasant about trying to stigmatise the places where people on lower incomes shop. There's an aunt of mine who frequently proclaims that she only shops at Waitrose, and would never be seen in one of "those" supermarkets. It's funny, in a Margo Leadbetter/Hyacinth sort of way, except for the fact that she has absolutely no awareness that being able to shop in her favourite store is a luxury, and not an option for poorer people.
One last thing: a friend of mine is married to a man who is well-versed in wine, or to be blunt, a massive wine snob. When I first moved here, seven years ago, I had them to dinner, and served the wine in a decanter. "Oh, this is very good," he said. "Where's this from?"
"It's from Lidl," I replied with relish. "It was £3.29."
Vive le difference - wherever you shop, and thank goodness for being able to have choice!
We all have our preferences, and there's little point trying to change perceptions; Britain remains a very, very class-conscious country, as the last few weeks have demonstrated all too well. Nevertheless, it's worth pointing out that many Lidl products are consistently rated above those of their posher stablemates by Which and the like - their Olive Oil famously outranked M&S, and their are countless other examples. German friends of ours visiting last year were utterly nonplussed and amused by the British attitude: "We don't shop at Lidl because it's cheap; we go there because it's good quality".
However I think there's something particularly unpleasant about trying to stigmatise the places where people on lower incomes shop. There's an aunt of mine who frequently proclaims that she only shops at Waitrose, and would never be seen in one of "those" supermarkets. It's funny, in a Margo Leadbetter/Hyacinth sort of way, except for the fact that she has absolutely no awareness that being able to shop in her favourite store is a luxury, and not an option for poorer people.
One last thing: a friend of mine is married to a man who is well-versed in wine, or to be blunt, a massive wine snob. When I first moved here, seven years ago, I had them to dinner, and served the wine in a decanter. "Oh, this is very good," he said. "Where's this from?"
"It's from Lidl," I replied with relish. "It was £3.29."
Vive le difference - wherever you shop, and thank goodness for being able to have choice!
Re: Lidl shut
The Penge Lidl has always been a disappointment, but even more so since it was reconfigured and I think a whole aisle of shelves removed in favour of what Sainsbury's refer to as "seasonal" products. I go to Sydenham/ Beckenham/ Croydon if I want to shop at Lidl, because Penge just doesn't have enough of the things I want to buy there. As for the Aldi, I'm still boycotting it: I lived round there while it was being built, and we had to put up with months of disruption, 3/4-way traffic signals, diverted traffic and the like (which seemed to be due largely to them deciding to park their heavy plant on the road rather than on their own land), and there was never any acknowledgement of/apology for the disruption. All that was needed would have been a "hello, we apologise for the disruption and thank you for your patience; we're opening soon and would like to offer you some money-off vouchers as an apology"-type flyer - which incidentally was what the Cooperative down the road from them did after being closed for less than three weeks for a refitchrisj1948 wrote:Stuart - Thanks for the information. I confirm that the Penge Lidl is marginally closer to us (by a couple of hundred yards) but unfortunately it is smaller than the one at Bellingham and the range is more restricted; for example they do not stock the cheap sparkling water. We occasionally visit the local Aldi, which is on the way to our daughters in Anerley, but never really took to it.
I have no problem at all with the mentality of shopping in Lidl or Aldi, but then I did live in Germany for a while, so am used to them.