Co-operative Food store to rebrand as a Budgens store

[rbmartin]

I've been to the Budgens in East Finchley which is a similar size. While not a Sainsbury's or even a Co-op, it should get a decent enough trade with all the usual stuff in stock.

[Nigel]

Matt
agree - I am heartily sick of these least worst Lidl/Aldi/Tesco options . I liked and supported the CoOp and very sorry to see it go . Budgens has not got off to much of a start , let's hope it improves soon

A very good evening
nigel

[robbieduncan]

Screw the unusual stuff you want once in a blue moon. Coop were reliable for the staples. Budgens don't even stick brown rice

[sparticus]

The demise of the coop is a real loss for Sydenham. It was reliable for the basics, had good fresh fruit and veg, and its bakery was great. A lot of its stuff was fair trade or otherwise ethically sourced. It had a good and interesting wine and beer selection and it did a great home delivery service. Budgens is horrible. £1 for a bloody croissant when Lisdl have them (better ones) for 39p.

[marky.com]

The Coop was much better before the refurbishment a few years ago. Since then the amount of stock had been gradually decreasing and I constantly found items that I'd regularly buy disappear from the shelves. The awful self-service checkouts didn't help matters. However, it was still a fairly decent store with a reasonable selection and the bread, wine, own-brand products and fruit/veg was superb.

Budgens is truly, truly terrible. I've been in once, looked about then walked straight out. The store was empty (when at that time in the evening it would usually be pretty busy) and the shelves were barely stocked. The veg looked like something you'd find in the back of a cupboard that you'd forgotten about for a month and there was a whole aisle that was essentially a mini poundland selling rubbish no-one needs. Their preferred brand appears to be 'Happy Shopper', which says everything. I will not go back, despite having used the coop/somerfield/safeway on that site for over 15 years and now use Sainsbury's in either Penge or Beckenham (Sava Centre is just too big), and the little Tesco or Sainsbury's in Sydenham. Lidl do some OK stuff, but it's a horrendous place to shop and there's always a huge, huge queue.

In my opinion Budgens is not going to survive until Christmas. In fact, I'd be surprised if it's still open in September. I have a horrid feeling we'll end up with a 99p store on that site in the very near future. Coop was a real loss and Sydenham is a much worse place now. I see someone said that they'd tweeted Coop and they said they were hoping to open a new store later this year? I wonder where?

Sad times.

[stuart]

Just received:

Many thanks for your request that we again have a Co-op store in the SE26 postal district. If you have any suggestions of properties in this area which you feel could become Co-op food stores, please reply to this email with full details of these properties. I'll then forward this information to our Estates department for their attention.

Kind regards,

John Robinson
Customer Careline

The Windmill in Kirkdale? Any more?

Stuart

[Howard Staunton]

Many thanks for your request that we again have a Co-op store in the SE26 postal district. If you have any suggestions of properties in this area which you feel could become Co-op food stores, please reply to this email with full details of these properties. I'll then forward this information to our Estates department for their attention.

Speaking as somebody whose job it is to write this sort of reply for a living it strikes me as the classic corporate fob-off. The Co-op have been selling off many stores recently, mostly ones of less than 3000sq ft. Given the size and location of the Sydenham store I think it unlikely they will open another store in SE26 - which is a shame.

Whilst I preferred the Co-op to the 'new' Budgens I think it's getting a slightly raw deal on the forum to date.

Yes, there are products that it does not sell that the Co-op did (no porridge oats, really!) and the bakery section is poor, but I personally find that 95% of what I used to buy in the Co-op I can still find at the Budgens, and the quality of the fruit and veg seems the same to me. I miss the self-service, although the Co-op self-service technology left a lot to be desired. I suspect over the next few weeks and months I will probably find that there are products in the Budgens that I like that had not been stocked in the old Co-op, it's just that I have formed a habit of buying the same items each week and not looking around for new thing to tempt me.

Given the convenience of this store for my food shopping I hope it survives on the high street and I shall certainly continue to use it.

Howard

[aunty]

Stuart

Not sure if the empty retail unit by the Greyhound would be large enough for a Co-op 'Local' style store? Think it is as large as the unit next door?

However, as the unit next door is Sainsburys, not sure how viable an option this would be.......

Just a thought.

[Parker1970]

Stuart

Not sure if the empty retail unit by the Greyhound would be large enough for a Co-op 'Local' style store? Think it is as large as the unit next door?

However, as the unit next door is Sainsburys, not sure how viable an option this would be.......

Just a thought.

That unit is already under offer, the bed / furniture place was just a temporary popup. Incidentally, there has been some graffiti added to the grey paint so I hope the new owners move in soon and remove the boarding...

[biscuitman1978]

. Incidentally, there has been some graffiti added to the grey paint so I hope the new owners move in soon and remove the boarding...

Please report graffiti at http://www.fixmystreet.com so that Lewisham Council can remove it. If it's offensive, as in this case, you should select the 'Graffiti (Offensive)' category, which should speed removal.

[Parker1970]

. Incidentally, there has been some graffiti added to the grey paint so I hope the new owners move in soon and remove the boarding...

Please report graffiti at http://www.fixmystreet.com so that Lewisham Council can remove it. If it's offensive, as in this case, you should select the 'Graffiti (Offensive)' category, which should speed removal.

Yup, done.

[Parker1970]

. Incidentally, there has been some graffiti added to the grey paint so I hope the new owners move in soon and remove the boarding...

Please report graffiti at http://www.fixmystreet.com so that Lewisham Council can remove it. If it's offensive, as in this case, you should select the 'Graffiti (Offensive)' category, which should speed removal.

Yup, done.

Blimey, reported 2 hours ago and just got an email saying it's been sorted! That is a great site!

[alywin]

So Penge Lidl now gets our business with Sainsburys opposite as back-up. If it much more than us it must jeopardise Budgens and the knock-on effect on the High Street is not good. Are we the only London postcode not to have a co-op food store?

But Penge Lidl is so poor now It never was much good, but it stocks so little ...

Remembering the co-op's proud boast of a few years ago that they had a store in every UK postcode, wasn't it? I think things have changed a bit since then, but I'd assume most postcodes still had one.

[gillyjp]

Paid a visit to Budgens this afternoon. First and last visit I'm afraid. One word: Dire

[butters]

Lidls is just depressing, and the queues are always massive. I do go in there to get my flowers though, they seem to last double the time as anywhere including the florist with the stall outside Tesco metro, talk about overpriced! twenty quid for a bouquet that died in three days!

[mosy]

On flowers, some flowers simply have a short life that have stunning vibrancy but for a very short time. Supermarkets generally choose flowers they know will last, florists tend to make up bouquets of a mixture - some short-lived yet stunning, some longer life that you can watch die at your leisure. A flower vendor worth his/her salt should easily be able to tell you how long particular flowers will last. With bouquets given to me, I tend to separate them into different vases as the "feature" ones (usually short-lived) deserve 100% attention, rather than "Oh that's a nice bunch". Each to his own I guess.

Sorry, off topic about Budgens

[Sydenham Syd]

Just received:

Many thanks for your request that we again have a Co-op store in the SE26 postal district. If you have any suggestions of properties in this area which you feel could become Co-op food stores, please reply to this email with full details of these properties. I'll then forward this information to our Estates department for their attention.

Kind regards,

John Robinson
Customer Careline

The Windmill in Kirkdale? Any more?

Stuart

How about where Tesco is on the High St?

[stuart]

I popped into the Co-op in Forest Hill yesterday. They said they had quite a few exiles from the south visiting and complaining about Budgens. They felt sorry for the staff.

Well maybe the Co-op will be able to buy back the lease at a discount if the current level of trade continues much longer.

Stuart

[leenewham]

Silverdale sorting office?

Cobbs Corner?

[JRobinson]

There's a CO-OP in Forest Hill ?!

how come I've not noticed?! is it similar size to Sydenham, or is it one of those tiny metro types ones on the high st that you'd miss if you didn't realise it was there? can't for the life of me think where it is...