Centra stores have been heavily promoting price cuts on a number of big brands. A ten-pack of Birdseye Fish Fingers has fallen from €3.23 to €2.29, a litre of Sqeez Orange Juice falls from €1.64 to €1.09, and a packet of McVitie’s Rich Tea (300g) falls from €1.09 to €0.88.
My hunch is that many shoppers have been desserting convenience stores. More expensive by their very nature (we were paying for the convenience, and we knew it), they’re a luxury that many people can no long afford. Suddenly, that extra mile to the cheaper supermarket doesn’t seem so bad anymore; lowering prices is Centra’s effort to win us back.
While the reductions are certainly most welcome – it’s great to see them lowering prices – I can’t say it will change my shopping habits. I only ever get things like a newspaper, sweets, chocolate, or a packet of crisps in a convenience store. Then again, I live near a lot of different food ethnic and small food shops, so I have the luxury of choice.
Do you buy much of your weekly shop in a convenience store like Mace, Spar, or Centra? And are they useful and reasonable priced, or soulless rip-offs? Please share your convenience store reviews!
Wednesday 2 September, 2009 at 12:25 pm
My local convenience store (a Texaco outlet) has been ratcheting up the prices to the extent that I don’t go there any more. The price they were charging for a sliced pan seemed to go up by the week. Good to hear common sense is starting to prevail at least in the retail market, if it weren’t for NAMA the same might happen in the property market too..
Wednesday 2 September, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Convenience stores for me are just that: a place where you get your newspaper, a bus ticket, may be some milk when you run out. I don’t see the point of buying meat, vegs or other items that I can get with my weekly shopping.
Sunday 6 September, 2009 at 11:01 pm
I’ve just returned form Chicago, where I spent three months. The only thing I missed about Ireland was the convenience of Centra/Spar/Londis- places where I could grab a piece of fruit, a bag of pasta, a newspaper, a birthday card, a notebook and a bottle of wine all under one roof. Granted, there’s huge variation in prices depending on the location of the shop, but Centra beats a lukewarm hot dog from 7-Eleven in the US any day.