Sue Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have no idea who Joe Grint is, but anyway > apparently this was pinched off him according to > Facebook. And hey it's about Waitrose. > > Pinched off Joe Grint x > > UK supermarket chain Waitrose has withdrawn its > popular ?essential? range after discovering that > the cut-price products had led to a number of poor > people shopping there. > > The discount brand, launched in 2009 to help > Waitrose?s core customer base cope with the > recession without having to downgrade one of their > Range Rovers, was proving extremely successful. > This success appears to have come at a price > though, with the unwanted side effect of > attracting the working class. > > ?At first it worked fine, our regular shoppers > were delighted with the new range, and common > people were still put off by the Waitrose > branding? explained marketing director Rupert > Thomas, ?but as we advertised more, and made the > mistake of including the prices of products in our > TV commercials, we began to see some undesirable > characters appearing in our aisles, enticed in by > the prospect of finding a tin of beans for under > ?5, which they previously hadn?t expected from us. > One horrid man even came in wearing a Hi-Vis vest > looking for a sandwich. It was awful.? > > The popularity of the ?essential? range had seen > it quickly expand to include affordable versions > of many foodstuffs and household items. To make > matters worse Waitrose also starting pointing out > that many of their prices were the same as those > found in Tescos, attracting even more lower class > shoppers and alienating many of their existing > clientele. ?It was so demeaning finding out that I > wasn?t paying any more for my groceries than a > common chav? moaned former Waitrose customer Emily > Hamilton-Brown. ?I?ve gone back to doing my weekly > shop at Fortnum & Mason now, just to make sure I > don?t accidentally purchase something that?s > buy-one-get-one-free.? > > ?Hopefully withdrawing the products and stopping > the adverts will stop any additional commoners > coming in,? continued Mr Thomas, ?but we still > have the problem of getting rid of the ones that > have already started shopping with us. They?re > still turning up, wandering around looking a bit > lost and not buying anything. We?re thinking of > putting up signs outside pointing out that Lidl > down the road has some great deals on, or maybe > we?ll just put down some traps baited with chicken > nuggets so we can catch them humanely and release > them in Asda.? Funny stuff. On a serious note I tried some of their 'Essential' pasta (fusilli) from Ocado and it was awful.