Why does the Co-op never have any food on the shelves?

[eucalyptus]

It's the most poorly disorganised shop I've ever been in.

[eucalyptus]

I mean poorly organised.

[KalamityKel]

Is this just an observation?

[eucalyptus]

What else would it be?

[rbrtdngl]

I have experienced eucalyptus's observation so many times I believe it to be a fact! lol

[eucalyptus]

Once they had no toothpaste for over a week.

[Undisputedtruth]

Actually a shop with a plan. No food on shelves means no sales. No sales means shop closes. Waitrose listens to EDF and take over premises. New Waitrose store. Existing staff joins final salary pension scheme. Everyone is happy. Life goes on...

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

They have had problems with deliveries. At least the manager has been walking the floor apologising and explaining to customers.

[Alan Medic]

eucalyptus Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Once they had no toothpaste for over a week.

Lets hope we don't run out of dentists in ED then.

[DulwichFox]

Considering the Co-Op was started as a 'Peoples Store' with fair prices,

Anyone remember the 'Divvy' Dividends. They were the little tin cheques that you could

collect and spend in the store.

the prices are not exactly Cheap.

High Prices and Use by Date so short, you would be lucky to get your goods home before they have gone off.

I use it to pay some Utility Bills as they have Pay-Point.

[PeckhamRose]

I still get dividends.

Are you a member of the Co-op?

[Penguin68]

I suspect that, outwith the somewhat bullish terms in the attached article, the Coop has not actually yet overcome the logistics issues of its Somerfield take-over. Sainsbury's also had a major problem about 5 years ago, which it did overcome. Whatever the reason, empty shelves or old stock will certainly lead to loss of customers locally, and should do so.

http://www.co-operative.coop/food/whats-hot/Food-news/New-depot-will-complete-Co-operative-Food-Logistics-overhaul/

[DulwichFox]

The Divvy.

Dividend Cheques

http://europeanastatic.eu/api/image?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.scran.ac.uk%2FRB%2Fimages%2Fthumb%2F0016%2F00160131.jpg&size=FULL_DOC&type=IMAGE

[languagelounger]

Plastic card. Not only are there are no medieval tokens, you don't even have to lick stamps. Although for some reason Co-op still cannot issue cards to people on the spot, like all the other shops.

Do not quite understand either why Co-op doesn't adapt its stock more to suit the store locations...like all the other shops. Eg, on the Brockley Road, there's a (Budgens?) which is far more responsive to demand and which as a result, (ironically..is that the right word?) has a much wider variety of (self advertised anyway) fair trade, veggie, organic goods on sale. The neighbouring Co-op sticks to very narrow range, which you could understand if it meant that at least what they stocked was so tailored to their market that it always sold, but like the Forest Hill and Lordship Lane ones, this branch regularly runs out of essentials (milk! why no milk??) and has quite a lot of unsold sold-bys that it chucks out each day.

And then there's the Co-op Chemist on Lordship Lane that is still stocked from the 1970s. Why would anyone so determinedly ignore a huge untapped customer base and leave local independents to stock ranges your natural Co-op friendly person would go for?

Somebody did wonders reinvigorating the Co-op Bank so it's a shame they didn't get round to the rest of the Co-op bits.(Although the Co-op not the foreign payments outfit got missed for some reason...is still used by many NGOs out of principle, but again, is losing business from its natural constituency because it is soooo slow and out of date).

(I would just like to apologise for having a bit of a rant there. I hope the East Dulwich Forum gets some kind of health promotion grant from the EU, for allowing one to vent virtually so that one can then be all sweetness and smiles in the actual Co-op at all times. Although not in Tesco. It would be wrong to smile in Tesco.)

[Frankito]

I have moaned about the one on Forezt Hill Rd on here before. It's tiny as a prison cell and seems to run out of stock on certain things repeatedly. Don't get me started on the general lack of customer service there...... Grrrr.

[Sue]

It doesn't never have any food on its shelves :))

Sometimes it has quite a lot :))

[maxxi]

This used to be Co-op but changed to a Sogim Pharmacy, ironically enough, around the same time the Co-op took over Somerfields

[Twirly]

maxxi Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> >

> This used to be Co-op but changed to a Sogim

> Pharmacy, ironically enough, around the same time

> the Co-op took over Somerfields

True, but it doesn't seem to have made a blind bit of difference.

[KalamityKel]

Co-op/Somerfield "contact us"

(tu)

[Sue]

PeckhamRose Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I still get dividends.

> Are you a member of the Co-op?

xxxxxxx

I just got ?11.47 in divvy :)

Amazing how eggs and oranges must add up over the year :)

ETA: And let's be fair, the big Sainsbury's on Dog Kennel Hill quite often has empty shelves and I can't get things on my list.

[Chippy Minton]

I can't believe the Co-op ever sells any milk. Every single time I have been in there the four pint cartons have one day left before their best-before.

Or maybe they sell gallons of the stuff and I always get there after everyone else has already grabbed it :)

[maxxi]

Twirly Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> maxxi Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > >

> > This used to be Co-op but changed to a Sogim

> > Pharmacy, ironically enough, around the same

> time

> > the Co-op took over Somerfields

>

>

> True, but it doesn't seem to have made a blind bit

> of difference.

no - same tat but no divvy. may be the only place in western world you can still buy Brut.

[Dulwichmudlark]

might be becouse thay leave all there perishable goods in the sun for a couple of hours so much for the cold chain

[neilson99]

I've lived near the co-op on Forest Hill for four years now and consitently have a whinge on here about it's empty shelves, (though half the time it feels like most of the food seems to get stacked on the floor, poor customer service, terrible perishables and over pricing of half the stuff...oh, and the fact that they use the pavement outside as the stock room and fill it with empty cages all day every day...it seems that this is the co-op way so don't hold out any hopes for the LL branch..."Good with Food"????? Trading standards should look into that claim!

[Sue]

maxxi Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> no - same tat but no divvy.

xxxxxxx

This just isn't true, sorry!

The Co-op in Lordship Lane has a much better range of things than Somerfield ever had, including a lot of Fair Trade items. They also have very good special offers sometimes.

It's far from perfect, but it's unfair to call it tat.

And there is divvy - as I said above, I just got over eleven quid, which I can get paid straight into my bank account. And I don't do my main shop there, just odds and ends.

You have to join their membership scheme and get a card, however, and use it when you buy stuff, obviously, before you are eligible for divvy.