jackl’s blogMusic to my ears?
Shopping. Love it or loath it not many of us manage to dodge the inside of one of the big four supermarkets. And so it was for me over the weekend. I managed an ‘improved’ Sainsburys (about a five minute car journey away) and Tescos (20 mins) which had also recently been ‘improved’ and made ‘bigger and better’.
Is bigger better?
In both instances I had previously shopped at the old sites and thought them to be pretty comprehensive.
Tescos is at Pitsea and was one of the first big superstores in this area (circa 20 mile radius). For the last few years it has sold TVs and other ‘entertainment’ items. Although it might sound stupid but it was almost stealth retailing — I didn’t notice when they started selling clothes and DVDs, it just seemed to happen.
Where the market leader ploughs, the other big players furrow. Sainsburys (my supermarket of choice) has been selling CDs, DVDs for some time and more recently has branched into ‘home goods’ (crockery, lamps, bedding etc). So though Sainsburys new shop is not yet finished I had a good idea what they would do with the refurb and how this would ‘improve’ my choice and shopping experience.
Super–mega–hyper–market–world
You’ve had out of town shopping — now experience out of this world shopping. You know what it’s like you get to the supermarket with the shopping list and the doubts creep in — “I wonder if the tv is running low, maybe I should get a television, just encase”. Thank you Sainsburys for stocking a (limited) range of electrical entertainment for just such an emergency. No, I don’t need anyone to explain the meaning of the increasingly complicated jargon written on the DVD Player / Recorder box and I’m sure having Freeview decoders on both the TV and DVD player will improve my reception no end.
Local shops, remember them?
My future grandchildren will no doubt pretend to listen as I spout on about the time I spent two hours in a small shop a short walk away from home looking at nearly every one of the CDs available on their stacked shelves. I might even show them one (although I probably wouldn’t have a machine to play it on by then).
As big and cheap as the new supermarkets are they cannot have the selection of a good specialised shop (even a small one). The CD story I give above would obviously end up in this ‘quaint’ little shop going out of business as the buying power of the big four supermarkets starts selling CDs for a pittance.
Those retail giants (we say) are crushing the little local man; they’re horrible and should be stopped!
The weird thing is that it is us that are shutting down the local retailers.
With lazy shopping mentality:
“oh, I’ve been meaning to get a new CD and look there is a shelf-full there and they’re only £4 if I buy 3”
Coupled with a lack of imagination:
“Shut up brain, I’m enjoying the cheapness.”
This isn’t speculation. It has happened already. OK the smartarses among you will argue that the very medium I’m using to highlight this position is killing small CD retailers or even CDs themselves as more music–retail giants offer sound on–line.
I have a counter–argument regarding for the mp3 generation and will just say the ‘rental’ of music most of these sites are offering cannot be compared to a physical (DRM unencumbered) CD and leave the details for another post.
Spend £16 on a CD and be happy
I’m begging you — if you still have a local, independent music/video retailer near you please buy something from them when you fancy a bit of new entertainment. For those with specialist tastes they may only have the choice of this or the Internet, but believe me the local retailer will know the local scene and that can be invaluable. For those with more popular tastes the local retailer can offer exploration and experimentation that can give your ears/eyes new life. I guarantee you won’t find either of these choices at your out of town super–mega–hyper–market–world.
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