Sainsbury's is coming to Stroud Green Road - Woody's is going!

krappyrubsnif

I'm honestly not being grumpy or negative.....but I just went up to check it out (geddit?).....and there really wasn't anything I wanted there. So I put my basket back and went back down to Tesco instead. No red wine boxes. Poor range of cheese. Two random things but.....important in my life. Etc. Just not enough space. Great for ready meals and late night top-up shopping, I suspect, but that's about it. I am no lover of Tesco, but for the first time ever I suddenly appreciated the massive range of different stuff they have in there. So I bought myself some pickled cucumbers with chilli and a wine box to celebrate.

andy

Maybe if you didn't drink red wine from a box, you wouldn't need to buy such esoteric cheese to mask the flavour of red wine that comes out of a box.

David

I just googled 'esoteric cheese' and found [this](http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/the-esoteric-cheese-dance-test) I scored 6% esotericness, 33% cheesiness, and 31% danceability. I don't understand.

miss annie

That's hilarious! I scored 28% esotericness, 24% cheesiness and 48% danceability. I'm oddly pleased about that.

twinspark

Does anyone know what happened to the sign that proudly proclaimed
'Sainsburys Local
Stroud Green'

It was above and perpendicular to the door for about 36 hours - then gone! It was the same size as the one above the cash machine. Come on own up who took it for a souvenir?

JoeV

I don't know what it means but it seems I'm inclined toward dance. 35% esotericness, 11% cheesiness, and 54% danceability!

@twinspark -- maybe they are swapping it out for one that says Crouch Hill. They still seem confused about the store's location.

MHP

I like it. It is a bit on the pricey side for some things, but then again I found some toiletries 1/2 price that I use and will be stocking up. A male assistant was very helpful and asked me "Is there anything else I can help you with?" Have you ever heard that in Tesco or Woodys??

ADGS

The self service checkouts seem to be as temperamental as Tesco's, but the assistant sorted it out quickly and then scanned all my shopping for me, which was a bit embarrassing when I only had two items. But, one of those items was a 2 pint container of skimmed milk, which Tesco seems to have given up stocking. And they also have Vegemite, which Tesco can for some reason never keep in stock, albeit at a 20p premium. Between which and the later Sunday opening, I'm sure I'll be using it occasionally, but probably not for main shops. Especially given they don't carry any of the cheapo ranges.

gardener-joe

I made my second visit today and I am feeling much better disposed towards the place. I even used the automated checkout (something I refused to do in Tesco --- grumpy old person syndrome ---) and found it very easy.

The store seems to have lots of helpful staff, not least at the checkout where this evening's articulate, bearded assistant was not only cute but incredibly solicitous.

Service, so far, beats Tesco hands down for courtesy and willingness.

Now for that Nectar card --- yes, you can tell --- I will be shopping there again.

kreuzkav

One of the things I've realised from this stream of posts (and I'm included in this too) is how deprived we are on Stroud Green. When I lived in Hackney over ten years ago you just went to a big supermarket, got your shopping and went home. There were many cool bars, or pubs to choose from. Basically, people didn't get all sexy about some little local supermarket or some cheesy late night bar.

I miss those days!

dion

There is a massive Sainsbury's about just a short stroll across the park on Green Lanes - has anyone been there?

graeme

There's a PARK!?!

miss annie

@dion
Yes. It's great, I have posted about it on here before - 20mins walk for me and there's a Homebase there too.

@kreuzkav
Given the troubles that you have with the existing bar on your doorstop I'm amazed that you'd like more late venues!

I lived in Camden years ago (above the Good Mixer) and we were well supplied with a giant supermarket and a plethora of pubs and bars. I don't miss it at all and wouldn't live there now for all the tea in China.

Stroud Green has plenty of good pubs (Misscara has previously supplied us with a pretty comprehensive list), and has a less transient and more community spirited feel than places that have more jazzy venues.

Emma

Isn't the appeal of SG partly that we're not right on top of a humungoplex supermarket? And there are tons of restaurants, bars and pubs very nearby, more than can be sustained really. Anyway I do go to Big Sains (as we call it) quite often, it's a 15 minute walk down Endymion, which is a lovely stroll on a weekend morning.

magicP

Yes, the other big Sainsbury's is a 20 min stroll for me too. I try to avoid Endymion, though. It's always madly chugged with traffic.

miss annie

I go into the park from UTP and then out at the end of Endymion Road just beside the bridge over New River. Sometimes I do a quick detour round the lake to have a look at the wildlife too - brightens up the shopping trip.

magicP

Might try that route.

Ali

Will the new development in Fonthill Rod have a supermarket as there are shops and they will want an anchor client ?

Arkady

@Ali: I can't find anything specific in the planning docs, but the whole ground floor and parts of the other floors will be retail. None of the plots are very big, but I seem to recall that there is flexibility in the internal partitions. I think that the largest plot is the one that has the potential to be converted into a new western ticket hall for FP station.

ActionVerb

Yes - there was a supermarket as part of that scheme. I remember reading through the planning & retail statement. I shall do a quick dig if I get a chance, but there was no specific reference to a particular retailer. That scheme however is probably 10 years from being open.

Arkady

I can't see anything specific in the retail statement. Let me know if you turn something up.

ActionVerb

@Arkady, para2.9 of the Retail Statement assumes a foodstore with a gross external floorspace of 1,500sqm from a total of around 10,000sqm mixed retail floorspace. This is compared to just over 5,500sqm for the Sainsbury's at Green Lanes. So it's more of a medium sized store. Annoyingly, i cant find the actual decision notice on the Islington website, so if they haven't restricted the floorspace of the foodstore, then there would be nothing stopping them putting in a much larger store in.

Arkady

Thank you! Curious, that reference to 'single operator' might be the only givaway in the entire bloody application. I wonder what the comparitive floor space is at TESCO SGR and the Tesco Express on Seven Sisters.

Arkady

And yes, it's odd that the approval details aren't up, given that it was given the nod in April.

ActionVerb

The Tesco SGR has a sales area of 1,150sqm, which puts it in a similar medium store bracket as the potential one at City North, although probably a bit smaller. The Seven Sisters Tesco Express's sales area is 250sqm - although it feels smaller than that. The new SGR Local is probably around 300-320sqm.

Arkady

Thanks... where are you getting these figures? By the way, I know a manager at Tesco's product ordering and distribution team, so if there are particular products missing at the SGR store...

andy

Someone told me Waitrose are pre-signed up to that scheme

Arkady

*swoon*

ActionVerb

My first thoughts was Waitrose as well, but I wasn't convinced if they would see SG/FP as 'Waitrose country'. @Arkady - if I tell you, I'll have to kill you, and it can't be that difficult to track down a trilby fan in SG.

miss annie

M&S Simply Food would do well.