Woody's

tosscat · January 2010

I saw a very cute rat on that waste ground one morning, and now I always look for Mr Rat when I go past.

dorothy · January 2010

Went to Woodys this morning, thought I may as well get the feta filled pastry things while it was still there. The guys at the tills said they were moving out in two weeks and Sainsburys were coming in.

Wish I'd gone there more now, but they should have enticed me more I feel.

No point nicking the sheep, they're laying twisted, dirty and broken under the meat counter.

Oh god Sainsbury's, all that horrible orange.

krappyrubsnif · January 2010

Sainsbury, aaaagh. The end of Stroud Green as we know it........now a clone of any other High Street.

I'll probably use it more than Tesco though.

wisteria53 · January 2010

....and maybe there will be a Sainsburys cashpoint that doesn't charge for taking out money?

Ian · January 2010

I'm so happy if this is true. Now Starbucks ...

Bridget · January 2010

Hooray that is great news!

Im really pleased.

I like Sainsburys and its better to have some choice other than Tescos or another budget grocery co op type thing of which there are lots.

Woo hooo!

xxxxxxx · January 2010

Thing is, in most other cities such as New York, Melbourne or Sydney the 'independents' are fantastic...serving up great groceries, fantastic coffee and each proprietor is genuinely proud of the food or stuff they sell.

However in this dump of a city we're faced with dirty grocery stores selling not much more crap than international phone cards and sometimes odd looking bread.

Whilst I can't stand the chains in the UK that make every town completely soulless I'll welcome them any day over the awful run down ramshackle heap of crap 'shops' or 'cafes' that are strewn all over this area.

So Sainsburys, Strada, Giraffe, Pizza Express and all those other piece of shit places - bring it on!

tosscat · January 2010

I don't think London is a dump - you need to get out. I hear Switzerland is jolly d.

Colette · January 2010

This makes me cross. Why do we need a Sainsbury's when there's Tesco just down the road? Woody's may have its flaws, but it's open 24hrs, and on Christmas Day, which is extremely handy. Plus it has a massive selection of different types of canned and dried pulses at reasonable prices. GAH.

ActionVerb · January 2010

Sainsburys don't go for the orange any more, it will be dark maroon most probably.

Personally, only went to woodys a couple of times, it seemed more expensive than the Tesco, and usually get most of my veg from the station lady, so never felt the need.

Whether sainsburys will offer anything different from Tesco I'm not sure, but it makes sense for them, its a relatively prosperous area, and there are Tescos cleaning up on two different sides of the station.

Has anyone heard who is looking to open up the store as part of the city north development?

andy · January 2010

Haven't heard predicaments delightful refrain of "everything is shit in this shitty city" for while. I'd like to say it's been missed.

pseudonym · January 2010

predicaments - You're so right. Go into any corner store in NYC and you're hit by the aroma of fresh coffeee, fresh squeezed juices, a deli counter and stacks of fresh tasty food. Admittedly the Americans are the worst for over-consumption, but their independent shops set a high standard. As a major capital city, London isn't particularly impressive.

I think the minimum wage may be partly responsible.

andiebrown · January 2010

I'm really gutted about this... the size of the shop means it will be a Sainsburys local and that means a pretty poor choice of stock. Which means i'll be forced to go to Tesco more than i'd like to (which is...ummm...never) in the evenings when i get home from work. Great. I genuinely hope it does really badly and has to close down.

emine · January 2010

I love Woody's. It's not perfect, but it has character, and a huge range of foods I never know what to do with. Until last year, I lived above it and one of the men from the shop helped me carry a piano up the stairs. Can't imagine anyone from Sainsbury's doing that. I'm gutted too.

JoeV · January 2010

@pseudonym and predicaments: The only difference between independent shops in New York to those in London is quantity, not necessarily quality and if you're at all honest you admit that the average supermarket in London is far better than those in New York.

I'm glad to have the Sainburys because the SGR Tesco is seriously lacking. I have nothing against Tesco but I wish ours was managed better. The shelves are often bare and the queues at the tills horrendous.

If you want great feta, olives, borek or Turkish bread go to Yaser Halim on Green Lanes. It's worth the trip.

mapsa · January 2010

I agree. A Sainsburys up the road is going to force that Tescos - probably the worst I've ever been in - to seriously raise its game. If they continue to offer poor service, empty shelves, and mile-long queues, Sainsburys will slaughter them. I hope.

krappyrubsnif · January 2010

I wonder if Sainsbury has considered any traffic implications. There are a lot of people round here who would take the car to the post box at the end of their street, and if Tesco's is anything to go by a lot of folk will be expecting the divine right to stop right outside while they load up the car with the weekly shop.

I can see it now - the illegal stopping both sides of the road, the yellow line hovering, the double parking, the bus stop invaded - all right on a busy road junction and traffic lights.

Or am I misreading this?

Ali · January 2010

Well Predicaments that is interesting about Oz. I have found that true in the centre but get outside an you have to use your car to get anywhere then it is to the American style Mall with always a Maccas, Kentucky Fried or what ever they are called, a Coles or a Safeways/Woolworths and or course a Subway. Oz is the most Macdonalised country in the world but is a still a great place !

dorothy · January 2010

@actionverb, I know the 'Taste the Difference' range is plum coloured and some of the Sainsbury staff have taken to wearing plum coloured body warmers, but isn't everything else, their signage, leaflets, banners still that iconic orange?

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SimonB · January 2010

Shopping in SGR Tescos these days is PAINFUL. If Sainsburys is going to give them enough competition to raise their game then so much the better.

I will miss Woody's though.

I remember the first day they openned ... I went in with my N.Irish girlfriend of the time who told the guy on the til (in her not so broad) accent "This is great" ...

... to which he replied "Not Greek, Turkish"

Oh how we laughed

Mills · January 2010

A sainsbury's of that size will be pointless to shop in. It will be like the Tesco at Finsbury Park station, only selling pre-packaged premium price fruit and veg, and a few over priced things, as the small metro sized outlets consciously don't stock the cheaper or own brand ranges. Having lived 30 seconds from Woodies for a couple of years, I loved it. When I moved last year, I really noticed the difference not being able to pop out and buy something (anything) I'd forgotten - and the bread, olives, pide and good fruit and veg - one tomato at a time if I so wished. If you live close enough to the Sainsbury's you are a further 30 seconds away from Tesco which will still be cheaper and have much more stock. So pointless for Sainsbury's too.

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Bridget · January 2010

8 weeks to go apparently!

tosscat · January 2010

Yes, let's wait and see.

Ali · January 2010

I just complained to Tesco about their Service Levels at the SGR store which seem to me to have got a lot worse when they added the extra self serve tills. I did this here http://www.tesco.com/help/contact/contactus1.asp It will be interesting to see what response i get and how long etc. Last week when I did something g similar with BT about an e-mail that looked like a sophisticated phishing exercise. I got a personal response in about 5 minutes although that might have been a clever knowledge base application that has been used. It might be worth every one complaining at the Tesco site as it might cause something to happen as Tesco’s are a numbers driven company I would think take this sort of thing quiet seriously.

lizbet · January 2010

I had fun with my complaint!!!

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to lodge a complaint about my local Tesco store on Stroud
Green Road, London, N4.

The shop is almost always in a state of chaos with staff seemingly unaware
of where they should be and what they should be doing.

All of the dividers for the conveyor belts have been split into 4 separate
pieces, some are just scraps of cardboard. I once asked the assistant at
the checkout why they could not order any more and apparently the manager
of the store would not allow it. The mind boggles.

On at least three occasions I have tried to purchase eggs from the store
only to find that they are all smashed and have been unable to do so. The
only boxes containing an intact product were the 'value' eggs which I
suspect, paradoxically, come from battery farmed hens and therefore
represent no real value to anyone except the profit-hungry and morally
starved.

Customer service is appalling. I do not expect my purchases to be thrown
down the conveyor belt, or for no words to be exchanged during the
transaction.

Half of the self service checkouts which sometimes one is forced to use to
avoid the ridiculously long queues are almost always broken thus rendering
them completely ineffectual as a time saving device.

When I was in your store on Tuesday 15th September 2009, I noticed a
promotional 4 pack of Napolina chopped tomatoes for £3. After picking
these up to buy from one area of the store I happened to be passing the
main tinned vegetable aisle and spotted the same product, sold as
individual tins, for 49p per tin. Obviously, I bought 4 individual tins
for £1.96 saving myself a further £1.04, but I found that the 4 pack
promotion was very misleading and it was only by chance that I managed to
avoid the trap. I suspect this may affect more than one of your stores.

I assume there is some sort of intelligent reason why such a high
proportion of your fruit and veg is air freighted? I cannot imagine how
this could possibly be necessary, so I would appreciate an explanation.

I often want to complain in person during my visits to the store but I am
so often overwhelmed with such a feeling misery that I cannot bear to stay
within the store another minute in order to do so.

For the price of your food I am not expecting the luxury of Waitrose, but
surely you can take some pride in your stores? Courtesy and common sense
cost nothing.

Regards

Liz

lizbet · January 2010

They responded:

Dear Miss Jones,

Please accept my apologies for the delay in answering your email. Please
let me assure you that we will always try to respond to our customers?
queries in a timely manner and I am sorry that this has not happened on
this occasion.

I tried to call you earlier today but unfortunately I wasn't able to speak
with you directly. I appreciate that it isn't always convenient to receive
a call due to commitments you will have. So, what I've done is left a
message on your mobile messaging service explaining how sorry I was to
learn about the extremely poor level of service and the state of chaos
each time you enter the Seven Sisters Express store. I understand how
disappointing and frustrating this must be for you.

As I explained in my message I've spoken at length with Stewart Lawrence,
the Store Manager. He was also very concerned to learn of your serious
complaint. He's promised me that he'll work hard with his team to stop
this from happening and improve the level of service immediately.

If you?re able to confirm your address details I'm happy to offer you a
£10 Moneycard. This is our way of saying sorry for any upset that's been
caused. I hope this will go some way to making up for everything.

I'm really sorry that I wasn't able to speak with you directly. Thank you
for bringing this to my attention. After all it's better to know if
something is wrong, so we can do all we can to put things right.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me at
customer.service@tesco.co.uk quoting TES6831538X.

Kind Regards

John McGovern
Customer Service Manager
Tesco Customer Service

lizbet · January 2010

I replied:

John

Just realised you said the Seven Sisters express store and my complaint
was about the Stroud Green Road store!

Hope the manager of the other store has not been too distressed - I have
no complaints about this branch. Please would you mind readdressing with
the manager of Stroud Green Road?

Thanks

Liz

lizbet · January 2010

Issue resolved with the below response and a £10 voucher - I like to think the new checkout dividers are down to me! I worry about myself sometimes.....

Dear Liz,

Please accept my apology. When I searched the postcode this was the Seven Sisters Express was the nearest store that came up on my systems. Just goes to show you shouldn’t always trust a computer.

I've spoken once again to Stewart and explained my mistake. Luckily enough he hadn't yet spoken to his team as his meetings usually take place every morning so no distressed caused.

I've now discussed this complaint with John Popely, the Store Manager at the Stroud Green Road Metro. John also promised me that he'll carry out the same measures with his team to improve everything immediately.

Thanks for getting back to me about this. I'm glad I was able to sort this out before any serious problems emerged.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me at customer.service@tesco.co.uk quoting TES6853078X.

Kind Regards

John McGovern
Customer Service Manager
Tesco Customer Service

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