…is because they know that it’s still thought of much more fondly than they’ll ever be:
When the supermarket chain Waitrose challenged shoppers to "finish the sentence: 'I shop at Waitrose because …' #WaitroseReasons" on Monday, it could not have envisaged the subsequent Twitter storm as internet jokers piled in to ridicule the brand for its posh image.
Or possibly it did, as one person pointed out:
One observer said: "People are saying Waitrose don't quite get Twitter because of #WaitroseReasons hashtag. I think they do. No such thing as bad publicity."
Well, indeed!
In a rather po-faced statement…
Really? I don't read it that way.
…Waitrose tweeted: "Thanks for all the genuine and funny #WaitroseReasons tweets. We always like to hear what you think and enjoyed reading most of them."
Some of them were rather amusing:
With an eye on the quality of its grammar, one remarked: "I shop at Waitrose because …" you say "Ten items or fewer" not "Ten items or less", which is important"…
Standards, people - Waitrose haz 'em!
With an eye on the quality of snobbery, one remarked: "i shop at waitrose because unlike tesco it does'nt feel like the waiting room for the jeremy kyle show..."
ReplyDeleteLet them eat cake....but I digress. Sensible shopping disposes one to rub shoulders with the likes of Penise and Jaded. I don't mind that so much as their habit of filling Waitrose bags at the Poundland checkout (shudders).
I find it most strange that the Grauniad choose to sneer at Waitrose, as it is part of the John Lewis Group and is more of a workers collective...
ReplyDeleteEven on a post about Waitrose you can't resist a dig eh Melvin.
ReplyDeleteGo out more,get a life,stand for election-oh tried the last one didn't you.
@Henry Crun
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Unlike corporate giant, hedge-fund and petrol-head funded, tax-dodging GMG with its massive differentials between cleaning staff and super-rich Rusbridger/Toynbee types.
This comment caught my eye:
ReplyDelete“It not being full of chavs is a good reason to shop at Waitrose. I once had a woman spit at me after trying to steal my place in the queue at the Co-op. You wouldn’t get that at Waitrose.”
I’ve never been spat at in the Co-op but I did once have to complain – quite loudly – in a branch of Spar, where a queue of 16 people was piling up behind the one operational checkout, while three other staff looked on with unshakeable indifference. I’d guess that not being spat at while shopping, and not having to remind staff that you’re waiting to give them money, is probably worth something.
The local Waitrose is situated at a major junction that sharply divides two neighbourhoods – one side of the road has designer boutiques, a specialist chocolate maker and a gunsmith. The other side is home to rundown council flats, a cheque-cashing business and garish discount stores. What’s interesting is that the people who frequent Poundland don’t ever seem to venture into Waitrose, or even into its car park, despite it being just across the road. They don’t even appear to send in the occasional scout.
Maybe Waitrose deploys some kind of discreet force field technology.
My area of England is so poor that there isn't a Waitrose within 30 miles :)
ReplyDeleteMy local is an ASDA in which I once heard a 30 something run down the aisle screeching "What does f*cking broccoli look like?"
I haven't bee spat on in a Co-Op but I have seen two women fight over a bottle of Liebfraumilch on Christmas Eve in the Sainsbury's in East Ham. They are classy down there. In some places people fight over cans of Tenants Super.
ReplyDeleteI shop in Waitrose because it's cheaper than my local Co-op, but then I put myself out to get there and can't rely on mini-cabs—nor do I have to rush back round the corner with fags, booze and a frozen pizza for The Jeremy Kyle show. Lefties - what utter cunts!
ReplyDeleteI shop in Waitrose because there's a big bloke at the door who stops anyone called Melvin or Noggin from coming in!
ReplyDeletePenseivat
I've never shopped at Waitrose but might have to from now so I can run my trolley into the back of a few pretentious, snobish, Guardianista's ankles by mistake. Guardian reading lefties are such utter c*nts.
ReplyDeleteWaitrose put salad near the door to frighten off anybody who is unfamiliar with green vegetables.
ReplyDeleteIt's a kind of witchcraft and, as you see, it works.
My local town is so chav-tastic that Waitrose refuse to open a store in it, despite it being in the top ten largest towns in the country. They have stores in lots of smaller towns further away, but think their image would suffer if they opened one here, much to the chagrin of my right-on friends.
ReplyDeleteWOAR
ReplyDeleteyou hit the nail right on the head.
Whenever I see an enricher in my Waitrose I feel like touching him to see if it will bring me luck.
The people who work in WR *seem* to like working there. TBH I live in a nice part of London, so the others are not far behind.
I get the el cheapo stuff from Lidl about two miles away. My secret is to arrive at the moment that they open their doors. Any later than that and it gets ugly. Why TF people who w/don't work like to shop on Saturdays amazes me.
They have a Waitrose in Glasgow now. It's in the west end though, so it might as well be in Islington.
ReplyDeleteThey've had one in Edinburgh for ages.
"With an eye on the quality of snobbery, one remarked: "i shop at waitrose because unlike tesco it does'nt feel like the waiting room for the jeremy kyle show..." "
ReplyDeleteIt's the area that makes that - one nearby Tesco is a horrorshow, the other (an extra 20 minutes drive away) is quite pleasant.
".. and is more of a workers collective..."
It's not the sort of collective that they like, though.
"What’s interesting is that the people who frequent Poundland don’t ever seem to venture into Waitrose, or even into its car park, despite it being just across the road. "
But I'd bet that doesn't happen the other way around - I expect the Waitrose shoppers will have realised that some things are a better deal in Poundland. I certainly have!
"My local is an ASDA in which I once heard a 30 something run down the aisle screeching "What does f*cking broccoli look like?""
ReplyDeleteHeh!
"Waitrose put salad near the door to frighten off anybody who is unfamiliar with green vegetables. "
You know, it's just struck me - they are all laid out like that (at least all the ones I've visited)!
"The people who work in WR *seem* to like working there."
And are always helpful.
"They have a Waitrose in Glasgow now. "
Well, the denizens of Milngavie have to go somewhere for their crostini!