Retail brands / choices in Adelaide

[Omicron]

BigW of yesteryear?

Oh lordy. That could only be desirable if shoppers entirely unsuited to such a look would strut about in shoulder pads and high-waisted pants for my amusement. I have horrid visions of great, flowing racks of nylon, and little people so wholly clad in tulle they are mistaken for upholstery and sat upon.

[Shuz]

I was going to say something, but I got so fixated on watching Omi's jumping elephant I forgot what I was going to say.

[pushbutton]

If you could get just ONE international retailer that' has not currently got any stores in Adelaide to open here, which one would it be and why?

I'd probably choose Tesco because it would give me access to a far bigger range of groceries than you can get in Adelaides tiny little supermarkets, and it would be really nice to have that range to choose from (for those who may not have travelled much, a British supermarket is usually about 7-10 times as big as the average Coles / Woolworths).

Also for the fact that it's an English company!

[peas_and_corn]

Walmart. It's such a big chain that it will force the existing stores to fix up their game properly.

[Norman]

Walmart. It's such a big chain that it will force the existing stores to fix up their game properly.

But will it be changes for the better? The fact remains that Wal-mart treats its staff like shit and their small margin sales are actually detrimental to the independents rather then the larger supermarkets. Unless we want to be stale like the US, keep Wal-mart away. I personally would want to keep our independents running, so I'm all against Wal-mart.

[peas_and_corn]

I'm presuming that when you talk about 'independents', you're not referring to Romeo's huge number of stores

[monotonehell]

I'm presuming that when you talk about 'independents', you're not referring to Romeo's huge number of stores

Not all Foodland stores are Romeo's. Out of the 104 Foodlands in SA, 12 are Romeo's, 31 are Drake's, 18 are Eudunda Farmer's, 4 are Rugless's, 4 are Chapley's and the rest are mostly individually owned. So perhaps you should be rolling your eyes at Drake's instead?

[Omicron]

I was going to say something, but I got so fixated on watching Omi's jumping elephant I forgot what I was going to say.

Omi: at your service.

[Shuz]

I want Krispy Kremes here, they're just so delicious.

[Queen Anne]

Walmart. It's such a big chain that it will force the existing stores to fix up their game properly.

But will it be changes for the better? The fact remains that Wal-mart treats its staff like shit and their small margin sales are actually detrimental to the independents rather then the larger supermarkets. Unless we want to be stale like the US, keep Wal-mart away. I personally would want to keep our independents running, so I'm all against Wal-mart.

I could not agree more. We have driven through, and heard of, towns in the US that have pretty much been killed by Walmart. In the US, Walmart has also moved into urban markets - I guess their suburban, rural presence has reached saturation point. They want to Walmart the entire country! Cities like Boston seem to have fought them all the way http://www.planetizen.com/node/21399 and I would hope Adelaide would do the same. Our independents have enough to worry about. And take it from me, it's no fun shopping in a place where independent stores are like hen's teeth - it is a very sterile experience. It makes me sad to see how small business has been ravaged here.

I hope Walmart never eyes Australia. Yikes! George just told me that they were looking at buying Woolies and Coles in 2006!

[SRW]

Well that's a brand that I wasn't expecting to hear about once we get back to Adelaide. It's not exactly good news (do we really need another generic global clothing brand?), but interesting still.

It seems that their market want to look like the people they see in old photos of themselves But their price point is well above Big W's; I don't know if they look like their quality is really up to snuff.

I'm happy with their presence here. I've shopped in their stores overseas and have not been disappointed with the quality. They're great for finding basic pieces to work into one's wardrobe that are nigh impossible to find at a similar price or quality elsewhere, and the higher prices (though I hardly consider them expensive) are justified by their ethical employment practices, which I imagine is a selling point with their demographic.

Although I don't necessarily want global chains to fill the void, I do think there is something of an absence in Adelaide of equivalents to retailers like H&M (Target doesn't come close), Topshop/man, Zara and Filippa K in the low and intermediate price ranges. Whether it's good or bad, shopping options are an important factor in forming one's impression of a city, so we could do well to have more in Adelaide.

[pushbutton]

I would actually like one particular chain that we DID have until recently and that's starbucks. I was so disappointed when they pulled out of SA.

I was not surprised though because their prices were far too high, and the experience available varied far too much from one store to another. Some stores had a reasonable selection of cakes, some had none at all. Some offered newspapers to read, some didn't.

You should be able to go into starbucks knowing that you'll get the exact same experience as at any other starbucks.

Having said that I do like the real starbucks experience when it's done properly. Nice comfortable chairs, cosy environment, newspapers to read, irresistible cakes (something they never actually had in SA).

The main advantage of starbucks over Gloria Jeans is they serve the coffee in real cups, not paper ones, they let you read the paper free instead of making you buy one, and most importantly they actually know what a cappucino is! (Gloria Jeans don't seem to know that a cappucino has chocolate on top)

[Wayno]

I would actually like one particular chain that we DID have until recently and that's starbucks. I was so disappointed when they pulled out of SA.

I was not surprised though because their prices were far too high, and the experience available varied far too much from one store to another. Some stores had a reasonable selection of cakes, some had none at all. Some offered newspapers to read, some didn't.

You should be able to go into starbucks knowing that you'll get the exact same experience as at any other starbucks.

Having said that I do like the real starbucks experience when it's done properly. Nice comfortable chairs, cosy environment, newspapers to read, irresistible cakes (something they never actually had in SA).

The main advantage of starbucks over Gloria Jeans is they serve the coffee in real cups, not paper ones, they let you read the paper free instead of making you buy one, and most importantly they actually know what a cappucino is! (Gloria Jeans don't seem to know that a cappucino has chocolate on top)

interesting you did not mention anything about coffee in the above post (apart from the chocolate on the foam), and instead focused on the peripheral experience! i've always found starbucks coffee to be very bland - surely this is a large part of the reason they pulled out of Oz? I believe the Australian cafe culture has evolved and we expect a top-notch cup of coffee every time - something that starbucks failed to deliver.

[Will]

I would actually like one particular chain that we DID have until recently and that's starbucks. I was so disappointed when they pulled out of SA.

I was not surprised though because their prices were far too high, and the experience available varied far too much from one store to another. Some stores had a reasonable selection of cakes, some had none at all. Some offered newspapers to read, some didn't.

You should be able to go into starbucks knowing that you'll get the exact same experience as at any other starbucks.

Having said that I do like the real starbucks experience when it's done properly. Nice comfortable chairs, cosy environment, newspapers to read, irresistible cakes (something they never actually had in SA).

The main advantage of starbucks over Gloria Jeans is they serve the coffee in real cups, not paper ones, they let you read the paper free instead of making you buy one, and most importantly they actually know what a cappucino is! (Gloria Jeans don't seem to know that a cappucino has chocolate on top)

interesting you did not mention anything about coffee in the above post (apart from the chocolate on the foam), and instead focused on the peripheral experience! i've always found starbucks coffee to be very bland - surely this is a large part of the reason they pulled out of Oz? I believe the Australian cafe culture has evolved and we expect a top-notch cup of coffee every time - something that starbucks failed to deliver.

It's funny you mention this Wayno, because I have some Canadians studying my degree at uni and they are quite distraught that Starbucks pulled out. They proudly admit that they like 'cardboard' coffee as opposed to the more 'European' coffee drank here in Adelaide!

[monotonehell]

The main advantage of starbucks over Gloria Jeans is they serve the coffee in real cups, not paper ones, they let you read the paper free instead of making you buy one, and most importantly they actually know what a cappucino is! (Gloria Jeans don't seem to know that a cappucino has chocolate on top)

Heathen! A real cappucino has no chocolate on top. You must live in Adelaide But yes Gloria Jean's serve paper cups of something that neither smells or tastes of coffee.

Until recently we had good coffee in most places. Now everyone seems to sell the horrid Vittoria gunk served at way too hot a temperature. Coffee's aromatics denature above 60 degrees Celsius. All you're left with is a cup of brown. Starbucks made all these mistakes and more. They burnt their beans so that the experience would be the same in each location. A cup of bitter nothing. OMGz if I had to witness one more trainee in Starbucks being taught to steam milk by jiggling the jug I would go berserker.

There's many other places where you can get the experiences that you mention above PLUS good coffee.

From an Italian perspective:
* What we call a flat white they call a latte
* What we call a latte they call a cappucino
* What we call a cappucino they'd call an abortion!
* Additionally you'd never ask for a cappucino after breakfast time. It's espressos the rest of the day.
(Nb I'm not Italian )