Sainsbury's has been in the news recently; It must be the oldest supermarket chain that I can remember from my childhood.
We lived in Lingfield in Surrey; just south of London. The village had everything you needed, but none of the big national stores. When my mother was feeling adventurous we would head off to East Grinstead, about 10 miles away, where there was a cinema, swimming pool, hospital, and (best of all) a Sainsbury's.
It was just like the above photo (they all were); a central aisle, with the counters running down either side. The assistants were all dressed like 'chefs', and they sold the most exotic of foods (exotic to us, anyway). There were always convenient chairs for the weary.
I can remember going to the cinema with my sister and buying slices of Pork Pie, and Celery from Sainsbury's, to eat during the film. I suppose we treated it like an early 'takeaway'.
Now Sainsbury's is to join forces with Asda (Associated Dairies) to form the largest UK chain of food stores; bigger even than Tesco. I wish them luck; especially as Lady M is a shareholder.
49 comments:
I don't remember the pork pie and cinema - when I think of Sainsbury's it is Worthing and their delicious apricot pies.
Sainsbury's being owned by Walmart seems rather unthinkable.
I remember the pork pie and Celery very well. The Celery made an awful crunching noise as we ate it.
I thought it was the other way round. Walmart wants to offload Asda, and Sainsbury will buy.
it is surprising how the childhood memories from the same event are different,It happens to me now with my children.
They will keep both but let Sainsbury manage.
A friend was reminding me, just last week, of when we found a gun in a school attic. He remembered it as being a heavy military rifle, and me as a simple shotgun. I wonder who's memory was correct?
What? Walmart don't own Sainsbury's.
They will do once the Asda Sainsbury merger is complete.
I'll have to do some homework.
It looks like a lot of people were employed then. Today, some work places join forces and unfortunately cut down on staff.
Greetings Maria x
This is what will happen with Sainsbury's and Asda. Thousands of jobs will go!
Walmart will retain a 42% stake in the newly-merged company following the deal. Sainsbury's and Asda said they would have a close relationship with Walmart as a strategic partner.
By the way, I just looked at your old photo here and the Sainsbury in Norwich in the 1950s looked just the same. We used to go there specifically for bacon and nothing else. It later became the first recognisable supermarket in the city on the same site. It is no longer there having been demolished to make an entrance to a shopping mall.
What a wonderful photo. Unbelievable now.
My memory is of the Reigate shop with the green tiled walls, but you had to queue for say, the cheese and then requeue for the bacon and again for tea etc. We had a curry 10yrs ago in West London in a former Sainsbury's, they had the tiles still not flock wallpaper.
I was just thinking that celery would be a rather noisy food to eat in a cinema !!
Chomping on celery ?
If I was sat near you . I would have walloped the both of you
I can remember buying the Sunday roast from the Sainsbury's in Horsham.
walmart might well be trying to offload Asda..they have problems of their own at home
Walmart will give Sainsburys the control of the merged company but Walmart will be the majority shareholder. They are currently up against Amazon and looking to build market share in that direction.
World domination. Pity, as Sainsbury's was always a much more up-market store!
The early ones were all built to the same design, with the central aisle. I'm sure we used to buy bacon too (as well as Pork pie, etc.
I can remember exactly how they were; I'm showing my age!
I never go into Sainsbury. I cannot abide their colour scheme.
I remember those fancy green tiles. The stores were very chic for their day.
It wasn't a good choice. I remember how we were desperate not to make too much 'crunch'.
Isn't it Orange? My least favourite colour!
Ah, Horsham. I know it well.
Bizarre. Why then are Sainsbury's paying £10 Billion? It sounds more like Walmart are buying half of Sainsbury's. Price has gone up 20%!
I have a friend who also will not go into Sainsbury because of the orange. I don't like Sainsbury either, but I do like Asda. Shame they are going to give Sainsbury the management hand and not Asda. That's if the merger goes through of course.
If I had Sainsbury shares, which I don't, I would take a profit now. The merger is going to drag on for at least a year.
I used to go to one occasionally in Brighton. They sold big packs of smoked bacon offcuts (very cheaply) that made the best bacon sandwiches in the whole bloody world.
My sister lives in Horsham !!! XXXX
I’ve never been keen on Sainsbury’s .... don’t know why !
I remember going in either Sainsbury’s or the Co-op up the road where we lived as a child ..... it looked just like that photograph ..... they used to pat the butter and weigh out the sugar into blue paper bags and you paid at the end of the shop .... you can see it in the picture. ..... and, you used to get divi ..... my sister and I used to play with it ! XXXX
That's just how I remember Sainsbury's, in Bishop's Stortford. The white mesh head pieces to hold their hair in. Lot of tile work and marble.
We used to have a shop like that in a nearby town, only it was called Caters, I think. I remember being taken in there as a little girl and saying loudly, 'Ewww, it stinks in here'. I got a clip around the ear.
Retail has changed so much in my lifetime. Maybe Lady M should take a profit at this point?
That old picture is so interesting to me. I have never seen a store like that. What a culinary adventure that must have been.
Going to the movies as a child meant that I would eat popcorn. Today, we go and order a meal accompanied by fine wine. Unfortunately, it is difficult to see what we are eating.
The 'divi' sounds like the Co-op; you had to give your number. I remember going shopping as a child in Wales for an Aunt, and she used to insist on giving me her number.
They had real style. A pleasure to shop in. My oldest lives in BS.
I'm not surprised; I expect you embarrassed everyone within earshot! But well done!
We did discuss it over lunch.
They sold Cheese, Bacon, Meats, Butter, etc, with wonderful customer service. Rare these days.
I remember them from those days too Cro. Also shops like Home and Colonial - shops like this peppered the High Streets and the good ones always smelled of things like butter, cheese and bacon.
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Goodness gracious that is the first time in about 6 months that a comment of mine has arrived here after i pressed publish. Sainsbury’s and ASDA are shrinking due to competition, I fear they will simply continue to shrink, after the very expensive merger. Bankers and lawyers will make money, the software systems will not talk to each other, the brands will clash, the cultures are different, one is of reasonable quality and has some quite nice things, one is cheap and cheerful. It will end in tears.
So many of those old names have now gone; whoever would have thought that Woolworth's would go!
They certainly seem like strange bedfellows. Bigger ain't always best!
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