Proposed Tesco supermarket in Southborough

When I was nowt but a lad (many, many years ago) most households did not possess a fridge or a freezer or a car.  Food shopping patterns were determined by how long food could be kept cool in the larder and how much could be carried home using the bus and then possibly a long walk. Shopping was on a little and often basis.

Now it is possible for those with refrigeration at home and the use of a car to shop much less often. Indeed, supermarkets deliver to your door and for some it is cheaper to have the goods delivered than to travel and shop.

As the supermarket companies expand their operations I wonder where the additional customers come from.  Apart from enticing each others customers, the majority of new customers must be people who desert existing small independent shops. Many bemoan the loss of small shops but still use supermarkets.

For some, without cars and faced with the expense of public transport, One Stop shops provide a convenience outlet.  Many people do not know that Tesco owns One Stop.  The following extract from Wikipedia may be of interest:

One Stop, which includes some of the smallest stores, is the only Tesco store format in the UK that does not include the word Tesco in its name. They were part of the T&S Stores business but, unlike many that converted to Tesco Express, these kept their old name. Some have Tesco Personal Finance branded cash machines. The business has attracted some controversy, as grocery prices in these shops, often situated in less well-off areas can be higher than nearby Tesco branded stores, highlighted in The Times 22 March 2010: "Britain’s biggest supermarket uses its chain of 520 One Stop convenience stores—which many customers do not realise it owns—to charge up to 14 per cent more for goods than it does in Tesco-branded stores." Tesco responded to the article stating "It is a separate business within the Tesco Group, with its own supply chain and distribution network. One Stop stores offer a different range to Express stores and its operating costs are different. One Stop’s price strategy is to match its nearest competitor Cost Cutter and is frequently cheaper."

In Rusthall we have two One Stop shops, buses every 12 minutes to Sainsbury's and the store is a 5 minute car ride.  So does the proposed Southborough Tesco pose a threat to shops in Rusthall?

The Southborough Tesco will be attractive only to car users.  The problem is that they will use the 'rat-run' between Rusthall and Southborough  which for part of the way is single file with passing points. Roads in Southborough are congested as it is.  A new supermarket  is not so much an issue for  Rusthall's shops but for Sainsbury's who could lose customers to Tesco's.

Obviously small shops in Southborough will suffer, as did some shops in Rusthall when Sainsbury's opened.