Once upon a time, Rhuthun/Ruthin had its own discounter. It was called KwikSave. 10 years after its arrival, in 1992 KwikSave was joined by another discounter, Lo-cost. If you wanted a mainstream supermarket, however, you had no choice but to travel outside Rhuthun to Dinbych, Yr Wyddgrug/Mold or Wrecsam.
Not that there was much choice in Dinbych or Yr Wyddgrug, then. By the time Lo-cost arrived, so had a large Tesco superstore in Yr Wyddgrug. After a gap, Tesco was back in Yr Wyddgrug and a significant number of people from Rhuthun shopped there.
Before Tesco Wyddgrug, the nearest supermarket proper to Rhuthun was the medium-sized Gateway in Dinbych. This distended, unpleasant-looking building opened on Vale Street in 1988, replacing a kitchen unit manufacturer and a dismal brick & corrugated asbestos-constructed biscuit factory. Gateway was something of an also-ran chain but compared to Rhuthun KwikSave, it appeared perhaps not sophisticated exactly but at least it felt ordinary. It was a place that for a time proved popular from a Rhuthun perspective.
Meanwhile, Argyll, the owners of Lo-cost, infamous as a place in which you could find the watery Golden Stream brand of tea, had in 1994 sold to the Co-op. Initially rebranded from I think 1996 as Co-op Pioneer, from 1999 it became Co-op Rhuthun and in the current decade from the 2009 refit Co-operative Food (or rather The Co-operative Bwyd). With Co-op Rhuthun there came a significant change in pricing policy: it was no longer a discounter. Quite the reverse: it had earned a reputation for so-called "insult pricing".
From 1991, Gateway progressively rebranded its stores as Somerfield. This was true of Dinbych. KwikSave, meanwhile, was under increasing pressure from value own brand products in major supermarkets. It resulted in Somerfield merging with KwikSave in 1998. Somerfield progressively rebranded many KwikSaves also to Somerfield and it was in January 2006 that KwikSave reopened in Rhuthun as such.
The arrival of Somerfield finished the era of the discounters in Rhuthun. Six months later, Tesco also launched in Rhuthun, with its branded and own-brand value ranges. Tesco became the cheaper of what by then were three supermarkets within 500 yards of each other—Tesco, Co-op and Somerfield.
Unsurprisingly, both Co-op and Somerfield suffered, to the point where Somerfield closed in 2008. It simply couldn't compete. Value department store B & M moved in, a store that immediately was taking as much in a week as Somerfield managed in a month. Here was a cheaper food offer but its range was too limited to be called a true grocery discounter. Had Somerfield not closed in 2008, it certainly would have later, upon the 2009 takeover of Somerfield by Co-op. Imagine two Co-op stores side-by-side.
And Somerfield closed in Dinbych, too. A new breed of supermarket, more KwikSave than KwikSave itself, moved in. This was Lidl's. KwikSave offered brands but Lidl’s stocked products that might resemble branded offerings but were in fact cheap—very cheap—immitations.
Back in Rhuthun, Tesco was by now having its own way. But there was bad news corporately for Tesco, with several crises including a horse meet scandal, a profits over-statement, issues with its suppliers and, not least, Tesco losing its appeal as customers departed for modern day discounters Aldi & Lidl.
It included Rhuthun residents again off to Dinbych.
And now we're back full circle. Up to Tesco's arrival in 2006, many in Rhuthun went elsewhere for their grocery shopping. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, Aldi & Lidl's had created a critical mass and become significant. As more people began searching for honest pricing, they had no option again but to travel elsewhere. On Saturdays, try parking your car at Aldi's in Yr Wyddgrug or Lidl's in Dinbych or Yr Wyddgrug. A number of those cars will have originated from Rhuthun. That's not a guess, it's a fact. It's interesting that increasingly even the middle classes from Rhuthun are migrating to local Lidls and Aldis. It's said that a nearly 30 per cent of Lidl shoppers are now in the AB social categories (compared to 10 per cent in 2013). 28 per cent of Lidl & Aldi shoppers are C1.
Lidl Dinbych may not be the total future of shopping for Rhuthun but, like its sister store and Aldi competitor in Yr Wyddgrug, it will continue to entice people out of Rhuthun again. It's not back to the future, it's forward to the past. Over 30 years ago, not satisfied with the local KwikSave discounter, we took to our cars to find ourselves a mainstream supermarket out of town. Then came Tesco. Its purpose was to provide Rhuthun people with a *local* supermarket and the council plan that fostered it said so. Now, increasingly though, we're travelling again. Not this time to a major supermarket but, ironically, to find something we used to have but cannot get in Rhuthun: a discounter.
Whether then or now, we've gotten used to the journey we have to travel.
Lidl Dinbych: the other word is "off"
Not that there was much choice in Dinbych or Yr Wyddgrug, then. By the time Lo-cost arrived, so had a large Tesco superstore in Yr Wyddgrug. After a gap, Tesco was back in Yr Wyddgrug and a significant number of people from Rhuthun shopped there.
Before Tesco Wyddgrug, the nearest supermarket proper to Rhuthun was the medium-sized Gateway in Dinbych. This distended, unpleasant-looking building opened on Vale Street in 1988, replacing a kitchen unit manufacturer and a dismal brick & corrugated asbestos-constructed biscuit factory. Gateway was something of an also-ran chain but compared to Rhuthun KwikSave, it appeared perhaps not sophisticated exactly but at least it felt ordinary. It was a place that for a time proved popular from a Rhuthun perspective.
From 1991, Gateway progressively rebranded its stores as Somerfield. This was true of Dinbych. KwikSave, meanwhile, was under increasing pressure from value own brand products in major supermarkets. It resulted in Somerfield merging with KwikSave in 1998. Somerfield progressively rebranded many KwikSaves also to Somerfield and it was in January 2006 that KwikSave reopened in Rhuthun as such.
The arrival of Somerfield finished the era of the discounters in Rhuthun. Six months later, Tesco also launched in Rhuthun, with its branded and own-brand value ranges. Tesco became the cheaper of what by then were three supermarkets within 500 yards of each other—Tesco, Co-op and Somerfield.
Unsurprisingly, both Co-op and Somerfield suffered, to the point where Somerfield closed in 2008. It simply couldn't compete. Value department store B & M moved in, a store that immediately was taking as much in a week as Somerfield managed in a month. Here was a cheaper food offer but its range was too limited to be called a true grocery discounter. Had Somerfield not closed in 2008, it certainly would have later, upon the 2009 takeover of Somerfield by Co-op. Imagine two Co-op stores side-by-side.
Lidl and Aldi in Yr Wyddgrug/Mold
And Somerfield closed in Dinbych, too. A new breed of supermarket, more KwikSave than KwikSave itself, moved in. This was Lidl's. KwikSave offered brands but Lidl’s stocked products that might resemble branded offerings but were in fact cheap—very cheap—immitations.
Back in Rhuthun, Tesco was by now having its own way. But there was bad news corporately for Tesco, with several crises including a horse meet scandal, a profits over-statement, issues with its suppliers and, not least, Tesco losing its appeal as customers departed for modern day discounters Aldi & Lidl.
It included Rhuthun residents again off to Dinbych.
And now we're back full circle. Up to Tesco's arrival in 2006, many in Rhuthun went elsewhere for their grocery shopping. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, Aldi & Lidl's had created a critical mass and become significant. As more people began searching for honest pricing, they had no option again but to travel elsewhere. On Saturdays, try parking your car at Aldi's in Yr Wyddgrug or Lidl's in Dinbych or Yr Wyddgrug. A number of those cars will have originated from Rhuthun. That's not a guess, it's a fact. It's interesting that increasingly even the middle classes from Rhuthun are migrating to local Lidls and Aldis. It's said that a nearly 30 per cent of Lidl shoppers are now in the AB social categories (compared to 10 per cent in 2013). 28 per cent of Lidl & Aldi shoppers are C1.
Lidl's (above) and Aldi'r Wyddgrug
Whether then or now, we've gotten used to the journey we have to travel.