Tmorrow in Rhuthun/Ruthin, it's Tesco's 10th anniversary. A few weeks ago, I asked you to complete a short survey on Tesco and its impact. With thanks to those who responded, here is part one. More will follow.
We did the same thing five years ago, in 2011. The response sizes then and now were broadly equal (there were 15 more in 2016 compared to five years ago).
Broadly half of respondents (52%) shopped at Tesco more often than anywhere else. About one-sixth (17%) shopped most often at the town's main Co-op. About a quarter (24%) shopped mostly outside Rhuthun.
What was interesting was that, five years ago, nearly two-thirds (63%) of respondents said they shopped most often at Tesco Rhuthun. In five years, this percentage had therefore fallen by 11. Five years ago, a fifth (21%) said they shopped most often at the town's Co-op and in five years this had dropped by 4%.
Although 10% of respondents said that they shopped for groceries in Rhuthun town centre at some point, not one respondent said that town centre shops were their main grocery destination. Perhaps this was unsurprising, given the small number of convenience outlets in town. In 2011, the number shopping in town at some point was 12%, a fall of 2% in five years.
The proportion of respondents who said that Tesco had made no difference to their shopping habits was 15% in 2016 but 23% in 2011.
One of the main perceived benefits of Tesco was that people should no longer need to shop for food out of town. By inference, this meant that local money would stay in the community, both in terms of employment at Tesco and people visiting the town centre more. A third (34%) of those who responded in 2016 said that, before Tesco Rhuthun, they used to shop at supermarkets or other shops outside Rhuthun. Also in 2016, a quarter (24%), however, continued to shop outside the town for their main groceries. In 2011, the percentage of respondents who shopped out of town was much lower, at only 11%.
If the survey is representative (and please remember this is not a scientifically sampled survey), in the five years from 2009 to 2016, we have seen some significant shifts:
Why are fewer people seemingly shopping at Tesco Rhuthun when compared to five years ago? Why are more shopping outside the town for their main groceries? One reason was that a third of respondents (36%) said that they chose a discounter such as Aldi or Lidl either for their main shop of they shopped there often. Of course, leaving aside the food range at department store Bargeinion B ac M, there is no discounter in Rhuthun. The nearest are in Yr Wyddgrug/Mold or Dinbych.
To be continued…
We did the same thing five years ago, in 2011. The response sizes then and now were broadly equal (there were 15 more in 2016 compared to five years ago).
Although 10% of respondents said that they shopped for groceries in Rhuthun town centre at some point, not one respondent said that town centre shops were their main grocery destination. Perhaps this was unsurprising, given the small number of convenience outlets in town. In 2011, the number shopping in town at some point was 12%, a fall of 2% in five years.
The proportion of respondents who said that Tesco had made no difference to their shopping habits was 15% in 2016 but 23% in 2011.
One of the main perceived benefits of Tesco was that people should no longer need to shop for food out of town. By inference, this meant that local money would stay in the community, both in terms of employment at Tesco and people visiting the town centre more. A third (34%) of those who responded in 2016 said that, before Tesco Rhuthun, they used to shop at supermarkets or other shops outside Rhuthun. Also in 2016, a quarter (24%), however, continued to shop outside the town for their main groceries. In 2011, the percentage of respondents who shopped out of town was much lower, at only 11%.
If the survey is representative (and please remember this is not a scientifically sampled survey), in the five years from 2009 to 2016, we have seen some significant shifts:
- The number shopping for groceries outside Rhuthun has increased significantly, with the proportion of people who said they did so doubling from 11% to 24%
- There was a modest reduction in the proportion of respondents shopping at some point for groceries in the town itself, from 12% to 10%
- The number of respondents who shopped most often at Tesco Rhuthun was down in 2016 compared to 2011, from 63% to 52%.
To be continued…