Just thought I would write about a local issue for once, Tavistock. I live in Tavistock and have done so for over a decade, this blog post is about the go-ahead being granted for a Lidl store in Tavistock.
I am fully in support of having a Lidl in Tavistock and have been since day one. In a nutshell it is a fantastic supermarket chain, selling a fantastic range of goods. Also, each week they have new products that are appropriate for the time of year and they advertise these by having nicely laid out 20 page leaflets posted through your door called “This Week’s Top Offers!”.
Now, lets break it down…
Location of the Lidl store in Tavistock
The Lidl store in Tavistock will be located on the outside of Tavistock opposite the popular residential area of Bishopsmead. The land it will be built on already has some unsightly buildings on it which will be knocked down so the new Lidl in Tavistock won’t be paving over anything green.
Effect on Tavistock town centre
Tavistock town centre has too much to offer. Lidl won’t keep people away from it. From the originality of the good’s in Tavistock Pannier Market to the quaint little coffee shops. A supermarket won’t keep people away from Tavistock town centre, that is an absurd suggestion. It is a supermarket, not “a day out”, or somewhere to go to meet friends or chill out, you go there to get your weekly shopping. If that was the case then Morrison’s would already be keeping people away from Tavistock town centre.
Lidl and Morrisons next to each other
Want to know the best thing in my opinion about having a Morrisons and Lidl next to each other? Competition, and what does competition do? Drive down prices. One can’t afford to be more expensive than the other since they are within a stone’s throw away from each other. It won’t cost a shopper anything to price-match if they want too.
Offers of the week from Lidl
I mentioned briefly above that Lidl have new offers each week that are always drastically different from the previous weeks and are relevant to the time of year. For example, this week there are 3 “areas” of special offers within the leaflet. Namely, “get ready for the road”, “get on your bike”, and “keep your home spick and span”. Or in other words “it will soon be holiday time”, “the weather’s improving and evenings are getting lighter”, and “it’s time to spring clean”. The prices aren’t bad either!
Opinion from some Tavistock residents about having a Lidl in Tavistock
I remember reading a letter sent into the Tavistock Times from a lady voicing her disapproval about having a Lidl in Tavistock. It was some time ago and I can’t recall the exact details of the letter but one thing I do remember is that the lady said that if she needs to buy something, she looks around all the shops in Tavistock centre until she finds it. Then, if she can’t find it she “begrudgingly” goes out of town to buy it. Now, my question is, who has the time on there hands to go through that caper? It’s an absurd waste of time if you know you can buy that product in a supermarket. Basically, I have not heard any plausible reasons in my opinion why having a Lidl store in Tavistock will have a detrimental impact on Tavistock.
Keeping shoppers in Tavistock
I know from speaking to a lot of Tavistock residents that they shop out-of-town at the moment as they aren’t satisfied with what Tavistock has to offer in terms of food shopping. My family for one go to the Lidl store in Crownhill, Plymouth so will be glad along with the others to be able to save time, effort, money, and petrol on not having to travel to Crownhill to shop. My point is that in my opinion, having a Lidl in Tavistock will keep people IN Tavistock.
Feel free to let me know what you think about the go-ahead being granted for a Lidl in Tavistock.