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SHOP THERE THIS FORT NIGHT
llt‘ chattering classes ol~ l'itllltlttll'gll ha\cn't chattcrcd
as tnuch abotit a new shop since the arrnal ol Haney
Nichols. \Vaitrose. lirnily ensconced in the slightly superior niche ol‘ the supermarket spectrum. has inst taken oyer Somertield supermarkets in Morningside Road and (‘omely Batik in lidinburgh. It‘s the lirst time the brand will haye been seen north oli the border.
In financial terms. \Vaitrmc is a second dixision supermarket play er behind the big tour ol'l‘esco. Sainsbury 's. Wail-Mart .-\sda and Morrisons. commanding less than 5‘} ol the market share. But \\';titt'ose. as its own slick marketing department and legions ol~ well-to-do housewiyes in the south-east ol‘ lingland will conl'irm. isn‘t like other supermarkets.
"l‘he reputation ol‘ Waitrose has been built. abox e all. on Llllillll}: tlL‘L‘ltll‘cs it spokesperson. '()l \ittti illlpol'lttlltic to Us are the prm'enance and traceability oli eyerything we sell.‘ 'l'hey‘re also quick to point ottt
that. as part ol' the John Lewis ‘WAnROSE Partnership. it‘s a supermarket owned by its stall. known as .bartners‘. who earn a share in the company's prolits.
Don‘t be surprised to find rather more 4x4s than tisual
clogging tip Morningside Road
and Raeburn l’lace as emious l'requenters ol~ lidinburgh‘s other al'l'luent suburbs descend 0 on the new stores to scout out this dreamy alternatiye to the gritn reality ol their tisual supermarket shopping experience.
But what of the shops they‘ll pass on the way: the independent lood shops which hay e established Stockbridge
fl 3333‘: and Morningside/Bruntslteld as the two main loodie quarters f. N‘s. , "‘
ol‘ the capital'.’ For a nation ot' shopkeepers. there's no doubt that Britain has becotne unedil'y ineg coupled to supermarket cttlture in the last couple ol decades. Waitrose may have a
“ filing: " Jr.“ J O niche as a quality l'ood supermarket. btit it certainly isn't the 7 only Place selling Llltality l’ood. Andrew l’irth ol Herbies I . delicatessen in Stockbridge is wary. ':\s a small trader. when
someone of a supermarkets si/e turns tip along the road. (it
The upmarket supermarket owned John Lewis has opened cottrse it makes you worried. ll" we lose one or two small food its first two Stores in Scotland But are they the greatest thing shops. Stockbridge will start to lose its image as a l‘oodie
. . . _ , _ location. That‘s when it gets serious l'or us.‘ Smce SIICed Clabatta? Donald Re'd lnveSt'gateS- Many ol' the independents are adopting a hold-on-and-
hope policy. Most tt'tlst in the loyalty (it their cttstomet's and
WAITROSE‘FACTFILE recognise that there are posillyes in the new arrival. ‘H‘
w m . m h. . , you're going to haye a supermarket on your street. you'd a “ma.” “Wed bY'tsemP'WeeS’Wm Shamnspm'its' want it to be a \Vaitrose.‘ says Archie MacDiarmid.
The Store runs its own 4000-8ch farm in Hampshire, producing mushrooms, apples, manager of U Mellis (‘heesemonger in Morningside.
Others are less convinced. liwan Halley. author of the __.-__.-_-_--- , 7 recently published lit/inbmjuli Indy/mule”! .S'ltnp (lair/v says. Waitmsewasthe first supermarketto stock organic foods, in 1983. 'lt would be nice to think that the arriyal of a new supermarket increases l'ootl‘all in a neighbourhood and so
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pears, Columbian Blacktail eggs and free range chicken.