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I am in California, but if i were to compare London vs NYC, London is way better in grocery shopping experiences.
The OP articles were not quite comparing oranges to oranges, to be fair. Way more easy to find grocery stores when out & about in the UK.
I like the "food hall" concept in the UK...the array of ready-to-go foods, and in general less processed/ sugary/ salty food stuffs. Waitrose, M & S, etc. I do favor many of the M & S house label food items.
They have more variations of the same company based on location, etc (Tesco, Tesco Express, Tesco Metro etc)
In terms of sheer variety, yes the US still leads. I notice they have far less variety in the UK of items such as sugary cereals..ice cream..cake baking mixes...
The UK grocery store clerks are sitting down at the till and you bag your own groceries!
Australia. If i recall, there are mainly just 2 grocery stores chains- Coles & Woolworths, duopoly of that market. I found the grocery store experience there to be a cross between shopping in the UK & US, which is what you'd expect. Also as I was relying on public transport there, it was nice that grocery stores were very close to public transit points- which is often not the case in the US (American supermarkets are strangely often off the beaten path).
Canada. Similar to the US. Except somehow again also easier to locate, if you rely on public transit routes, which I did during my travels there. I cannot say the same about the ease of accessing supermarkets in my part of California if you do not have a car. I do find that is the case for much of the US as well- grocery stores are not next to transit hubs/ subway stations, like they are in other parts of the world.
in the US many (not all) supermarkets- suburban- stay open 24 hours a day. Certain Ralphs & Wal Mart Supercenters in California.
I do recall grocery stores do shut down usually from 10-12am in other parts of the world such as Canada & Australia.
Another thing I noticed that in the UK, the baked goods are often out in the open without any covers or cases. Thought that was a little bizarre, and hope nobody would tamper with the products, being so right-in-the-face.
Most supermarkets do NOT stay open 24 hours with the exception of certain large cities usually on the coast.
Most Americans do NOT rely upon public transportation on a daily basis. Even when I lived 2-3 blocks from a supermarket, I would rarely walk to get my groceries as it is hard to carry a week's worth of groceries in my arms. Also, the closest supermarkets were generally not the ones that offered the best prices or selection. Also, the last thing that I want to do is to walk on a public transit bus with three bags of groceries.
Such a quintessential typical American statement. How is the quality of the food? Organic? Preservatives, anti-biotics, GMO, or do you even care.
Americans will just never accept that anything can be done better except their way. Ugh.
Hey Tom, the petulant teenage American "I hate America more than anyone else in the world, and I am American, myself!" non-stop edgelord circle jerk is over at tumblr. ---->
Plenty to criticise about America, but the rhetorical method of comparing the best of Europe to the worst of the US as if the comparison were on equal footing is best left to the anarcho-communist European and Canadian teenagers.
Most supermarkets do NOT stay open 24 hours with the exception of certain large cities usually on the coast.
Most Americans do NOT rely upon public transportation on a daily basis. Even when I lived 2-3 blocks from a supermarket, I would rarely walk to get my groceries as it is hard to carry a week's worth of groceries in my arms. Also, the closest supermarkets were generally not the ones that offered the best prices or selection. Also, the last thing that I want to do is to walk on a public transit bus with three bags of groceries.
I didn't say MOST grocery stores in the US, I said many. Read more carefully before trying to "clarify"
I did not say Most Americans rely on public transportation, I said grocery stores in the US are often off the beaten path from public transit routes, which is NOT as likely the case as in the UK, Canada and Australia. I relied on public transit in those areas, and do not in the US, but I am aware of this difference, and also aware of the implication between public transit usage/ acceptance and perhaps where retailers locate themselves.
I didn't say MOST grocery stores in the US, I said many. Read more carefully before trying to "clarify"
I did not say Most Americans rely on public transportation, I said grocery stores in the US are often off the beaten path from public transit routes, which is NOT as likely the case as in the UK, Canada and Australia. I relied on public transit in those areas, and do not in the US, but I am aware of this difference, and also aware of the implication between public transit usage/ acceptance and perhaps where retailers locate themselves.
Most Americans do NOT rely upon public transportation on a daily basis. Even when I lived 2-3 blocks from a supermarket, I would rarely walk to get my groceries as it is hard to carry a week's worth of groceries in my arms. Also, the closest supermarkets were generally not the ones that offered the best prices or selection. Also, the last thing that I want to do is to walk on a public transit bus with three bags of groceries.
Maybe shop more often than once a week, and you will have one bag of groceries with you on the bus?
I am in California, but if i were to compare London vs NYC, London is way better in grocery shopping experiences.
The OP articles were not quite comparing oranges to oranges, to be fair. Way more easy to find grocery stores when out & about in the UK.
I like the "food hall" concept in the UK...the array of ready-to-go foods, and in general less processed/ sugary/ salty food stuffs. Waitrose, M & S, etc. I do favor many of the M & S house label food items.
They have more variations of the same company based on location, etc (Tesco, Tesco Express, Tesco Metro etc)
In terms of sheer variety, yes the US still leads. I notice they have far less variety in the UK of items such as sugary cereals..ice cream..cake baking mixes...
The UK grocery store clerks are sitting down at the till and you bag your own groceries!
Australia. If i recall, there are mainly just 2 grocery stores chains- Coles & Woolworths, duopoly of that market. I found the grocery store experience there to be a cross between shopping in the UK & US, which is what you'd expect. Also as I was relying on public transport there, it was nice that grocery stores were very close to public transit points- which is often not the case in the US (American supermarkets are strangely often off the beaten path).
Canada. Similar to the US. Except somehow again also easier to locate, if you rely on public transit routes, which I did during my travels there. I cannot say the same about the ease of accessing supermarkets in my part of California if you do not have a car. I do find that is the case for much of the US as well- grocery stores are not next to transit hubs/ subway stations, like they are in other parts of the world.
I can't speak for all of Canada, and I do live in the centre of town, but I counted 16 grocery stores that I can walk to. One is half a block away ,many just a few blocks. The furthest one would be a 20 minute walk away. I shop every day. This number doesn't include a huge public market that I have access to as well.
They range from very high end, to the basic bag your own no name type store, including 3 that are asian influenced, with asian style products from all over Asia, Canada and the US. One of my favourite dumplings is US made
As for store hours, most close at midnight, some 11pm. One is open until 3am.
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