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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.
Yes. Again, it's not country-specific. I live in the car-centric suburbs of southern California, and I still have six grocery stores with a 5 to 20-minute walk. Do some Californians live in such places that they have to get in a car and drive to get to any supermarket? Yes. Do some Canadians? Yes. In both cases we're talking about population of over 35 million people in a vast area. They don't all live a short stroll or bus ride from a supermarket.
Of course, the smaller the country, the denser the population, and the fewer the large rural areas, the more efficient public transportation will likely be in that country, and the more likely it will be that the average person can easily access a wide array of groceries on foot or by bus or train.
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Originally Posted by f1000
A few other things:
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.
There are 24 Hour Supermarkets in the UK.
The larger Tesco Extra hypermarkets (box stores) are often 24 hour and other chains also operate 24 hour shops, and the giant hypermarkets have much more choice. Visitors and tourists tend not to see these type of shops as they are often in suburbs or on retail parks rather than in expensive city centre locations, in terms of more central locations smaller supermarkets and convenience shops tend to be the order of the day, and these tend to be late night or even 24 hour. Other notable 24 hour shops include petrol staion shops (gas station shops), motorway services (rest stops) and certain fast food and coffee shops, with chains such as Starbucks operating some 24 hour outlets such as the one at St Pancras Train Station in London.
In terms of baked goods, bread is generally packaged and you have a choice of packaged and non packaged. However such goods are generally packaged and you generally have a choice.
Whilst in terms of eggs they are not kept in the fridge because hens are already vaccinated against salmonella and the protective outer layer is damaged by washing and tempreture change. Salmonella in eggs has declined substantially since vaccination of hens, and all such eggs are stamped with a red lion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigLake
UK supermarkets (TESCO!!!) sell UK food, so by default, US.
UK Supermarkets sell food from across the globe rather than just from the US.
We do like certain US produce though, and companies such as Heinz and other US companies have a long history in terms of the UK.
Yes. Again, it's not country-specific. I live in the car-centric suburbs of southern California, and I still have six grocery stores with a 5 to 20-minute walk. Do some Californians live in such places that they have to get in a car and drive to get to any supermarket? Yes. Do some Canadians? Yes. In both cases we're talking about population of over 35 million people in a vast area. They don't all live a short stroll or bus ride from a supermarket.
Of course, the smaller the country, the denser the population, and the fewer the large rural areas, the more efficient public transportation will likely be in that country, and the more likely it will be that the average person can easily access a wide array of groceries on foot or by bus or train.
I think you are making the classic error about Canada. Yes it's a vast country with a small population, but the majority of people live in urban areas.
"Like many other industrialized countries, Canada is a very highly urbanized nation. In 2006, just over 80% of the population was living in urban areas, and roughly two thirds of Canadians were living in a census metropolitan area. The social phenomena, dynamics and issues that affect these large and sometimes very large urban areas touch the everyday lives of many people."
Yes people in some places drive to the grocery store, especially if they do a big weekly shop.
I think you are making the classic error about Canada. Yes it's a vast country with a small population, but the majority of people live in urban areas.
What is the error? If 80% live in urban areas, 20% do not. People in some areas of Canada drive to the grocery store. That's what I said.
What is the error? If 80% live in urban areas, 20% do not. People in some areas of Canada drive to the grocery store. That's what I said.
By mentioning a small population in a vast area, it sounded like you trying to make the connection between population density being less than it actually is. Sorry if I misunderstood.
Yes, 20 percent may live in rural areas, but when speaking about access to grocery stores within a country, it should be pointed out that the VAST majority of people in Canada live near a grocery store/stores.
Yes, 20 percent may live in rural areas, but when speaking about access to grocery stores within a country, it should be pointed out that the VAST majority of people in Canada live near a grocery store/stores.
Yes, that's certainly true.
It's hard to find useful statistics for the US. Most people in both well-populated areas and more rural areas have reasonable access to supermarkets, I think, whether they walk, ride public transit, or drive a car. Which one of those it is doesn't really matter as long as it works for you. But there are also some densely populated areas without any walkable grocery options. These tend to be very poor inner-city neighborhoods and the people there tend not to have cars. That is a problem.
Does anyone have any first hand experience of the difference between US Grocery Stores and those in other psrts of the world.
My experiences recount Chicago suburbs and Tokyo suburbs. "Suburbs" is italicized because the concept of it differs for both countries, in that what is considered "suburban" in feeling for Tokyoites would still be quite urban for Chicagoans, whereas "suburban" Chicago would be quite "desolate" or expansive for Tokyo.
At any rate, here are my notes:
Chicago suburbs:
-- usually larger buildings, more variety of products
-- chain grocery stores are common
-- seasonal fruit is available almost at any time of the year
-- dedicated carts for shopping
-- people bag your groceries (unless you do self-service)
-- debit is used more frequently
Tokyo suburbs:
-- fewer chains, more local supermarkets or one-off supermarkets
-- more things are bought individually at a set price, rather than by weight/bulk (think $1 per avocado, rather than 33 cents per lb. or whatever, even if the size of the produce varies)
-- seasonal fruit is seasonal, harder to find as many produce in the same store so you may need to shop around
-- higher prices generally
-- carts are mobile, wheeled-contraptions that you place a basket on top of, not a dedicated metal cart (at least, the majority of the stores I go to)
-- people have never bagged my groceries at any supermarket
I frequent the grocery store more often in Tokyo because I do not have a car, can only carry so many things, and many things are bought "on the spot" for the day's meal. Both have some music in the background, friendly staff, decorative premises, etc. Seasonal items are displayed in the front, though in general Japan always has something new and interesting seasonally, like beer or Kitkat flavors, new coffees, special yogurts, etc. The US has fewer special seasonal things at the frequency Japan has.
If someone asks, I would be able to answer in another post, but that is what is off the top of my head.
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Whoever talks of the superiority of European meat products should have to try to choke down a six pack of Tesco chicken nuggets. For all that they smelled pretty good, dang those were vile.
I do think that, moving target and all, there's a lot of overlap between US and UK grocery shopping. Wegmans and Marks & Spencers are pretty much brothers from another mother. And Walmart is Asda's corporate overlord. Albertson's/Safeway and Kroger are kin to Tesco and Sainsbury. I do give the edge to the UK for good cheap mass market bread- likely comes from being effectively France-adjacent-and can't understand why they turn around and use the equivalent of Wonderbread or Bimbo for so many of their grab-and-go sandwiches.
I'm in Florida, where the default grocery store is Publix, and part of their success comes from dialing in that last 20% of product selection to local tastes. Which since 70% of Floridians were born Somewhere Else, they'll invite you to celebrate Fat Tuesday with king cake, mojitos, and paczki because that's just how the region rolls.
Marks and Spencer was mainly a clothing and department store chain which started as a market stall in Leeds in Yorkshire in 1894, the food business developed much later from it's department store food halls. The company was set up by Polish Jewish Refugee Michael Marks and a Cashier from Skipton in North Yorkshire Thomas Spencer.
The same is true of Waitrose which is part of the John Lewis Department chain which dates back to 1864 when the John Lewis Drapery Shop opened on Oxford Street in London. It began as a department store but through it's food halls developed it's own food brand and went on to eventualy open numerous food stores under the Waitrose name. John Lewis has snce 1928 been owned by it's workers who are all partners in the company and who all receive an annual bonus. The company was given to the workers by the Lewis family who created the partnership.
In terms of Tesco, it has numerous ranges of foods in order to try to compete with both the budget supermarkets such as Aldi and the more upmarket chains such as Marks and Spencer and Waitrose.
Tesco was founded by Jewish entrepreneur Jack Cohen as a market stall in the East End of London in 1948. Cohen bought a shipment of tea from Thomas Edward Stockwell. He made new labels using the initials of the supplier's name (TES), and the first two letters of his surname (CO), forming the word TESCO. Cohen lived long enough to see Tesco's first hypermarket sized store open.
In terms of the other ASDA which now belongs to Walmart, it's name was formed more recently when un 1965, the Asquith brothers approached Associated Dairies to run the butchery departments within their small store chain, a merger was proposed. So they joined together to form a new company, Asda (Asquith + Dairies) which is still has it's headquarters in Leeds in Yorkshire.
Morrisons is another Yorkshire Supermarket chain, the company was founded by William Morrison in 1899 who started the business as an egg and butter merchant in Rawson Market, Bradford, England, operating under the name of Wm Morrison Limited.
His son Ken Morrison took over the company in 1952, aged 21. In 1958, Morrisons opened a small shop in the city centre. It was the first self-service store in Bradford, the first store to have prices on its products, and it had three checkouts. The company opened its first supermarket, "Victoria", in the Girlington district of Bradford in 1961. In 1967, Morrisons became a public limited company listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Finally Sainsbury's is another family business which was established in 1869, at 173 Drury Lane in Holborn, London by John James Sainsbury and his wife Mary Ann. In 1922, J Sainsbury was incorporated as a private company, as 'J. Sainsbury Limited', when it became the United Kingdom's largest grocery group. Sainbury's is currently the second largest UK Supermarket chain after Tesco. The Sainsbury family are major philanthropist and have given money to various causes and scientific research projects, and they still retain a shareholding in the company.
Last edited by Brave New World; 02-04-2018 at 07:14 AM..
The US is fun as far as shopping, everything you can possibly think of you'll find at a US supermarket.
The UK is too expensive and food not necessarily good.
Canada's produce is terrible (It makes sense, Canada is not agriculture land).
The best produce I've seen it's in Asia and Latin America.
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