Cafe & coffee

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
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[XAP]Bob
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Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by [XAP]Bob »

reohn2 wrote:One thing I've never understood is why anyone wants a shop open 24hours a day.
If you can't do your shopping between 8am and 8pm possibly 10pm you really are in dire straights :? .


Two things
- Shopping hours mean planning.
This is particularly obvious around Christmas, when the shops do actually close for nearly 24 hours. This tends to result in the gross over purchase of basic good (quite aside from the over consumption we often see). People don't plan any more - the mobile phone has made such things unnecessary. No postcard saying "meet me under the clock at Euston station at ten past two", nowadays you just phone when you get there.

- Shopping hours follow society
And since society is going to hell in a handcart, so are shopping hours. Apparently everything has to be 24/7/52, and if you're not plugged in then ... something...

Personally I have found it useful at times, and since I used to live in London I got used to it. Indeed it's not that long ago that I cycled to $supermarket on to find it closed, I just don't think about opening hours. Particularly useful when returning from a long journey for instance...
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Psamathe
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Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by Psamathe »

Continuing to depart from the original topic and continuing my thoughts about supermarkets, I find it really amusing when you shop a Tesco and after paying they give you a voucher for e.g. £2.65 as in effect they charged you more for your shopping than whoever they are "price matching" with that week. Whilst they till people have been trained to make it look like they are giving you money off for free, it actually means they have been totally uncompetitive and over charged you (compared to a competitor).

Ian
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Mick F
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Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by Mick F »

Sorry, been off air for a couple of days ......

£1 for a trolley.
You put your £1 in and wheel your trolley round the shop, then back to your car, then return it and get your £1 back.
Net financial cost = zero.

Trouble is, the next time you go shopping, the process is repeated.
You need the £1 again ......................... endlessly.
Therefore, in order to use a shopping trolley, you always need £1 ....... which, in effect, you never get back because you need it again when you go shopping again.

I don't pay now. Morrisons is free, and at Lidl I use my trolley releasing device. We use Asda sometimes, and their trolleys are free. Rarely use Tesco, but their trolleys are free too.
Mick F. Cornwall
Psamathe
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Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by Psamathe »

Mick F wrote:Rarely use Tesco, but their trolleys are free too.

Except, as with most other aspects of Tesco, their free trolley represents lower value for money that at other supermarkets because invariably one wheel wont work properly and you're fighting to push straight. Or the trolley os bent and only running on 3 wheels. Or somebody has tried to nick it and one of the wheel brakes is fixed on locking the wheel. Even free can be worse value for money.

Whereas Waitrose .. get somebody to push their fully working trolleys around for you and still free (except for the rather inflated price of the shopping).

Ian
thirdcrank
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Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by thirdcrank »

When I was a lad the Asda as it's called around here (a bit like the CTC) was closed on Sundays And Mondays. The Morley Asda was behind the firm's original HQ on Britannia Road AKA the A650. The empty car park was well-used for driving lessons etc. Monday was the day for shelf stocking. Somebody in the supermarket trade had the bright idea that if they were doing that, they might as well be open.

I hate shopping in busy supermarkets more than I don't like shopping in quiet ones. One advantage of working shifts is that you can go at quiet times - Tuesday morning used to be my favourite. Had they been open all night when I used to work nights, I'd have been in there at 2.15am.
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NUKe
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Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by NUKe »

I think the original Asda in Morley was on Fountain street
between Odd fellow street and Queen street onthe left as you go down the hill. It was spartan. but they did have trolleys
NUKe
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thirdcrank
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Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by thirdcrank »

NUKe wrote:I think the original Asda in Morley was on Fountain street
between Odd fellow street and Queen street onthe left as you go down the hill. It was spartan. but they did have trolleys


I'm sure you're right. :D I'm going off my trolley - I had reached the ripe old age of 30 when we moved to Morley, so I was wrong to write "When I was a lad..."
Nareloc
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Joined: 5 Oct 2008, 9:21pm

Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by Nareloc »

Last week I got two cups of delicious coffee and a croissant for around £4-50. Not one of your usual cycling cafes though, this was at Rome airport! :D
julianm
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Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by julianm »

Thats very good going for 1. An airport 2. Italy
I walked past Florians in Venice but just couldn`t bring myself to pay the €12 for a miniscule coffee & another €6 to be in hearing distance of the orchestra.
I did listen to them though so must be about €18 in profit!

I used to cycle up Armley town street 40 years ago past the Co-op. On an ex-police Raleigh roadster. I also remember the dried Vesta curries from Morrisons in Morley.
reohn2
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Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by reohn2 »

julianm wrote:Thats very good going for 1. An airport 2. Italy.....


We've never found Italy(Tuscany) expensive,good coffee is usually around a 1.50 euro max and usually comes with a little cake on the side.Unless you're in a prime spot,say the Piazza del Campo in Siena then it can double or treble in price.
A decent meal for two in a nice little restaurant in a smaller town we've never paid more than 35 euros.
It's about three years since we've been though,so prices may have gone up a little.
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honesty
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Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by honesty »

Coffee and cake in Italy is not expensive, as long as you dont go into the very obvious tourist traps. With no laws about price gouging (as far as I understand it) they can charge what they want, and some businesses whack the price up massively in certain areas for things like coffees and ice creams. I haven't ever paid more than 2 euros for a coffee. Whenever I go to see the family over there theres a little place in the port of Moniga Del Garda that does fantastic coffee and I always go for breakfast.
Penfolds11
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Joined: 9 Jan 2013, 12:08pm

Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by Penfolds11 »

Backing up the Italy experience, I've been to Venice twice: once as a day trip when an espresso was about 5 Euros and once with an overnight when, once the cruise liners had left port, we walked a few side-streets back from the main tourist thoroughfare and got the classic Italian coffee with a small cake for less than half that price.

And that's expensive compared to Rome side streets where the same is usually between 1 and 2 Euros.

All presuming that you are happy standing at the counter (usually for an espresso) or sitting at a formica table, and don't want a comfy sofa to sink into for an hour...
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bigjim
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Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by bigjim »

I was paying less than a Euro for a Cafe Grande in Portugal last week.
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When out on a local ride with my son we always stop at the butty shop and get a suprisingly good coffee for 90p.
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Out with the club church halls are a favorite for decent coffee or tea served in proper cups and usually only a £1 with free refills, plus you are supprting good causes.
But knocking a brew up on the side of the road is, to me, one of the pleasures of being a cyclist.
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MikeF
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Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by MikeF »

Shouldn't this post be in "The Tea Shop"?? :lol: :lol: Or do we need "The Coffee Shop" as well? :lol:
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andrich
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Joined: 1 Nov 2014, 9:10pm

Re: Cafe & coffee

Post by andrich »

Called at the tearoom in Hovingham (Howardian Hills, N Yorks) yesterday. Had Apple pie and cream and a latte. I nearly fell over when they asked for £6.55. I t was £2.95 for the latte - dearer than Costa etc. I won't be calling there again unless I am desperate! I hadn't paid so much for lunch in Pickering!
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