All the Asda’s near me are kinda out of my way so there’s always a cheaper option, or a more convenient option. I did sometimes go out of my way for the pizza counter but then they cut most of the topping options so I stopped even doing that.
Independent_Tour_988 on
Private Equity run businesses into the ground. They don’t buy them because they think the underlying business is good but for some ‘unseen’ reason. I don’t know the specifics but in Asda’s case I’d guess it’s their property portfolio. Collapse the grocery business and then sell the land for property development. Councils can’t object if the underlying business has gone belly up.
Scooby359 on
From the Telegraph article it refers to –
>The former Marks & Spencer boss said he would urge Mohsin Issa to permanently step back from the day-to-day running of Asda as it battles to reverse falling sales and market share erosion.
>He said: “I wouldn’t encourage him to [intervene in operations], and I am the chairman.”
>Lord Rose said: “We need a full-time fully experienced retail executive to come in.
>“We always said Mohsin was a particular horse for a particular course. He is a disrupter, an entrepreneur, he is an agitator. We’ve added a significant number of stores and we’ve changed a lot but it now needs a different animal. In the nicest possible way, Mohsin’s work is largely complete.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the chairman of a business tell the owner to piss off in such blunt terms before! 😂
wkavinsky on
When you asset strip the company you did a leveraged buyout of, cut staff to the bone, and don’t have any stock on shelves, losing market share should not be a surprise.
Especially if you’re no longer one of the cheapest supermarkets.
Xenozip3371Alpha on
The only reason I still go to Asda at all is because they have the best Big Bread Baguettes and Crusty Buns, I do like the Big Bread at Morrisons, but their Crusty Bun’s actual crust is like chewing rubber, their normal buns are really nice though.
pajamakitten on
Lidl and Aldi have stolen its niche of being the cheapest option around. What else does it have going for it? My local one has miserable staff (even for retail workers, they are miserable), poor stock levels, no real supermarket offers etc. They might have the odd bit Sainsbury’s or Tesco do not, however that is not enough to build a brand on. As bad as private equity firms are, ASDA still has a tonne of issues to overcome if it wants to win back customers.
SuboptimalOutcome on
The local Asda has noticeably gone downhill in the last month. I was in there this morning, no checkout operators on at 10:00, one staff member running all the self checkouts, shelves half empty, aisles full of pallets, presumably they’ve cut back on night shifts and shelves are being stocked in the morning.
DidijustDidthat on
Are any of there 24 hour stores still 24hours? Imo they fucked up not bringing that back post pandemic
AdTrue7014 on
Yup.
Decline Decline Decline.
Hardly any staff…mostly self serve tills….food more expensive than rivals Lidle and Aldi and Sainsbury’s.
No meal deals worth a mention.
Pizzas used to be good but no more.
Rarely have organic produce.
Started coating fresh produce with chemicals to prolong shelf life.
Shame used to be good.
They sent me £5.00 voucher to tempt me back, not tempting enough.
3106Throwaway181576 on
Killed by Aldi and Lidl, asset stripping was the natural next step
Original_Success3895 on
I hope it goes bust so their crappy store leaves our village and gets replaced by something better.
XenorVernix on
It has been clear ever since ASDA was taken over that it is going downhill towards oblivion, but what I saw in the supermarket last night suggested it was past the point of no return.
Irish Stew. Once a cheap Smart Price meal that would get me laughed at for eating at work on my lunchbreak because “it looked like dog food” and cost about 50p a tin. This was pre-pandemic before we all worked from home. These vultures took over ASDA a couple of years ago and rebranded Smart Price to Just Essentials. Following this Irish Stew went up to 75p. Quite a bit but we’re in high inflation so whatever, I can deal with that. Then the price was whacked up to £1.09 several months later, at some point early last year. At that point I stopped buying it because for £1.09 it wasn’t worth it for such poor quality food. There were better options. I went in ASDA last night and saw this product now on the shelves for £1.90! That’s a former Smart Price own branded tin of cheap stew with barely any meat in it retailing at nearly £2. Like what the actual fuck?
They have done this to lots of former Smart Price products. Rebranded to Just Essentials and now charging the same price as premium brands. I have seen own branded confectionary on their shelves at higher prices than the branded equivalents.
They did the same with the ASDA petrol stations. As soon as they took over they stopped the supermarket competing on price, which led to other supermarkets not needing to compete with them and is responsible for the extra we’re all paying on fuel right now.
I’m more convinced than ever that these guys are just squeezing as much money as possible out of customers before the company collapses into administration in the next couple of years. This supermarket was bought with a plan of failure in mind. I can only hope the other supermarkets pick up the stores and keep the staff employed.
I used to do all of our shopping at ASDA but now it is like our fourth choice behind Farmfoods, ALDI and Morrisons. If there were large Tesco and Sainsburys in reasonable driving distance it would be behind them too.
littlesteelo on
They have failed to evolve and have a huge branding issue. You walk into their stores and it feels like you’re going back to 2005.
Aldi and Lidl have managed to corner the low priced market without seeming low quality, whereas Asda’s products give me the perception of being cheap and nasty, despite what the reality is.
13 Comments
All the Asda’s near me are kinda out of my way so there’s always a cheaper option, or a more convenient option. I did sometimes go out of my way for the pizza counter but then they cut most of the topping options so I stopped even doing that.
Private Equity run businesses into the ground. They don’t buy them because they think the underlying business is good but for some ‘unseen’ reason. I don’t know the specifics but in Asda’s case I’d guess it’s their property portfolio. Collapse the grocery business and then sell the land for property development. Councils can’t object if the underlying business has gone belly up.
From the Telegraph article it refers to –
>The former Marks & Spencer boss said he would urge Mohsin Issa to permanently step back from the day-to-day running of Asda as it battles to reverse falling sales and market share erosion.
>He said: “I wouldn’t encourage him to [intervene in operations], and I am the chairman.”
>Lord Rose said: “We need a full-time fully experienced retail executive to come in.
>“We always said Mohsin was a particular horse for a particular course. He is a disrupter, an entrepreneur, he is an agitator. We’ve added a significant number of stores and we’ve changed a lot but it now needs a different animal. In the nicest possible way, Mohsin’s work is largely complete.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the chairman of a business tell the owner to piss off in such blunt terms before! 😂
When you asset strip the company you did a leveraged buyout of, cut staff to the bone, and don’t have any stock on shelves, losing market share should not be a surprise.
Especially if you’re no longer one of the cheapest supermarkets.
The only reason I still go to Asda at all is because they have the best Big Bread Baguettes and Crusty Buns, I do like the Big Bread at Morrisons, but their Crusty Bun’s actual crust is like chewing rubber, their normal buns are really nice though.
Lidl and Aldi have stolen its niche of being the cheapest option around. What else does it have going for it? My local one has miserable staff (even for retail workers, they are miserable), poor stock levels, no real supermarket offers etc. They might have the odd bit Sainsbury’s or Tesco do not, however that is not enough to build a brand on. As bad as private equity firms are, ASDA still has a tonne of issues to overcome if it wants to win back customers.
The local Asda has noticeably gone downhill in the last month. I was in there this morning, no checkout operators on at 10:00, one staff member running all the self checkouts, shelves half empty, aisles full of pallets, presumably they’ve cut back on night shifts and shelves are being stocked in the morning.
Are any of there 24 hour stores still 24hours? Imo they fucked up not bringing that back post pandemic
Yup.
Decline Decline Decline.
Hardly any staff…mostly self serve tills….food more expensive than rivals Lidle and Aldi and Sainsbury’s.
No meal deals worth a mention.
Pizzas used to be good but no more.
Rarely have organic produce.
Started coating fresh produce with chemicals to prolong shelf life.
Shame used to be good.
They sent me £5.00 voucher to tempt me back, not tempting enough.
Killed by Aldi and Lidl, asset stripping was the natural next step
I hope it goes bust so their crappy store leaves our village and gets replaced by something better.
It has been clear ever since ASDA was taken over that it is going downhill towards oblivion, but what I saw in the supermarket last night suggested it was past the point of no return.
Irish Stew. Once a cheap Smart Price meal that would get me laughed at for eating at work on my lunchbreak because “it looked like dog food” and cost about 50p a tin. This was pre-pandemic before we all worked from home. These vultures took over ASDA a couple of years ago and rebranded Smart Price to Just Essentials. Following this Irish Stew went up to 75p. Quite a bit but we’re in high inflation so whatever, I can deal with that. Then the price was whacked up to £1.09 several months later, at some point early last year. At that point I stopped buying it because for £1.09 it wasn’t worth it for such poor quality food. There were better options. I went in ASDA last night and saw this product now on the shelves for £1.90! That’s a former Smart Price own branded tin of cheap stew with barely any meat in it retailing at nearly £2. Like what the actual fuck?
They have done this to lots of former Smart Price products. Rebranded to Just Essentials and now charging the same price as premium brands. I have seen own branded confectionary on their shelves at higher prices than the branded equivalents.
They did the same with the ASDA petrol stations. As soon as they took over they stopped the supermarket competing on price, which led to other supermarkets not needing to compete with them and is responsible for the extra we’re all paying on fuel right now.
I’m more convinced than ever that these guys are just squeezing as much money as possible out of customers before the company collapses into administration in the next couple of years. This supermarket was bought with a plan of failure in mind. I can only hope the other supermarkets pick up the stores and keep the staff employed.
I used to do all of our shopping at ASDA but now it is like our fourth choice behind Farmfoods, ALDI and Morrisons. If there were large Tesco and Sainsburys in reasonable driving distance it would be behind them too.
They have failed to evolve and have a huge branding issue. You walk into their stores and it feels like you’re going back to 2005.
Aldi and Lidl have managed to corner the low priced market without seeming low quality, whereas Asda’s products give me the perception of being cheap and nasty, despite what the reality is.