Birtley’s ex-Netto Co-operative Food – shiny, but still a Co-op

Graham Soult

Retail consultant, writer, blogger; helping retailers via CannyInsights.com and CannySites.com. Say hello on Twitter at @soult!

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5 Responses

  1. Keith Rennoldson says:

    I used to work on security in the old Neto store and going past there the other week brought back happy and not so happy memories.
    I never went inside but I have often wondered if some of the old staff are there and is it still run by Ben Lynsey the manager.

  2. J Oliver says:

    No One walks around with a shopping trolley, it’s so expensive that they only buy a small amount of shopping to just top up. The chemist is great though.

  3. Gary Brien says:

    The problem that the Co-Op has is that its retained the awful staff from Netto (at least at non managerial level) who seem to struggle to adapt to the ways of a ‘proper’ supermarket and have hired a security guard who believes the Co-Op is not a place to shop but an outpost of the CIA.

    And of course, in a high street dominated by the elderly…it is expensive compared to Asda and Sainsburys which are just a short bus ride away

    More striking for me was that I did a ‘quick shop’ to stock up on some midweek essentials. I ended up spending more on the same items than I had in Waitrose in town the week before!

    Bring on Morrisons. But as you say with 2 Sainsburys, a Tesco and an ASDA within such short distance and clocking up those alleged missing £20m supermarket shops from the area since Morrisons closed (according to Ghd Council) it’s not looking good for either Morrisons or the Co-Op

  4. Graham Soult says:

    Fair point, Zoe – that’s true of my local Co-op in Dunston too, where the staff are delightful.

    In my experience, it does seem to be the Co-op’s supermarkets that fall down – where you’re more likely to compare with the experience at the ‘big 4’ grocers – rather than its local convenience stores.

  5. You should visit my local Co-op (a lot smaller, so maybe not comparable…). The customer service in there is nearly always personal and friendly.

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