The new Waitrose in Nevill Road, Hove, finally opened on Thursday (10 April) after months of expectation.
It’s rare that a shop opening garners such excitement – but the prospect of the middle-class supermarket has been the talk of the town.
Now it’s here, what do shoppers think? Is it a marriage made in heaven – or a sore disappointment?
Here’s a selection of tweets telling the story:
If you are looking for anyone this afternoon, they are probably in the new Waitrose in Hove, along with the rest of the world… #busyorwhat
— brightbunch (@brightbuncher) April 11, 2014
Visited @waitrose Hove, not enough disabled spaces & long time in queue. Complained when next checkout opened & others not us were directed!
— Penny Gilbey (@PortsladePen) April 14, 2014
Just been to visit the new @Waitrose in Hove – lovely to have it pretty much on our doorstep! 😀
— Powered by Tea (@zeetha) April 10, 2014
Just been to the new #Waitrose in Hove, as supermarkets go it’s lovely. Felt like one of the Stepford Wives floating about.
— Mr Burns (@supernoodle76) April 11, 2014
Ooh lovely gin section in the new @waitrose Hove. So happy it’s open! Adios Tescos pic.twitter.com/Stasr1lwEj
— Liz Peterkin (@LizPeterkin) April 10, 2014
it’s not too bad, Hove gets a new Waitrose and Kemp Town gets a new “Subway” what more could you ask for, almost a tale of two cities !! …
— Chris Cooke (@kemptowncookie) April 10, 2014
And in an email, Valerie Paynter, of Save Hove, said: “The new branch is a comfortable and logically laid out place to shop. Once you are inside.
“The access and egress issues are a plain horror.
“I went by taxi late lunchtime and it was fine. No issue.
“But when I emerged three hours later, oh my. Gridlock in or out and a queue of traffic northwards waiting to drive in.”
Oh my gawd! the comments on here are as expected from the usual suspects, moaners and groaners & the look at me I’ve got delusions of grandeur and want my neighbours to know it so I’ll comment about the new waitrose.. Its a shop 5that sells stuff not a link to your weird and strange self belief that you are better than your fellow human! was suprised not to find a comment from mrs Bucket of Hove actually!
its a shop that sells stuff at inflated prices on the back it is a better quality product that their competitors, the reality is they have the same suppliers as morrisons, tesco, sainsburys and londis stores… It matters not what shop sells you the food stuffs its what you, or one does with it!
Oh my gawd! the comments on here are as expected from the usual suspects, moaners and groaners & the look at me I’ve got delusions of grandeur and want my neighbours to know it so I’ll comment about the new waitrose.. Its a shop 5that sells stuff not a link to your weird and strange self belief that you are better than your fellow human! was suprised not to find a comment from mrs Bucket of Hove actually!
its a shop that sells stuff at inflated prices on the back it is a better quality product that their competitors, the reality is they have the same suppliers as morrisons, tesco, sainsburys and londis stores… It matters not what shop sells you the food stuffs its what you, or one does with it!
forgive ones terrible use of the english language! as you may tell I shall not be shopping at waitrose I am too fond of my local greengrocer, Butcher and other independent high street shops, I am lucky to live in a Sussex town that has avoided homogenisation, although this is near to an end as tesco have crept in and Costa have gotten their claws into a new local development..
what happened to my green and pleasent land?
forgive ones terrible use of the english language! as you may tell I shall not be shopping at waitrose I am too fond of my local greengrocer, Butcher and other independent high street shops, I am lucky to live in a Sussex town that has avoided homogenisation, although this is near to an end as tesco have crept in and Costa have gotten their claws into a new local development..
what happened to my green and pleasent land?
Don’t know yet – the queues in Nevill Road for the car park made me abandon my first visit and the shortage of parking spaces in the car park made me abandon my second visit! Getting out of the car park is also a nightmare….
Don’t know yet – the queues in Nevill Road for the car park made me abandon my first visit and the shortage of parking spaces in the car park made me abandon my second visit! Getting out of the car park is also a nightmare….
Well I love it! I went along on opening day (10th April). Yes I agree that the prices in some cases are a little higher BUT… The quality is excellent! You get what you pay for! If you use a price comparison website you will see that in many cases the prices equal the other two main supermarkets (Tesco and Sainsburys). Shopping there is also a pleasure! Well laid out. Good lighting. Friendly, well informed staff, money off for the newspaper (thus making it complimentary) that I picked up along with a cup of coffee on the house! I am looking forward to shopping there again soon. Well down waitrose and I wish you all the best!! Dan.
Well I love it! I went along on opening day (10th April). Yes I agree that the prices in some cases are a little higher BUT… The quality is excellent! You get what you pay for! If you use a price comparison website you will see that in many cases the prices equal the other two main supermarkets (Tesco and Sainsburys). Shopping there is also a pleasure! Well laid out. Good lighting. Friendly, well informed staff, money off for the newspaper (thus making it complimentary) that I picked up along with a cup of coffee on the house! I am looking forward to shopping there again soon. Well down waitrose and I wish you all the best!! Dan.
Hard to understand the weird idea of Waitrose as some kind of snobs hangout where people go to see and be seen. Tosh in fact, “leem”. And one is more likely to see matronly and polite, or modest, suburban types in there than poseurs. Sadly, Waitrose looks like wanting to change this.
Tesco tends to get the people who shout urgently amongst themselves and power glare whilst pushing past people in their way, people who never say “Excuse me, please” in a pleasant way – far more than Waitrose does for some reason. Waitrose is a shop, not a private club. But people do behave better in there. Just a fact. That is not about snobbery. It is about a way of being that the English were once famous for.
The actual Waitrose USP has always been about appreciation and respect for food producers, customers and staff, an emphatic support for British suppliers (the meat especially, apparently), supply of ingredients for those who are old-fashioned cook-from-scratch pernickety or adventurous, the best and widest selection of cheeses and breads and yes, gourmet and speciality products. Check out the wall of ice creams at Neville Road!
Until recently it stocked an amazing range of specialist cleaning products for those who know how to look after their natural fibre clothing and like things to last and still look good. Biological, for instance, eats silk and bleach does silk no favours. Is that customer base dwindling? A whole swathe of them dumped. The old Waitrose would have educated the customers into buying it. Is it snobbery to have domestic skills and knowledge and wish to buy products that cater to using it? It’s just practical and sensible. Waitrose knows younger people can’t be bothered and so its moving on now, repositioning itself to serve them more than its traditional customer. Turning its back on the traditional customer base it seems to some.
Its ethical employment practices are something to be proud of and most employees are profit-sharing partners. That at least is not changing. It pioneered stocking organic fruit and vegetables and stuck with it even when nobody was prepared to pay the extra for it two decades ago. Sadly it has now dumped much of its fresh organic range.
An exclusive enclave for upmarket shoppers proffering Gold Credit cards at the checkout? Fortnum & Mason it is not. Harvey Nicks it is not. For the domestically knowledgeable and skilled? Well it used to be, and seems now to be embarrassed about that as it chases the jeans and microwave customer base with free coffee and ready meals….a huge amount of ready meals.
It is extremely well-mannered place to shop – is that seen as snobbish? Its coffee-wielding and newly acquired customer base decidely isn’t well-mannered. Staff at Western Road say they spend more time mopping up the spillage than stacking the shelves since this free coffee wheeze began to pull in the freebie-seekers in their droves. Slurping coffee, whilst pushing a trolley and shopping as well, needs more hands than customers have GOT. One woman put her coffee in her woven rush bag where it tipped over and spilled through it the length of the aisle she was in….and then lied to me in a loud voice whilst laughing with her friend that she had already informed staff it was there. She then swanned out of the building, laughing hilariously, without buying anything. It was when I reported the spillage to a young member of staff that the comment about cleaning spills more than stacking shelves was made to me.
Dump Western Road. It is now beyond awful. Use Neville Road instead. It is relaxing and puts you in a good mood. How Waitrose is going to address its parking provision I cannot imagine. But Neville Road is a big shop and needs a vast amount more parking spaces. And getting a taxi out requires going up to Neville Road to be picked up to avoid the taxi becoming stuck on the premises with its meter ticking for a VERY long time.
There is currently no delivery available at Neville Road. Coming in May apparently,
Hard to understand the weird idea of Waitrose as some kind of snobs hangout where people go to see and be seen. Tosh in fact, “leem”. And one is more likely to see matronly and polite, or modest, suburban types in there than poseurs. Sadly, Waitrose looks like wanting to change this.
Tesco tends to get the people who shout urgently amongst themselves and power glare whilst pushing past people in their way, people who never say “Excuse me, please” in a pleasant way – far more than Waitrose does for some reason. Waitrose is a shop, not a private club. But people do behave better in there. Just a fact. That is not about snobbery. It is about a way of being that the English were once famous for.
The actual Waitrose USP has always been about appreciation and respect for food producers, customers and staff, an emphatic support for British suppliers (the meat especially, apparently), supply of ingredients for those who are old-fashioned cook-from-scratch pernickety or adventurous, the best and widest selection of cheeses and breads and yes, gourmet and speciality products. Check out the wall of ice creams at Neville Road!
Until recently it stocked an amazing range of specialist cleaning products for those who know how to look after their natural fibre clothing and like things to last and still look good. Biological, for instance, eats silk and bleach does silk no favours. Is that customer base dwindling? A whole swathe of them dumped. The old Waitrose would have educated the customers into buying it. Is it snobbery to have domestic skills and knowledge and wish to buy products that cater to using it? It’s just practical and sensible. Waitrose knows younger people can’t be bothered and so its moving on now, repositioning itself to serve them more than its traditional customer. Turning its back on the traditional customer base it seems to some.
Its ethical employment practices are something to be proud of and most employees are profit-sharing partners. That at least is not changing. It pioneered stocking organic fruit and vegetables and stuck with it even when nobody was prepared to pay the extra for it two decades ago. Sadly it has now dumped much of its fresh organic range.
An exclusive enclave for upmarket shoppers proffering Gold Credit cards at the checkout? Fortnum & Mason it is not. Harvey Nicks it is not. For the domestically knowledgeable and skilled? Well it used to be, and seems now to be embarrassed about that as it chases the jeans and microwave customer base with free coffee and ready meals….a huge amount of ready meals.
It is extremely well-mannered place to shop – is that seen as snobbish? Its coffee-wielding and newly acquired customer base decidely isn’t well-mannered. Staff at Western Road say they spend more time mopping up the spillage than stacking the shelves since this free coffee wheeze began to pull in the freebie-seekers in their droves. Slurping coffee, whilst pushing a trolley and shopping as well, needs more hands than customers have GOT. One woman put her coffee in her woven rush bag where it tipped over and spilled through it the length of the aisle she was in….and then lied to me in a loud voice whilst laughing with her friend that she had already informed staff it was there. She then swanned out of the building, laughing hilariously, without buying anything. It was when I reported the spillage to a young member of staff that the comment about cleaning spills more than stacking shelves was made to me.
Dump Western Road. It is now beyond awful. Use Neville Road instead. It is relaxing and puts you in a good mood. How Waitrose is going to address its parking provision I cannot imagine. But Neville Road is a big shop and needs a vast amount more parking spaces. And getting a taxi out requires going up to Neville Road to be picked up to avoid the taxi becoming stuck on the premises with its meter ticking for a VERY long time.
There is currently no delivery available at Neville Road. Coming in May apparently,
Glad to see the saveHOVE (the city-wide nimby planning approval society) is totally in favor of shopping at Waitrose! It must be hell for the society when they all turned up in the one taxi.
Their posting above convinces me that they are totally out of touch with residents such as myself who are not particularly worried about washing silk and coffee spillages – I have to worry more about costs than ethics and look forward to a free cup of coffee!
It’s eye-opening that saveHOVE are so supportive of Waitrose even though it has caused so much apparent traffic chaos, but they are totally against a new school being built on waste ground behind Hove Park because of the potential traffic chaos.
In fact, when I went yesterday, after all the craze to go to the new store had subsided, there were no queues in or out of the store – especially as there were no dog races at the stadium. Perhaps choose your shopping time with more care?
Or perhaps Valerie Paynter should post in her own name rather than as autocratic leader and sole spokesperson for saveHOVE? Did Valerie get approval from the full membership before she sent you email and made her posting? I imagine not!
Sticks and Stones…’Pachalis’.
Waitrose is a supermarket that took over a supermarket and the fact it is more popular than the Co-op is not a planning consideration. But the fact it is there now and trading does mean existing traffic problem in the area are generally now greater. And it strengthens the planning arguments against Hove Park’s gardener’s station and former nursery being used for a primary school of up to 600 children who would be coming in from all over the county.
The saveHOVE supporters were canvassed for thoughts on Waitrose branches and a section of the email to them has been quoted here. Of those replying, views were overwhelmingly in line with what is written here and elsewhere. Two people replying think Waitrose is too expensive and not worth it.
@saveHOVE – utter rubbish.
This is you, Valerie Paynter, issuing your own views again as those of your supporters – then telling them what you think – and waiting for responses. How many positive responses did you actually get?
I note you call them supporters rather than members – you are the autocratic leader and your minions do your bidding. You do not run an organisation or a group – Valerie Paynter RULES!
Luckily we were saved the 3,000 word diatribe on YOUR web site about YOUR views on Waitrose the company, the ethics, the products, the staff, the customers, the organisation, the management and what YOU think they should do.
I note on your web site that you used the term ‘summoned’ – you really do think you are royalty – don’t you Dame Valeries Paynter?
And regarding the school – so 600 pupils will come from all over your realm. How will they get to the school – bus, walk, car? And how does this compare to the number of Waitrose customers arriving every day?
Pachalis, amazing! I had the exact thought upon response to Leem’s comment.. that’ll be Valerie I thought! and low and behold you came to the same conclusion..
as Stephen Fry once said, I love sainsburys, it keeps the riff raff away from waitrose stores!
I tried the new Waitrose several days after it opened and I was disappointed. As a vegan (and even for a vegetarian) the choice was minimal – and we are not a rare species here in B&H. Amongst the ready meals I saw a vegetarian chow mein and nothing else. All the Chinese and Indian meals had chicken, beef or pork. The “free from” section referred to gluten whereas Tesco does dairy free too. I spoke to the wine “expert” and there were no vegan wines and only a few marked vegetarian. The Co-op had loads. Yes, there was soya milk, yoghurt, ice cream and non-dairy cream but that was it. Vegetarians can get pizzas and pastas with cheese. The store had loads of meat, fish and dairy though. Definitely not the progressive store it used to be. I’ll stick to my good local health food store and buy some essentials in Aldi and others in my local Co-op.
Histrionics and bile from you – who does what? achieves what? works for what? – anonymous “Pachalis”? You are just a bilious troll full of hate, nastiness, black propaganda and your own uninformed opinion.
There are no minions in saveHOVE. Just collaborators and supporters. And people relying on saveHOVE to keep them informed. And there are a lot of us. You know, email works two ways and the saveHOVE traffic is not one way, I can assure you.
I feel sorry for you hating so much, seething, insulting and achieving what? Do you give your time to anything besides ugly trolling? You are like some weird stalker, where saveHOVE is concerned; you know that? What do you get out of doing it that is worth having?
Dear SuzieB. I’m sorry to disagree, but did you actually see the DEDICATED section for vegetarian foods? I was amazed at the choice! I can’t help feeling that you missed the section completely? I would hope that you may revisit and take another look. I hope you are as pleasantly surprised as I was. Dan.
SuzieB did you look at the ice cream cabinet at Neville Road? Stunning vegan ice creams and frozen yoghurts.
@Valerie Paynter aka saveHOVE
Point #1 – saveHOVE has as it’s bye-line ‘Engaging with environmental, infrastructure, conservation, planning and development issues in Hove’. WTF has this got to do with the results of your visit to Waitrose and you promoting the store?
Point #2 – you hide behind saveHOVE to issue vitriolic, slanderous attacks on councillors, companies and other residents who don’t agree with your views. Remember your attack on Penny Gilbey and the Portslade Police Station – did you ever apologies?
Point #3 – you are an autocratically run organisation/society which AFAIK has never had any elections or ever produced any minutes from meetings. IMHO saveHOVE is NOT a society as it is totally un-democratic. When did you get elected as chairperson and spokesperson for saveHOVE and by whom?
Point #4 – Just because you have a twitter feed that I believe you maintain and you send and receive emails from ‘many’ supporters does NOT give you the democratic right to have your views treated with any more value then any other resident of the city.
Point #5 – I am perfectly within my rights to question what is being stated by saveHOVE. You can make points and I can question them. If you don’t like it and are not willing to answer my points then why not complain to Brighton and Hove News? If you make comments as Valery Paynter I will happily accept them as your own views.
Point #6 – Your latest posting does show what a nasty vitriolic person you are and I assume you got a refund from the charm academy? Did you get approval from your followers / supporters / collaborators before issuing that?
Point #7 – you really need to sort out what is saveHOVE and what is Valery Paynter? Or are they exactly the same thing?
Point #8 – I think you are doing a wonderful job attacking the i360 – keep focusing on this and similar real planning issues and you will get me full support.
Well, I shall have to take another look. Maybe I missed the Vegetarian section that you saw Dan I saw one frozen section that said “Vegetarian” but it was less than a metre wide. Had some Linda McCartney stuff, a few other things and Quorn (not vegan). In the ice cream section I saw and bought Swedish Glacé but didn’t notice the other items you mentioned Valerie. Not a great fan of ice cream anyway. And the wine was definitely a disappointment. Perhaps they need to get a list of what’s what like M&S does.
I love the new Waitrose. The every day branded products are exactly the same price as the other supermarkets, but along with it you get great customer service, a much better layout, and an all round more enjoyable supermarket trip! Along with a free coffee! What more can shoppers ask for?!
Sirs
I have just returned from the new Waitrose in Hove and felt moved to write, such was the joy I experienced at finally having a shop befitting the type of people which make Hove the place it is today.
To provide some context, this morning I found myself bereft of specialist cleaning products – I find my cravats simply don’t react well to these modern liquids – and with my batman busy dusting my new watercolour portrait of her Majesty – ventured forth myself, albeit it with a degree of caution and a sturdy stick as one never knows whom one will encounter as one crosses Hove Park now. The increasing use of what was once a peaceful and fragrant corner of this town by children and families is a scandal for which I am yet to receive a satisfactory answer, despite my many letters.
As I made my journey, I reflected on just what a tragedy it is that it is impossible these days to fill one’s larder or furnish one’s quarters without having to negotiate a parade of undesirables – on both sides of the checkout – who seem hellbent on bringing all that is decent down to the gutter. Where are the manners? Where is the sense of respect for those who self-evidently know what is right?
So imagine my delight on arrival at the store to be greeted by a bright and clean environment, stocked with exactly the kinds of products which I’m sure the majority of the population will have no use for whatsoever, priced at just the right level to ensure they can’t afford to shop there anyway. I was offered a ‘coffee’ but my request for tea and cake in fine bone china unfortunately couldn’t be fulfilled, so I declined (something for the management to consider introducing though?). I was particularly pleased by the attentive service I received from the clean and well-shorn young people in their smartly pressed uniforms, which struck exactly the right level of deference one hopes for from someone in the service industries. It took me back to my early days at the barracks, and reminded me once more that this country has never recovered from the ending of National Service. My only hope is that the management make use of the extensive car park – or perhaps arrange to have the stadium next door demolished – for regular drills and disciplining.
My cravat-cleansing conundrum was answered quickly, politely and without the need to refer to a translator, and I was able to return to dead-heading my roses and tutting at my neighbours in no time at all. Thankfully, the bags are also of a high enough quality to prevent any spillages, a behaviour for which I would happily see the introduction of an ASBO.
I commend the local council for having the foresight and vision to support the arrival of Waitrose, and only hope that it means those of lesser personal hygiene habits, means and human decency will remain where they belong.
Yours
Brigadier General Sir Arthur Ponsenby Range Rover
Brigadier-General Sir Arthur Ponsenby Range Rover. I doff my hat to you my good man!
pachallis:
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. It´s about time Valerie was taken to task. We salute you.
@teacherdad – thanks for the support! Strange that Valery didn’t respond top my points?
@Brigadier-General Sir Arthur Ponsenby Range Rover – wonderful!
I can not get out of the place i love it anc thinking about asking for a job so i can just be there all the time
If really is a lovely store. Fresh and open. Kits a pity the staff have not been fully trained to the standard expected of waitrose or the john lewis organisation.