Supermarkets
In defence of the supermarket
Supermarkets are once again back in the firing line. Henry Dimbleby, the Leon co-founder turned government food tsar, has blamed…
You’d never believe what goes on in the Sainsbury’s car park
Psychogeography takes many forms: Sebaldian gravitas, Will Self’s provocative flash and dazzle and Iain Sinclair’s jeremiads for lost innocence. Gareth…
Tesco’s new Brexit supermarket doesn’t stack up
Supermarkets have always moved with the times. After the recession we wanted affordable luxury, so we got M&S’s ‘Dine in…
What makes Argos worth £1.4 billion? I reckon I know
When I was at school in the 1970s, some of the richer kids would come back from their summer holidays…
Oh, how I will miss the plastic bag!
It has taken years, but finally England has joined the rest of the United Kingdom and other countries around the…
We let programmers run our lives. So how’s their moral code?
A few years ago, in the week before Christmas when supermarket sales are at their highest, staff at one branch…
Not just a fad: the dangerous reality of 'clean eating'
The ‘clean eating’ revolution is more likely to make you ill than healthy
The trick that makes self-checkouts almost tolerable
I spent the last few days in Deal and Folkestone with Professor Richard Thaler at Nudgestock, Ogilvy’s seaside festival of…
The greatest wine I’ve ever drunk
The supermarket chains are not always blameworthy. Their missionary efforts have helped to ensure that wine drinking in Britain is…
Two shops. Two philosophies. Which side are you on?
Are you Lush or are you Aldi? Me, I’m Aldi all the way. So much so that when someone —…
Why cheap oil could mean a Labour victory
BP’s profits are down, and the oil giant is slashing up to $6 billion out of its investment plan for…
The RMT’s Mick Cash and Tesco’s Dave Lewis win my prizes for media manipulation
Mixed results for the Brits at the Golden Globes, but I’m pleased to announce that my Golden Monkey Wrench for…
Dear Mary: How can I stop my future son-in-law saying ‘must of’
Q. My future son-in-law has been successfully house-trained in the use of upper-middle-class English over the years that he has…
Yes, Wonga lent at shocking rates – but it was customers who lied
‘Payday Lady is not trading at this time,’ says her website, sounding a little like La Dame aux camélias. Indeed (since…
Forecasting is a mug’s game – but I was right about the economic revival
‘Perhaps I should shift my prediction to 23 July 2014,’ I wrote in April 2012. ‘That’s the opening of the…
Martin Vander Weyer: Why I’d rather run M&S than Tesco
This first working week of January is apparently the time when we’re most likely to think about a change of…
