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[ Tescopoly How One Shop Came Out On Top And Why It Matters ] By Simms, Andrew ( Author ) Mar-2007 [ Paperback ] Tescopoly How One Shop Came Out on Top and Why it Matters
In his analysis, Andrew Simms, director of the acclaimed think-and-do-tank the New Economics Foundation, and in association with tescopoly.org, tackles a subject that none of us can afford to ignore - what supermarkets in general, and Tesco in particular, are doing to the way we think we live our lives.
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First published January 1, 2007
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About the author
Andrew Simms
39 books5 followersAndrew Simms is policy director of nef (the new economics foundation) the award-winning UK think-and-do tank, and head of nef's Climate Change Programme. His latest book is Ecological Debt: Global Warming and the Wealth of Nations published by Pluto Press.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 21, 2013
I think I would have preferred to have read this as an extended article as it contains a lot of repetition and information that I'd read elsewhere; the author seemed to labour the point a bit too much. However, the book certainly had an impact on me and will definitely change the way I think about where I do my shopping.
Though I had thought about it previously, it really hit home to me how much Vancouver, BC is a "clone town" with its infamous 3 Starbucks on one intersection. What is the point? How does this contribute to my life as a citizen of that city in the slightest? I was even inspired to write to the Vancouver city council enquiring how they decided to give planning permission because it seems to me that most shops that close down are goodies and most that open are expensive, boring and chains. Compare this with Bellingham just over the border and you can see how cool and unique a city can be. After reading, I really thought more about my community and how large chain stores suck out vibrancy and how much smaller independent stores contribute to your life as a citizen.
It also saddened me to hear how England (which I left 10 years ago) has changed on account of Tesco (and their ilk) and their aggressive invasion of towns and countryside.
There were a few things that I couldn't quite agree with, though. For example, he writes about the "high cost of low price" but then suggests shopping in local markets because they are cheaper. This seems a bit of a contradiction to me and as a shopper I'm confused about the true cost of things and it seems hard to know when you're being ripped off and when you are providing the people who produced your item a decent living.
Also, I find some snobbery and assumption in this book. For example, on p.247, he writes how he gallantly walks to his local supermarket while his neighbours are seen to be unpacking their car with grocery bags. What scum! Or maybe, they were just picking up stuff on the way home from work or maybe they needed to buy quite a lot of stuff which they couldn't carry? Also on P.320 there is mention of the fallacy of farmers markets being an impractical luxury (unsupported by any evidence). Well, Vancouver's farmer markets are typically much more expensive than supermarkets and about 50% of the stalls sell "gourmet" cookies and other crap at astronomical prices. If we are cutting out the supermarket middle-men, then why are they still so expensive? <-- that's just a rant, not especially connected to Tescopoly
All in all, though I disagreed with some aspects of the book and found some of it redundant, it did clearly express some issues that I had thought about but not fully formulated to direct my behaviour in what I consider to be ethical. For that, I am most thankful to Andrew SImms.
Though I had thought about it previously, it really hit home to me how much Vancouver, BC is a "clone town" with its infamous 3 Starbucks on one intersection. What is the point? How does this contribute to my life as a citizen of that city in the slightest? I was even inspired to write to the Vancouver city council enquiring how they decided to give planning permission because it seems to me that most shops that close down are goodies and most that open are expensive, boring and chains. Compare this with Bellingham just over the border and you can see how cool and unique a city can be. After reading, I really thought more about my community and how large chain stores suck out vibrancy and how much smaller independent stores contribute to your life as a citizen.
It also saddened me to hear how England (which I left 10 years ago) has changed on account of Tesco (and their ilk) and their aggressive invasion of towns and countryside.
There were a few things that I couldn't quite agree with, though. For example, he writes about the "high cost of low price" but then suggests shopping in local markets because they are cheaper. This seems a bit of a contradiction to me and as a shopper I'm confused about the true cost of things and it seems hard to know when you're being ripped off and when you are providing the people who produced your item a decent living.
Also, I find some snobbery and assumption in this book. For example, on p.247, he writes how he gallantly walks to his local supermarket while his neighbours are seen to be unpacking their car with grocery bags. What scum! Or maybe, they were just picking up stuff on the way home from work or maybe they needed to buy quite a lot of stuff which they couldn't carry? Also on P.320 there is mention of the fallacy of farmers markets being an impractical luxury (unsupported by any evidence). Well, Vancouver's farmer markets are typically much more expensive than supermarkets and about 50% of the stalls sell "gourmet" cookies and other crap at astronomical prices. If we are cutting out the supermarket middle-men, then why are they still so expensive? <-- that's just a rant, not especially connected to Tescopoly
All in all, though I disagreed with some aspects of the book and found some of it redundant, it did clearly express some issues that I had thought about but not fully formulated to direct my behaviour in what I consider to be ethical. For that, I am most thankful to Andrew SImms.
November 19, 2014
Given Tesco's recent revelations of overinflated profits and hideous accounting, it seemed appropriate to revisit Andrew Simms' damning analysis of this superpower business. I first read Tescopoly when it was released back in 2007 and it made me rethink a lot of my consumer decisions, many of which I still stick by today. Simms does a fantastic job of picking apart the finer details of how Tesco became so big and how it used its arsenal of bullying and super-buyer tactics to dominate cities and towns across the UK and undercut small, independent businesses (and then put up costs once they had gone out of business). Re-reading it now, much of the information doesn't sound as shocking as we've come to understand more about how Tesco work, but it's still an interesting book to pick up if you'd like some more references etc.
January 15, 2022
I can't rate a lot of this because the information is 15 years out of date, so it isn't fair to judge a book on how theory and practice has changed since then. There was still a lot of very interesting information within the book and food for thought; especially on loyalty schemes. All in all I'll say the writing was a little clumsy - a lot of half-made points followed by parentheses that let you know that subject would be explored in a few chapters time, so it all felt quite disjointed. There was also quite a lot of repetition and facts re-stated. Being really critical, I found a lot of the metaphors cringey and a bit laboured. Still a book worth reading if you're interested in economics, food, climate change or global capitalism.
June 12, 2010
Too melodramatic to be taken seriously, which unfortunately diminishes the point
February 4, 2020
Okay... not only was this book a bit too rambly (it probably would have benefitted more from being the size of maybe a 30-ish page article than a full book), but it also read slightly conspiratorially - not that, I'm sure, Simms wasn't justified in some of his points. But we are talking about a business - where one of the most widely and historically acknowledged purposes of such an enterprise is, obviously, going to be to expand and increase profitability (you don't really have to be a dedicated student of business organisations to understand that as a concept).
Yet Simms seemed to be more concerned about painting a picture of an individual supermarket heralding the start of some Orwellian future - brimming with data breaches, informational control and mind-games - whilst completely bypassing many of the positive elements which larger businesses can bring. In a book of this size, completely ignoring alternative opinions doesn't increase the weight of the argument - it just leaves the other side of the argument hanging around like an elephant in the room.
True, large businesses can have a detrimental impact on community enterprises. True, we are witnessing a fall in the number of independent pharmacists, doctors, bakeries, etc. And, true, Tescos (among supermarket structures) is going to continue to try to expand into several different areas of business to strengthen their hold on the market. But we have to remember that the days of visiting the individual establishments of the butchers, bakers and candle-stick makers down high street are largely over - in its place we have greater access to more varieties of foods at a far cheaper prices than would otherwise be obtainable without utilising economies of scope and scale. The ability for consumers to go to one location to purchase eggs, shoes and a new alarm clock in the same journey has increased convenience and, in itself, is a very good business idea (if, on some occasions, slightly flawed in practice). What should have been emphasised here is not necessarily that the idea of large businesses, as utilised by Tesco, is wrong - because it is possible for an ethical business of this size, one with customers at its heart, to flourish. Rather, that an abuse of a dominant market share is wrong. And, to be quite honest, it's not as though consumers are entirely choiceless in the matter - with Asda, Sainsburys (and, nowadays, your discount retailers like Aldi and Lidl) still available for those who may be unhappy with a particular supermarket chain. Companies like Tescos have grown and flourished because they are doing something right in meeting the needs of their customers - not just because they have blundered their way onto the scene intent on killing competitors and leaving consumers with no other option.
I'm not saying that the author's logic and arguments were entirely flawed (there were many interesting points presented which will go forward with me into the future), but the imbalance of opinions was most irksome and it was ultimately this that harmed my interest in the topic and resulted in me putting this book down half-finished.
Yet Simms seemed to be more concerned about painting a picture of an individual supermarket heralding the start of some Orwellian future - brimming with data breaches, informational control and mind-games - whilst completely bypassing many of the positive elements which larger businesses can bring. In a book of this size, completely ignoring alternative opinions doesn't increase the weight of the argument - it just leaves the other side of the argument hanging around like an elephant in the room.
True, large businesses can have a detrimental impact on community enterprises. True, we are witnessing a fall in the number of independent pharmacists, doctors, bakeries, etc. And, true, Tescos (among supermarket structures) is going to continue to try to expand into several different areas of business to strengthen their hold on the market. But we have to remember that the days of visiting the individual establishments of the butchers, bakers and candle-stick makers down high street are largely over - in its place we have greater access to more varieties of foods at a far cheaper prices than would otherwise be obtainable without utilising economies of scope and scale. The ability for consumers to go to one location to purchase eggs, shoes and a new alarm clock in the same journey has increased convenience and, in itself, is a very good business idea (if, on some occasions, slightly flawed in practice). What should have been emphasised here is not necessarily that the idea of large businesses, as utilised by Tesco, is wrong - because it is possible for an ethical business of this size, one with customers at its heart, to flourish. Rather, that an abuse of a dominant market share is wrong. And, to be quite honest, it's not as though consumers are entirely choiceless in the matter - with Asda, Sainsburys (and, nowadays, your discount retailers like Aldi and Lidl) still available for those who may be unhappy with a particular supermarket chain. Companies like Tescos have grown and flourished because they are doing something right in meeting the needs of their customers - not just because they have blundered their way onto the scene intent on killing competitors and leaving consumers with no other option.
I'm not saying that the author's logic and arguments were entirely flawed (there were many interesting points presented which will go forward with me into the future), but the imbalance of opinions was most irksome and it was ultimately this that harmed my interest in the topic and resulted in me putting this book down half-finished.
August 24, 2020
This is a fantastic book!
I am glad I read it. There is a lot to learn about how MNCs trick us into buying what we don't need, at the same time without realizing we are hurting out local economy and empoverishing poor countries even more. Let's stop this!
Please read this book :)
I am glad I read it. There is a lot to learn about how MNCs trick us into buying what we don't need, at the same time without realizing we are hurting out local economy and empoverishing poor countries even more. Let's stop this!
Please read this book :)
October 19, 2014
Whilst this book had its moments it was too rambling and unfocused to provide a useful overview of Tesco. Much of the material covers the impacts of globalisation, large corporations and climate change, information which will be familiar to those who have read any other literature on these subjects. Many books have discussed these topics in a more thorough and coherent fashion which made this account feel slightly redundant.
Simms does make some interesting points about Tesco's cavalier attitude to gaining planning permission and unwillingness to respond to criticism but his analysis is weakened by sections where he doesn't supply enough solid evidence to support his statements. His description of small local stores comes across as rose tinted and I am sure that it wouldn't be difficult to find examples where prices are high, stock choice is poor and service indifferent in contrast to the example described here as being at the centre of the community. The impression given is that Simms' findings are the result of confirmation bias, for example his account of visits to Tesco stores which are placed at the beginning and end of the book suggest that they have environments which are alienating, cause family arguments and headaches. I would have certainly agreed that they are bland and uninspiring but this seemed somewhat exaggerated.
Elsewhere the narrative goes off in tangents, with the author providing information about BP and a rival supermarket's activities in South America which were rather peripheral to the main subject. Ultimately the reader is left wondering whether Tesco operates in a fashion much different to any other large supermarket chain, as there are very few comparisons made between them in the text. Despite containing some useful information, on the whole this was disappointing, as it failed to organise the research material effectively and would have benefitted by concentrating more on the supposed subject of the book.
Simms does make some interesting points about Tesco's cavalier attitude to gaining planning permission and unwillingness to respond to criticism but his analysis is weakened by sections where he doesn't supply enough solid evidence to support his statements. His description of small local stores comes across as rose tinted and I am sure that it wouldn't be difficult to find examples where prices are high, stock choice is poor and service indifferent in contrast to the example described here as being at the centre of the community. The impression given is that Simms' findings are the result of confirmation bias, for example his account of visits to Tesco stores which are placed at the beginning and end of the book suggest that they have environments which are alienating, cause family arguments and headaches. I would have certainly agreed that they are bland and uninspiring but this seemed somewhat exaggerated.
Elsewhere the narrative goes off in tangents, with the author providing information about BP and a rival supermarket's activities in South America which were rather peripheral to the main subject. Ultimately the reader is left wondering whether Tesco operates in a fashion much different to any other large supermarket chain, as there are very few comparisons made between them in the text. Despite containing some useful information, on the whole this was disappointing, as it failed to organise the research material effectively and would have benefitted by concentrating more on the supposed subject of the book.
March 8, 2008
Even if you don't shop at Tesco, or more importantly if you DO.... you ought to read this book and realise just what is happening to the British way of life - draining the life out of town centres and obtaining more and more influence over local planning procedures and town councils.
If you read this book it will (or should!) change your life and the way you shop. Fight back against the greedy corporate giants and let's get some individualism back into our towns.
Watch out America, Tesco intends to invade you next! Not that you haven't already got Walmart and all those others.... bear in mind they are thinking of opening up over there under another name so their control freak reputation won't immediately be apparent!
The guy who wrote this is up there with Michael Moore in my opinion.
If you read this book it will (or should!) change your life and the way you shop. Fight back against the greedy corporate giants and let's get some individualism back into our towns.
Watch out America, Tesco intends to invade you next! Not that you haven't already got Walmart and all those others.... bear in mind they are thinking of opening up over there under another name so their control freak reputation won't immediately be apparent!
The guy who wrote this is up there with Michael Moore in my opinion.
July 12, 2015
Found this to be a really interesting read. Read this to support my studies for my Economics A level - a subject which is not supposed to be highly judgemental or take sides. This book contrasted well with that and enlightened me on the many different lights we can view global, dominating businesses in and the supporting arguments for either side.
March 26, 2008
A wee bit wordy in places, but I've never shopped in a Tesco since :/
May 13, 2009
A readable and wide reaching look at the evil that is Tesco,which I will be doing my best to avoid even more than I have previously.
August 12, 2011
an insight into tesco's domination.
an arrogant brand.
an arrogant brand.
July 8, 2012
Read this a while ago, it's very much an eye opener into the aggressive business tactics of the major supermarket chains.
November 7, 2012
everyone should read this book.
March 27, 2013
This makes you think about whether shopping in Tesco is a good idea - does one really want to add to their profits?
August 15, 2014
An excellent expose of the supermarkets, and Tesco in general. How they've bought up the land and killed of the opposition. A real eye opener.
June 11, 2015
Tesco.
September 17, 2020
Takeaway: Supermarkets are bad until you crave for that 85p pain au chocolat
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews