Keeping It Local Part 2: The Elusive Products.

It's been another week of shopping local and a real mix of the good and the bad. Let's take a look at what that was.

As mentioned previously, certain items were hard to find. So have I found them? The answer is no.
I had managed to get some bargain price nappies at a local store but repeating that was unlikely as shops tend to hold the small packs at a higher price. 

I hadn't located baby food and this week the problem is still there. Small retailer only tend to hold a couple of pots.So I thought maybe I should just buy a bulk order online direct from the supplier (not local but avoiding the high street). Unfortunately the cheaper brand I use have just moved their shop to Amazon. And I don't really want to be supporting them!

I continued looking for an online alternative but could only find the items at a higher cost price. Going local and keeping away from the chain stores shouldn't be a luxury experience! Still puzzling about how I could get around this, I decided I'll cheat, I'll go high street but from a retailer I like - Waitrose.

So out on my adventures, I decided to pop into the Waitrose at Clapham Junction (not really local). Did they have the baby food I want? Hell no!!! So have I bought any baby food? Apart from the random odd jar, no.

Sausages I like (chipolatas) are still elusive.  And I haven't found a bread I'm happy with. There is the option of the farmers market. I do get some bits and pieces from them but I am sometimes paying the higher end of prices.

I haven't found Bisto caramelised onion gravy, risotto rice at a non-deli price and Ready-brek or bagels. None of these items are particularly unusual but maybe for the small retailers they are a risk investment.

I noticed that many of the little shops sell the same products so if I'm looking for a certain spice, I can probably get it in at least ten local shops. I can understand why they wouldn't get in items which aren't bought by their usual clientele. To get new purchasers to come through the door, big businesses have to do huge advertising campaigns. It would be hard for a little store to tell customers that they provide a new service.

Another problem for me exploring these little shops is I have a pushchair and many of these spaces are not buggy friendly so I look at what I can see from the outside, make a presumption about the shops contents and either visit or not.

On a better note, I've been using my Brixton pounds. They have been great to use for gifts and food so visits to 20 Storey and Morleys have helped sort out my Christmas presents. I'm not sure how many people know you can use your note in Morleys as the staff had to check with supervisors both times that I went shopping which suggest the use of the Brixton pound doesn't happen to often (or I got christmas temps both times).

I also had food in the village using both my paper notes and pay by text. I haven't tried getting my more regular shopping with the pounds and I can't see a hairdressers I would use which takes the notes...any suggestions welcome. 

So there we are. The frustrations remain the same. Next time, I'll talk a bit more about pricing.

Keeping it Local: Part 1.Where can I find the things that I need?

I've decided that for the month of December, I'm going to try and shop locally and not from high street chains. So no Tescos, Boots, Superdrug, Sainsburys, et al. I want to try and give my money back to my community and certainly not support the businesses who are willing to keep adding more supermarkets where they aren't wanted - yes Tesco, I'm talking to you!

So how's it been going? It's harder than I expected. There is no 'one hit' shopping experience. I suddenly have to develop a strategy of where to go for what items.And even when I'm finding them, I'm not always checking how much more I'm spending so I don't know how much extra going local is costing me!

One area I've had problems with is baby food and nappies. You get great deals with the high street chains so it's hard to find somewhere to get the choice and price. We have two chemists in central Brixton which aren't big chains. They don't have much baby stuff because Brixton has Boots, Superdrug, Mothercare and Tescos to supply that product at bargain prices. It would be hard for the little shops to compete and so they don't.

However, the price of the nappies from a local store were cheaper than from the high street though their turnover of these stock items in the local store must be slow as Pampers don't make nappies in these pack sizes anymore. I think that might have been a one off pot luck situation. I'll keep you posted.

And before anyone suggests the alternatives of reusable nappies and making my own food or baby led weaning, they have been considered. I don't have a washing machine so it begins to make reusables costly and time consuming. I do make my own baby food most of the time - the jars are for convenience!

Another problem had been finding an ordinary loaf of bread. Now bread isn't cheap anymore so I don't want to try all the different local packaged bread in the hope that I find something I like especially as I'm the only one eating it. I've had a pop at the posh bread from Wild Caper which was different but really a treat. I also eat lots of the pitta bread from Nour Cash and Carry. But what I'm looking is for is a bloomer - I can't go to Greggs as that is a chain so any suggestions are welcome.

And my last problem has been finding sausages. I use to be a veggie and am now a picky meat eater. I'm not that keen on the look of some of the meat I see in the market so asking another local they suggested Dombeys in Market Row which at the time I needed sausages didn't have any! So any other butchers in Brixton to recommend?

I've found this lovely film short about one of the local butchers though I won't be eating any of these items soon. 

Another part of keeping it local is using the Brixton Pound. You can pick them up in the menswear department of Morleys. I exchanged some already and used the money in the toy department of the store. I will report back on my Brixton Pound shopping in my next instalment.

Brixton Pounds (Photo:This ain't Rock'n'Roll)

We are staying local folks but it's hard work!