Syt's Pictorial Collection of Stuff and Things (image heavy)

[Josquius]

I go shopping with a rucksack, it works much better than carrier bags and I don't get why more don't do this.

This is a decent article on the whole thing-
http://nautil.us/issue/7/waste/did-cars-save-our-cities-from-horses

What else you got?

eh?

[Tamas]

I once decided to walk to the nearest grocery store(roughly one kilometer away). All I bought was a gallon of milk and a jar of spaghetti sauce. It wasn't a pleasant return trip.

Dunno about other countries, but over here, people sometimes use trolleys such as this for larger shopping trips:

It used to be something only old people used, but I'm seeing more and more families using them.

Yes, a granny cart.

In Hungary I have heard it referenced as Hag Tank 

[Syt]

I know it as Hackenporsche (heel Porsche).

[Richard Hakluyt]

Note the derisive nature of the nicknames. It is curious that old women can buy their groceries on foot while young healthy men need to use a car 

[Sheilbh]

I go shopping with a rucksack, it works much better than carrier bags and I don't get why more don't do this.

Same - and if necessary take a shopping bag with me.

[Tamas]

Note the derisive nature of the nicknames. It is curious that old women can have to buy their groceries on foot while young healthy men need to can use a car 

FYPFY

[Syt]

I use a backpack plus cloth bags.

[garbon]

I go shopping with a rucksack, it works much better than carrier bags and I don't get why more don't do this.

Same - and if necessary take a shopping bag with me.

We would bring that as part of our armamenterium but that would be insufficient for carrying more than one person's groceries.

[Sheilbh]

I go shopping with a rucksack, it works much better than carrier bags and I don't get why more don't do this.

Same - and if necessary take a shopping bag with me.

We would bring that as part of our armamenterium but that would be insufficient for carrying more than one person's groceries.

Not if you both have a rucksack and bag

But I generally don't do a big shop (*urban bias intensifies*).

[Eddie Teach]

Note the derisive nature of the nicknames. It is curious that old women can buy their groceries on foot while young healthy men need to use a car 

Nobody buys their groceries on foot here.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I use rucksack and supplementary bag and, because we are a family of four, shop at least 5 times a week. It is time-consuming, perhaps 6 hours per week, but otoh there is about 20 miles per week of brisk walking which has health benefits.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Note the derisive nature of the nicknames. It is curious that old women can buy their groceries on foot while young healthy men need to use a car 

Nobody buys their groceries on foot here.

Very few here either; Lancashire is very car-oriented compared to the large cities of England.

[garbon]

I go shopping with a rucksack, it works much better than carrier bags and I don't get why more don't do this.

Same - and if necessary take a shopping bag with me.

We would bring that as part of our armamenterium but that would be insufficient for carrying more than one person's groceries.

Not if you both have a rucksack and bag

But I generally don't do a big shop (*urban bias intensifies*).

I do because I don't find it all that fun to shop all the time and it makes it easier to plan meals/kitchen duties.  I live near a Tesco though so in pre-COVID times, we'd just backpacks and multiple shopping bags for our walk over.

[Sheilbh]

Very few here either; Lancashire is very car-oriented compared to the large cities of England.

And to go back to Tyr's point - before the transition to buses (and their inevitable decline) - Preston used to have  what looks to me like a decent tram system:


Admittedly if there's mainly big box shops out of town this probably wouldn't work now.

Although I read an amazing piece in the FT about Walmart's broadly failed attempt at expanding in the UK (which terrified the other supermarkets when they arrived):
https://www.ft.com/content/b80f73e9-336d-49e0-980a-e17635e7cb26

Their crucial failing in my view:

"Walmart's core model — of blowing the competition out of the water with massive price differential and huge out-of-town stores — never really got delivered," said one top executive in the grocery sector. "They misunderstood how hard opening big out-of-town shops is in the UK."

Prof Sparks said he believed Walmart "thought the planning system would open up, so they could expand like they did in the US. That didn't happen, so they had to buy something instead."

Expecting the planning system to "open up" is like the "????" step on the way to profit.

[garbon]

Although I read an amazing piece in the FT about Walmart's broadly failed attempt at expanding in the UK (which terrified the other supermarkets when they arrived):
https://www.ft.com/content/b80f73e9-336d-49e0-980a-e17635e7cb26

Their crucial failing in my view:

"Walmart's core model — of blowing the competition out of the water with massive price differential and huge out-of-town stores — never really got delivered," said one top executive in the grocery sector. "They misunderstood how hard opening big out-of-town shops is in the UK."

Prof Sparks said he believed Walmart "thought the planning system would open up, so they could expand like they did in the US. That didn't happen, so they had to buy something instead."

Expecting the planning system to "open up" is like the "????" step on the way to profit.

I can't read the article but is it really a failed invasion or more of a factor that doing business in the UK simply isn't worth it. After all, before recently selling it, they were running what was typically either the #2 or #3 largest grocery store (which also has same Walmart setup of superstores with non-grocery items) in the UK.