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BE WRONG A D S A THAT It looks like Asda has lost a loyal customer after a care home worker was told to leave its store in Thornaby, North Yorkshire because staff didn’t like the way he shopped. Matthew Scholes, 49, had just picked up a bottle of Ouzo when a clipboard-wielding staff member who had been trailing him round the store said: “I want you to leave the shop right now.” A subsequent email sent by Asda Executive Relations to Scholes compounded his misery: "I have spoken to the store leadership team who have informed me they do not like the way you shop.” In what’s an early frontrunner for understatement of the year, the email continued: “I appreciate this may not be the response you were looking for
Asda may be bouncing punters for the way they shop, but it appears rival Sainsbury’s is taking a more laidback attitude towards a retailer who’s called his off-licence Singh’sBury Local. Sainsbury’s has been quick to resort to legal action over similar moves in the past, so its reticence is all the more surprising when you see the sign above Mandeep Singh Chatha’s store in Wolverhampton. ‘Striking’ and ‘similarity’ spring to mind.
and I am sorry for any disappointment this may cause." We can only wonder what Scholes did wrong. Had he parked his trolley right up against a chiller, blocking access to the cooked meat? Stopped to talk to a mate,
WHAT'S IN A NAME? Mandeep combined his middle name and part of the street where the store sits (Bushbury Road) to come up with the name and
double-parking in the middle of the aisle? Or maybe he was messing up the facings to get at products with a better date? Who knows? At any rate, he shops in Aldi now. Heaven help him if goes the wrong way down that first aisle…
insists any resemblance to the Sainsbury’s logo is entirely coincidental. The store has been trading for more than two years so it looks like Singh’sBury Local won’t be changing its name any time soon. The same couldn’t be said for Singhsbury’s in North Tyneside. Retailer Jel Singh Nagra decided on a name change in 2017 after Sainsbury’s unleashed the lawyers. His store was renamed – with the blessing of its namesake – to Morrisinghs.
WEDNESDAY 30TH MARCH 2022 / ISSUE 98 / SLRMAG.CO.UK I 39
