Reader's Comments

Richard, 27, from Nottingham, writes:

Mark Muldoon. You are a terrible dirty-student cheapskate. Next time, buy real Weetabix instead of trying to fool people with your 'Wheat Bisks.' I bet you also buy Puffin bars instead of Penguin because they are 2p cheaper. Amidst the delerium of saving tuppence, did it never occur to you to ask what a 'bisk' actually is?

Sad as it presumably sounds, most own brand purchases I make are based on having tried the real things, then tried their lewd shop branded equivalents, and deciding that there's no flipping difference to tell between the two of them. In that particular case, Wheat Bisks are half the price of Weatabix. £1.29 instead of £2.50 or something. Which is mental. They are probably both made by the same company anyway. That's a wee little retail titbit for you. It often happens, the same company will produce both the supermarket own brand and their own super expensive branded version.

By the way, a free pack of Oatabix is now available if anybody wants it. It's still disgusting, but if anybody wants to give it a go let me know and it's yours.

Paul, 14, from Galway, writes:

what a nob you are

despite being a convenience store, it is primarily a petrol station, im sure you'd find that, if you wanted petrol it would have it. they dont need lots of food cos 5 minutes around the corner there is a tesco metro.

Charming. Thanks for highlighting a useful point though: there's another Tesco just five minutes walk from that one. Indeed, on my day-to-day walking around of Manchester, I pass no less than five Tesco small format stores.

For clarifications sake, they are: Tesco Upper Brook Street, Whitworth Park, Fallowfield, Piccadilly and Market Street. They are everywhere, and growing more and more each day. And my conscience can't really take it anymore. I'm thinking "how can I stop shopping at Tesco?"

It can be bloody difficult: part of the appeal is the easy familiarity nipping into Tesco brings. A plus, now they are everywhere, I can only think of one other food outlet, a Spar, that's on my walk back home from uni.

Still, I want to try. Before Tesco have a little store inside everybody's house, or something.