My lovely grocery store ! by happypat

My lovely grocery store !

Just a quick nip into Garstang this afternoon to pick up some groceries & go to the bank. This is a wonderful North West family owned chain of stores, I think 28 stores in total. They have a wonderful reputation for selling local top quality produce & also a great variety. This shop was only opened eighteen months ago but I get most of my shopping there. I think they won some award by being the best grocery shop in England beating Tesco etc !!
It is always nice to be able to buy local produce, it looks a nice place to shop
May 9th, 2011  
Oh blimey - much better than Tesco! I can smell the ground coffee now - I bet they don't still have the grind your own machines do they? They are a beacon of quality - in the seventies when nobody sold proper coffee it was the place I discovered that it isn't really a horrible freeze-dried powder and you could also buy real bread! I also hold an affection for them due to a boy in my chemistry class who was a shelf-stacker in Preston Booths on Saturdays!
May 9th, 2011  
@judithg Yes Judith you can grind your own coffee & it smells wonderful ! The main store was on Fishergate & that is now Waterstones ! Fancy you remembering all that !
May 9th, 2011  
@happypat Fishergate - that's the one he worked in! And there was one out near the hospital wasn't there? We used to go in when I'd been at the orthodontist! I'm so glad they still do the coffee - I really can remember the smell of the shop - I don't have such fond memories of the old Preston Asda that sold stuff straight out of the packing boxes even if I was fascinated by Wilco!
May 9th, 2011  
@judithg The old Asda was called Gem a terrible place but the first of it's kind in supermarket language ! Yes there is still one by the hospital, the shops are all doing really well . Waitrose doesn't come anywhere in the north west because of Booths . Thanks for the chat !!
May 9th, 2011  
It must be good...I've heard of it and I'm in Canada!! Looks like a very nice place to shop!
May 9th, 2011  
'Gem' - I'd forgotten that - how I hated coming home from school to be told, 'We're going to Gem's!' Unless we took our neighbour, Mrs Brennan, who would open biscuits and let us eat them on the way round BEFORE we paid. Happy days - I was easily pleased. Sorry - you've set me off with Booths!!
May 9th, 2011  
i love having a favorite place to shop ....nice looking market & great idea for a photo !
May 9th, 2011  
Fantastic - here's to local, small-scale, family-owned businesses making a success of it!
May 9th, 2011  
You know, I don't think I would mind doing the groceries, if I had such a pretty shop to go to. This is really lovely. I wonder if we will see a "Booths" chain in Australia. We often get such things - years after you guys. I will watch with interest.
May 9th, 2011  
@murnane don't think so Marg they haven't moved out of the north west of England yet practically all in Lancashire so think would be BIG move to your part of the world !!!
May 9th, 2011  
very cool to have such a small, intimate market to support. really important to not let those go by the wayside. (oh, and yes, that boy is MINE! :)
May 9th, 2011  
Family owned stores are much better than a conglomerate. I always try to buy local produce.
May 10th, 2011  
Nice looking store. It's great that they sell local produce. If I want local produce I have to look for little farmers market type things where people set up booths and sell their produce.
May 10th, 2011  
What a nice tribute photo to your favorite store. I thought that I was following you as I have looked at many of your photos but I wasn't! Now I am.
May 10th, 2011  
Pat, it has a sort of 'Waitrose' feel to the picture ...gosh , I've been discussing Wilkinsons stores on my threads and now we get Tesco / Asda / Booths and Wilko all in one thread.

Amazing what 365'ers get to discuss about an image :)
May 10th, 2011  
I can tell that I would love to shop here. Such a beautiful store. Love the focus on local produce!
May 11th, 2011  
We have a small local chain called Tuffins but I don't think it is in the same league as Booths. It does its best but doesn't have very big premises in Ludlow, it is jolly handy though as you don't have to pay to park and can get your fuel at the same time.
May 15th, 2011  
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