Shopping outside the country - unpatriotic?

[Jock04]

The uk retailers are the ones constantly being described when comparing prices such as buggy in argos was €90 here but argos in the north only charged £35 why not boycott argos altogether?
As for lofty morals and putting food on the table how many more jobs will be lost on account of retailers in the south continuing to lose business? You don't have to look at it on patriotic grounds, think of it more on selfish grounds i.e I would like the country to get back on its feet so that some day soon I will have less to worry about when it comes to putting food on the table.
The local shops have started to drop prices significantly but that doesn't mean that it is profitable for them and that they can do so and maintain job levels in the long term. I know small to medium builders that are pricing work at a loss to stay in business and not face hefty redundancy payments so while everything may look cheap and rosey on the outside there are going to be repurcussions down the line that will affect this country.

Why did people know the price of the buggy in the Argos Stores here in the first place? Because even with the ludicrous difference between the ROI & Uk prices, they were still better than the locally owned shops. I was in a Next store just off Trafalgar Square in London a while ago. Noticed a jacket I had bought in their Glasgow store was £20 dearer. But rather than boycott them, I choose to think about where, location wise, I shop.

This thread was asking about lack of patriotism, not selfishness, but in any case I won't be party to protectionism. Garages that were delighted to sell petrol to Northerners now squeal about imports, and actually now advertise that they are selling imports themselves. Shops whine about cheap prices in the UK, then suddenly find themselves able to offer a 6-pack of coke on buy one, get one free. Guess what, it's UK coke. So we shouldn't do what they do, we should do as they say?

I'm very fortunate that I'm not amongst those I was referring to earlier, those who are really struggling to make ends meet, quite possibly for the first time in their lives. But I absolutely see why they choose to save a couple of hundred a month on their shopping, rather than subsidise the local shops who aren't trying hard enough to compete, just to keep Mary down the road in her part-time job.
Wanting to help the country is a very noble ambition, all I'm saying is that for a lot of people, that ambition is one they just can't afford.

 

[Bubbly Scot]

But I absolutely see why they choose to save a couple of hundred a month on their shopping, rather than subsidise the local shops who aren't trying hard enough to compete, just to keep Mary down the road in her part-time job.

I'm a "Mary down the road in her part time job" but even I won't shop in the place I work unless it's 11pm and Mr Bubbly has texted to say we're out of milk! Local shop prices can be scandalous and I don't work two jobs to support that. If my own job falls by the wayside because I go North now and again, well so be it. The bigger picture is, local shops might take note and become competitive enough to want to actually keep me shopping there.

 

[Jock04]

Hullo Mary

seriously, I'm glad you took my comment in context.

I'd like to think people would care about Mary losing her job - but not everyone can afford to subsidise it right now!

 

[MrMan]

Why did people know the price of the buggy in the Argos Stores here in the first place? Because even with the ludicrous difference between the ROI & Uk prices, they were still better than the locally owned shops. I was in a Next store just off Trafalgar Square in London a while ago. Noticed a jacket I had bought in their Glasgow store was £20 dearer. But rather than boycott them, I choose to think about where, location wise, I shop.

This thread was asking about lack of patriotism, not selfishness, but in any case I won't be party to protectionism. Garages that were delighted to sell petrol to Northerners now squeal about imports, and actually now advertise that they are selling imports themselves. Shops whine about cheap prices in the UK, then suddenly find themselves able to offer a 6-pack of coke on buy one, get one free. Guess what, it's UK coke. So we shouldn't do what they do, we should do as they say?

I'm very fortunate that I'm not amongst those I was referring to earlier, those who are really struggling to make ends meet, quite possibly for the first time in their lives. But I absolutely see why they choose to save a couple of hundred a month on their shopping, rather than subsidise the local shops who aren't trying hard enough to compete, just to keep Mary down the road in her part-time job.
Wanting to help the country is a very noble ambition, all I'm saying is that for a lot of people, that ambition is one they just can't afford.

Mary down the road will probably survive this as the local shop has long been the last place that people do their shopping in the week. I'm not advocating blind patriotism and I don't agree with protectionism but people should really just say it as it is - we want our cake and to eat it.
I don't understand how people can whine about a particular chain in the south and then get in their car drive for hours and hand over their money to that same chain in a different country.
The type of purchasing going on doesn't represent people on the breadline because people are making savings on more than the necessities so it doesn't stand to say that its helping people put bread on the table. I understand people taking the stance that suits themselves but I hope it doesn't bite us all in the long run.

 

[shanegl]

Maybe we should go around and break a few windows and doors. Give a helping hand to our tradesmen?

 

[MrMan]

maybe companies should look outside our country for cheaper workers, oh I forgot thats already happening and its just on a larger scale to the shoppers taking their money out of Ireland.