Kien Tan
@kientan74
Retail consultant and analyst by day, gym instructor and beer drinker by night. All about shops, pubs, planes, gyms... and the views are mine, all mine.
Ummm, I spoke to Laura at the FT about this a day before you were the source, but, ok 🙃
Honestly never realised the Middle of Lidl had achieved such cult status... www.ft.com/content/10d6... HT: @emmavj.bsky.social
🍺 Lads, if you're looking for a quiet pub to watch the footie, there's no TV in the Wild Swan... but there IS fast wifi, cask Thornbridge *from the Burton Union*, and there is NOBODY upstairs, for the first time ever...
When I am Prime Minister, every coffee shop will have to do this BY LAW… ☕️ Low tables are all “laptop free” 💻 If you want to work, you have to sit on one of the high stools
🍺 Are British pubs in crisis? While pub numbers are falling, more people work in them! And LFL pub sales have grown faster than restaurants all but 4 times in the last 2 years. Reality? Bigger, better pubs are booming. Top work from @tomcalver.bsky.social here: www.thetimes.com/article/bfdc...
How it started… …how it’s going Fridges broken on Saturday, fixed on Sunday… but no staff available to stock the now working fridges, so no milk, dairy, meat, deli, nothing… So customers are walking in and walking out again, because there’s nothing to buy 🤷♂️
The most interesting thing about this chart is that, whether you're rich or poor, according the Office for National Statistics, your "Household Costs" rise faster than the official measure of inflation... So, is CPI fit for purpose if it consistently understates, uhhh, consumer price inflation?
Related: it's 34C outside in London, and Meta's timeline adverts are convinced that what I *really* want is a new winter coat 🤷♂️
Things that are a total sham and waste of taxpayers' money: TfL having an expensive consultation, and then completely ignoring the findings: 25 times more people find the proposals less convenient than more convenient, but - *who cares* - do it anyway...
Remember how the England vs Mexico game was delayed from 1am to 2am. What did you get up to during that extra hour? Well, according to this exclusive from @retailweek.bsky.social, while you were waiting for your Red Bull delivery, apparently you… www.retail-week.com/customer/eng...
“Higher business rates on warehouses” is doing a LOT of heavy lifting here… Guess what, there aren’t that many Amazon warehouses. And how does taxing supermarkets more and nationalising transport and utilities help the cost of living?
Whoa... "Loophole"? This grooming gang leader may be a vile criminal, but he was BORN BRITISH, because Pakistan was part of the British Empire. You can't rewrite history. Can you even strip a British person of their citizenship? Like ISIS bride, Shamima Begum, he is our problem, not Pakistan's.
Not the point of this post, but see also Altrincham: look at the amazing high street regeneration! No, look at all the rich people who work in Manchester and now live in Altrincham. You can regenerate all you like, but you think Gail’s is gonna open without LOTS of rich people to buy their bread?
🛒 Notwithstanding their relatively respectable Q1 results, the fact that Sainsbury's (and the other Big 4) are fighting an aggressive uncover coupon war (£4.50 off £30 groceries! £5 off £50 at Asda! 5x Nectar points!) shows just how competitive UK grocery is at the moment...
The worst people on BlueSky? Using the heatwave to justify why I can't have aircon in my flat... Babe, that ship sailed to the coal-fired power stations of China decades ago. AS IF making me WFH and sleep in a 32°C top floor flat is gonna stop global warming...
❄️ Thinking of installing air con in my flat (current temp: 32°C). Camden Council thinks I should plant a tree, install high performance glazing (which they banned because conservation area), have a green wall (which would die?), or build a porch, atrium or conservatory. Inside my flat. 🤦♂️
☀️🌡️ When temperatures rise, does your spending change? Have you bought a fan, or are you going to the pub more? Who needs a holiday in the Med, when it’s hotter in Gravesend than in Greece?! ☎️ I’ll be joining You & Yours to take your calls. Listen live from 12: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Its core lager is brewed by Brouwerij Haacht in Brabant, but no idea if it's any good! There are usually specials in bottles too in larger stores, esp at e.g. Christmas
🍺 Grocery x #BeerSky observation: How well curated is the M&S craft beer selection? Thoughtfully edited, not overwhelming, range of high quality breweries, representing the whole of the UK, clever own label collaborations, Continental lagers actually brewed in those countries... Bravo! 👏
😆 It's not too bad now... Here are some terrible photos - good pre-gig food - no extra lighting required!
❄️ Poor M&S… I counted 7 fridges down in my local branch this morning, and that’s before the upcoming heatwave kicks in… Staff rushing to move food to the remaining working fridges
There’s a *Whole Entire Day* devoted to “Picky Bits”… Now there’s something worth banning 🙅♂️