September 2010 by Rachel W.
This store is located a little ways out of town, and is convenient if you live in Fairwater, but is far enough away from the major Cardiff routes to mean that it's unlikely to enjoy too much passing trade. It is one of three Londis shops in the Fairwater area, and like the others I have found it to be really well stocked. The fact that it's off the beaten track is not really an issue. This is an incredibly popular shop, which is most likely due to the fact that the nearest supermaket is a Somerfield located about two miles away. I love Londis stores for a whole host of reasons, the main one being that Londis is a franchise like Spar and the Life Style convenience stores, and so they are owned as independent businesses, and are not to be confused with supermarket chains. The essential and important difference is that supermarkets make their profits for the organisation, whereas shops like Londis are profitable for the individual owners. I can often buy things cheaper here than I can at Tesco's. I find it interesting that we have all bought into the fallacy that Supermarkets sell things cheaper. It's just not true in many instances! There's no denying that the massive supermarket chains indulged in a price war to kill off their smaller competitors, but when they felt that they had done as much damage as possible, they allowed their prices to steadily rise, allowing them to make more profit per customer. Perhaps what they didn't reckon with is that shops like Spar and Londis were going to preserve a lot more independently owned convenience stores than they thought. Not only is this competition essential to keep the larger stores in line, but it also means that local convenience stores have access to larger bulk buying discounts, thus often making them more able to undercut the big boys! Because Londis shops are all franchises, they can if they want, participate in national promotions, and offer discounted items for a period of three weeks. Not every Londis shop is the same. Being independently owned means that the proprietor of each shop can buy in stock that is culturally relevant to the local area in which they trade. This has to be seen as a distinct advantage Londis has over its larger rivals, but the main benefit to the local communities which they serve is that when locals shop at Londis they are making an investment in the future! A friend told me an interesting statistic the other day... apparently 80% of the money spent at supermarkets leaves the local economy whereas 80% of the money spent at independent stores remains within circulation locally, which is great if it's true! If high percentages of money leave a localised area, then impoverishment will eventually ensue. So, to retain 80% of the money you spend within the area in which you live means the opposite!
