Amazon and Shopping in Local Shops

Having decided that a metal jug was needed for our coffee maker for the easy making of  cappuccino or even just real coffee with hot milk, I did a tour of several local shops, one of which has been in the news recently, given the effects on their sales of Amazon and the like.

The first shop or store as our American friends call them, was Debenhams  in Wimbledon. Debenhams was recently reported to be on the brink of insolvency though was saved for the time being by Sports Direct taking a large stake though so far the chain has not been fully taken over. In any event the Wimbledon branch seemed  quiet  for a  Saturday though staff were very friendly. I was given possible locations for purchasing the metal jug. 

The nearby Costa cafe, which had several metal jugs in use for their own coffee sales, was perhaps unsurprisingly, unwilling to sell me one of theirs. They were/are a  thriving business, which  sadly in my view, has just been taken over by Coca Cola.

Lakeland is a well laid out store with friendly staff, one of whom told me that my  request for a metal coffee jug to use with a real coffee maker, was one which several other people had enquired of her about. Sadly though, Lakeland  do not (yet?) sell small metal jugs though I was pleased to see the store was pretty full of shoppers.

TX Maxx was next. This operates from the former Woolworths site in Wimbledon Broadway but seemed to concentrate on ladies clothes with a few pots and pans on the first floor. Small metal jugs for coffee makers, were not for sale there either. There were a fair number of mainly female shoppers present,  so clearly a demand for the products the store sells.

Robert Dyas layout is rather higgledy-piggledy but attracts shoppers like yours truly and lo and behold a small metal jug ideal for use at home with a real coffee maker was found. At first I thought that the price of  £7 was slightly expensive, which I nonetheless paid. Subsequently it transpired that £7 is a fairly good price - see further below.

Amazon which out of interest I then checked next was surprisingly rather more expensive for a similar jug at £8+ though  its smaller jugs were less expensive.

Amazon has made inroads into British shopping but provided that shops and stores are flexible  enough to cater for changing demands, local shops  in my view, should have have decent futures.