The Co-Op at Glastonbury

[MrZigster]

I've just remembered there's a huge Arcadia shaped hole...

Edited March 21, 2019 by MrZigster

[cammie81]

16 hours ago, Mr.Tease said:

grew up in Glasgow where children drink it instead of milk

From the teat.

Edited March 21, 2019 by cammie81

[stuartbert two hats]

6 minutes ago, MrZigster said:

I've just remembered there's a huge Arcadia shaped hole...

It's going to be replaced with the new Arcadia.

[MrZigster]

3 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

It's going to be replaced with the new Arcadia.

Yep. OK. I'm up to speed now. Great. I'd just heard it was gone. Arcadia's going to be hard to top.

[Dukeicon]

12 hours ago, Keithy said:

Nice bit of village PR by Eavis and no doubt some great publicity for Co-op. Good to hear they've done festivals before so they should have a rough idea of what does and doesn't work.

On the assumption there's only going to be one shop on site, I'd guess they'd be looking for a pretty central spot so wonder if they'll be around the EE tent area? Failing that, there was that area near West Holts / Kings Market area that we deduced might be the Glasto Latino stage...perhaps that oval shape is actually the Co-OP?

That is the Glasto Latino stage, the shape of it is distinctive and is the same on the old map.

[WFD]

2 hours ago, The_Amazing_Oblong said:

Had one at Download in the village last year, worked really well. I used it a couple of times for sandwiches and cold coffee. I kept an eye on it while out and about and used it when there was practically no queue, there were certain times when there were long queues to get in the store. Just treat it like you would the old chill'n'charge tent or greenpeace showers and you'll be good. Resonable prices and good stock of items.

There was one at Leeds too, and it was a bit of a game changer.   As can be seen on the picture earlier in the thread there is a whole bank of Meal Deal items, including fresh fruit, pasta salads and so on (not just sarnies).  They also must have it fairly well set in terms of quantities they are bringing in each day so by late afternoon much of that day's fresh stock (still well within date) was getting yellow stickered to make room for that next load arriving at night.  Cans are mainly stacked up outside of the fridges but they are reasonably priced and, while they centred on the big brands, there were things like Brooklyn Scorcher IPA.  Plus (at Leeds at least) it was right outside the arena entrance so it meant you could get out, have a cheap lunch washed down with a couple of cans, and back in, all within a 30-45 minute gap in your schedule.

It was well staffed and queueing at the tills wasn't much of an issue - however they were very tight on security, had security staff regulating the entrance, and on the way out you had to show your receipt and what you'd bought, and be patted down to make sure you had lifted anything - the getting in and out usually took longer than the actual use of the shop.

 

[DeanoL]

No chance they're allowed to sell booze, there's no separate campsite / arena system so would be unfair on the bars on site. Still, mixers and genuinely real-world cheap, healthy food is a bit of a game changer if it happens.

[Crazyfool01]

7 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

No chance they're allowed to sell booze, there's no separate campsite / arena system so would be unfair on the bars on site. Still, mixers and genuinely real-world cheap, healthy food is a bit of a game changer if it happens.

They seem to be selling it at the other fests ... dont see why Glastonbury will be any different ... 

[danbailey80]

I would imagine they will use it to try to reduce the amount of crap people bring too..Not sure how though. 

I'm all for it.

[danmarks]

Latitude tbey were selling alcohol and it was situated next to an admittedly small row of food places. It didnt seem overly to affect the amount of alcohol being sold elsewhere (stalls etc) to be honet.

[incident]

Just now, crazyfool1 said:

They seem to be selling it at the other fests ... dont see why Glastonbury will be any different ... 

The main difference being all the other festivals they've been at are Arena based - Co-op are in the campsite selling cans, most of the bars are inside the Arena where people can't take those cans.

Not sure whether they will sell alcohol at Glastonbury or not, but I don't think it's a safe assumption that it'll be exactly the same as at Latitude, Download, Readling, Leeds etc.

[Funkyfairy!]

6 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

They seem to be selling it at the other fests ... dont see why Glastonbury will be any different ... 

Becauses at other fesivals co-op has been outside of the arena near to the campsites os hadn;t affected the bar sales as all, whereas at G the camping is inside the ground as we know so the thought by the OP is that co-op may affect bar sales

[Crazyfool01]

It would just replace the beer I currently buy at supermarkets off site with potentially less to carry in .... and then I would buy some from the coop onsite ... I would still use the bars as much as now ... not sure about the big impact .... but that's just me 

[DeanoL]

I'm fairly sure there will be something in the bar contracts that guarantee a certain degree of exclusivity. Otherwise you would have had stalls selling cans before now. There's a reason it hasn't happened and it's not because people don't think it would be profitable. @glasto-worker might have some insight?

Those other festivals are different because bars are given exclusivity within the arena. It's be a while since I've been to one by my memory is there aren't actually bars within the campsites at Latitude, etc.

[Jakeyboi135]

23 hours ago, Mardy said:

Presumably they reckon they’ll make enough over glastonbury weekend to offset any loss they’ll incur by keeping a shop open in Pilton all year round. They must have big hopes for festival weekend.

I remember reading somewhere a few years ago, that the Tesco nearest the reading festival site would take more money during the festival weekend than during the entire December Xmas sales, different festival and a bigger shop but the reward for co-op is sizeable

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by Jakeyboi135
Someone's already made this point

[Ayrshire Chris]

1 hour ago, Jakeyboi135 said:

I remember reading somewhere a few years ago, that the Tesco nearest the reading festival site would take more money during the festival weekend than during the entire December Xmas sales, different festival and a bigger shop but the reward for co-op is sizeable

 

the tesco in Shepton Mallet,  Loaded up there on the Tuesday evening in 2017 before heading to car park  . It was really busy I can imagine it’s the same at most festivals 

Edited March 21, 2019 by Ayrshire Chris

[Divein]

Surely if there was an issue with taking sales away from on site bars we wouldn’t be allowed to take our own booze anywhere we wanted. 

 

[incident]

1 minute ago, Divein said:

Surely if there was an issue with taking sales away from on site bars we wouldn’t be allowed to take our own booze anywhere we wanted.

Most festivals have restrictions for exactly that reason. Glastonbury is one of the only ones that doesn't, but having a store selling cans at something approximating supermarket prices on site is another level entirely as you effectively take away the negatives - namely the logistics of transporting and storing the damn things.

[giantkatestacks]

D'you want anything from the shop?

[deadpheasant]

30 minutes ago, giantkatestacks said:

D'you want anything from the shop?

McCoy's, Ribena and a twirl

[Funkyfairy!]

38 minutes ago, giantkatestacks said:

D'you want anything from the shop?

Jelly babies and a pot noodle please

[Crazyfool01]

43 minutes ago, giantkatestacks said:

D'you want anything from the shop?

a twix please 

[Ayrshire Chris]

57 minutes ago, giantkatestacks said:

D'you want anything from the shop?

Keep the change 

[Kim Wrong-Un]

3 hours ago, Jakeyboi135 said:

I remember reading somewhere a few years ago, that the Tesco nearest the reading festival site would take more money during the festival weekend than during the entire December Xmas sales, different festival and a bigger shop but the reward for co-op is sizeable

 

I work in the Co-op head office although I'm not involved with our festivals programme and I'm not in our PR team or anything.

The planning and logistics involved in setting up a pop up store for a week are significant and even though there was high demand at the festivals we actually made a loss.

Festival stores are seen as a brand investment - a way to reach new customers and improve people's experience and perception of Co-op rather than a way to make money.

So we try to keep prices reasonable and offer a useful service and good value for money whilst trying to avoid having a detrimental impact on other traders.

[dotdash79]

I would expect the site to back onto an area that can be served by trucks on access roads, so expect a perimeter location.