Irresponsible retailing…? Waitrose Chiswick

Our local Waitrose often annoys me – size of queues, the hidden luxury chocolate fixture for starters – but it rarely shocks me (other than when I caught an employee spraying cleaner directly onto the contents of the salad bar!). But today I was shocked by the change to the queuing area by the tills.

The newspapers and magazines were gone and in their space a huge spread of confectionery and crisps that brings new meaning to pester power.

As the government calls for supermarkets to remove confectionery from tills I find it staggering that a responsible retailer like Waitrose – well, that’s always been my perception of them until now – has taken a such a backwards step. The Chiswick store might be an isolated example, but this looks like the retailer clearly thumbing their nose at the Government’s Responsibility Deal. It’s also likely to be a bugbear for local mothers whose buggy-seated toddlers will be making a grab for sugar and salt laden products that are oh so temptingly within reach. The queues are so slow moving in this particular branch of Waitrose that they will have plenty of opportunity to grab away.