# Do you use any expat stores such as British Corner Shop ?



## ee09 (May 30, 2010)

If so how would you rate their service, is there anything you would like to see similar shops provide?


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## JBODEN (Jul 10, 2009)

market research??


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## ee09 (May 30, 2010)

Not really market research just looking in to the idea at the momment.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I'm not sure I understand the question!? Cetainly in my town, we have plenty of supermarkets and corner shops etc. and I'm more than happy with it all. If theres anything really British I need that isnt in my local shops (British cheese is all I can think of) then I go to the Iceland supermarket a few miles away. Most of the very expat towns in Spain have British shops, supermarkets, newsagents etc....! 

Jo xxx


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## ee09 (May 30, 2010)

Thanks for the reply Jo, I realised now that I didnt make myself very clear, SNIP is an online supermarket that delivers the items to you from the UK for about £15 postage... doesnt seem much point in me looking into this if there no demand for UK products.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I dont think its necessary here - if nothing else, I'm not sure how the postal service would cope here!? But no, there are more than enough outlets for "British supplies" Even our local supermarkets, Mercadona and Carrefour have a British section! But like I say theres an Iceland/Waitrose up the road, theres an M&S clothes and foodhall near to Marbella.... I personally can think of anything that I cant get here and in any case, Spain have equally good things and they're cheaper in general

Jo xxx


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

And of course if any family and friends are coming out for a visit, they always ask is there anything you want bringing out?

Maiden


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## Nignoy (Jun 4, 2010)

MaidenScotland said:


> And of course if any family and friends are coming out for a visit, they always ask is there anything you want bringing out?
> 
> Maiden


Sorry to impose but is Jan from egypt your Mum??


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Do people travel thousands or even hundreds of km to use 'British expat corner shops'?
Well, I suppose my old mum would like to have a shop that sold familiar stuff within easy reach if she lived in Spain and I must confess to buying pork pies, sausages and bacon on infrequent trips to Gibraltar.
But indigenous Spanish shops and markets provide quality produce at reasonable prices and are surely a major part of the whole experience of emigrating?
It's a fascinating phenomenum: there were a couple of shops specialising in British products in Prague as well as M&S food departments but Czechs were the main customers.
Our local Tesco in the UK began to stock Polish products when the workers arrived locally and made it worthwhile to do so.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Nignoy said:


> Sorry to impose but is Jan from egypt your Mum??


it is me John x


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## bakeja (May 26, 2009)

Just seen my wife off for the monthly run to Morrisons Gibraltar. My list was:

Kingsmill bread
sausages
penguins (biscuits)
granary rolls
tins of spaghetti
Thai fishcakes
Parsnips
extra strong cheddar
soap
Fruit sherberts
tea
bran flakes
Lloyd grossman curry sauce

If we didn't live within reach of Morrisons, I would survive. Most of this kind of stuff is available locally in some form or other. It's more the fresh stuff/own brand products they do and the treats.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Yes, you've summed it up...it's the 'treats' we go to Morrisons for. For me it's the pork pies, bacon and sausages, for my partner it's the Quorn vegetarian products they stock, Birds Custard Powder, Cadbury's chocolate and similar delights.
But we can live quite happily and eat very well if we never went near the place.
We got used to 'making do' when we lived in Prague as quality of most foodstuffs was abysmal. Fortunately I made very regular and frequent trips to the UK and brought back Quorn and Cheddar.
How do British people manage in places like Egypt, I wonder? Surely there's no Tesco there???
There were Tesco stores in the CR but not as we know them....Most of the goods were produced in Poland for the Central/Eastern European market. We once bought a tin of Tesco own-brand tuna....it was simply disgusting. Even the cat turned its nose up.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

bakeja said:


> Just seen my wife off for the monthly run to Morrisons Gibraltar. My list was:
> 
> Kingsmill bread
> sausages
> ...


Parsnips, there's a thing. It's wierd isn't it, how some things just don't cross borders? My OH had no idea what they were when he was presented with them on one of our trips to the UK, but they could easily be grown here. Same with tortilla. Almost everyone loves it, the ingredients all exist in the UK (ok, different oil perhaps) but they are just never thrown together in that way.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I love those ready-made tortillas you get in the local shops. No way could I make them as tasty at home...
They are great with salad and crisp chilled white wine.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Now this is just silly
Expat orders for British supermarket food surge on strength of euro | UK news | The Guardian

Most of the article is talking about France, but in the 5th paragraph it mentions Spain. IMO this is one of the fundalmental cracks in our economy. We transport food all around the world before we eat it, summiting it to all kinds of treatments and chemicals, not to mention the petrol and oil used to do it, all to get the cheapest possible product. And something has to be wrong in the market if it's cheaper to get apples from New Zealand than the UK...


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## JBODEN (Jul 10, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> ... something has to be wrong in the market if it's cheaper to get apples from New Zealand than the UK...


Not to mention NZ lamb! It's a question of (i) production costs and (ii) subsidies.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Parsnips, there's a thing. It's wierd isn't it, how some things just don't cross borders? My OH had no idea what they were when he was presented with them on one of our trips to the UK, but they could easily be grown here. Same with tortilla. Almost everyone loves it, the ingredients all exist in the UK (ok, different oil perhaps) but they are just never thrown together in that way.


I'm getting the impression - probably wrongly - that people think you can't buy parsnips in Spain.... Not true, I've bought parsnips regularly from markets and supermarkets, including Eroski. The big difference I've found is that unlike the UK when you can buy them all year round is that they are seasonal in Spain. (At least that is what I've found). My advice is to try and buy a vacuum sealer, seal the foods you want at other times of the year and also freeze them. That way most veg will last around 18 months assuming you don't eat it. Vacuum sealing also works well with spices (ground or whole) and you don't need freeze them. Most spices lose their fragrance and taste 4 - 6 months after opening and I know a lot of folk buy those large packs sold at Tescos only for them to have to throw most of it away. Even in the UK we seal spices and dried herbs so we can buy in bulk usually once every two years. Just an idea and it all stems from parsnips. Whatever next....


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

thrax said:


> Not true, I've bought parsnips regularly from markets and supermarkets, including Eroski. QUOTE]
> 
> When I first arrived here, I thought Eroski was a sex shop.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

mrypg9 said:


> thrax said:
> 
> 
> > Not true, I've bought parsnips regularly from markets and supermarkets, including Eroski. QUOTE]
> ...


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## JBODEN (Jul 10, 2009)

[When I first arrived here, I thought Eroski was a sex shop.[/QUOTE]
Don't tell me, a Polish sex shop (eros-ski)


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

JBODEN said:


> [When I first arrived here, I thought Eroski was a sex shop.


Don't tell me, a Polish sex shop (eros-ski) [/QUOTE]

Actually....just having arrived from Prague,albeit used to 'sky's not 'ski's.....I suppose that was the association.
I was quite shocked to see a sex shop in Krakow, of all places, when I last visited in late 2005. There's probably dozens now.
As well as one of the biggest Tesco's I've ever seen.....


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

JBODEN said:


> [When I first arrived here, I thought Eroski was a sex shop.


Don't tell me, a Polish sex shop (eros-ski) [/QUOTE]

They're getting better :clap2::clap2::clap2:


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## JBODEN (Jul 10, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> I was quite shocked to see a sex shop in Krakow, of all places, when I last visited in late 2005.



Sex shops sprouted like mushrooms from 1989 onward.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

JBODEN said:


> Sex shops sprouted like mushrooms from 1989 onward.


Well, Poles have always had the reputation of being a randy lot
When I was in Skawina last I had the honour of being presented to the Mayor. He seized my hand, kissed it, bowed and clicked his heels.
Is that kind of behaviour common (common in the sense of 'usual;' not in the sense of 'vulgar') do you know,or was he just trying to impress an Angielka?
If the latter, he certainly succeeded.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

thrax said:


> I'm getting the impression - probably wrongly - that people think you can't buy parsnips in Spain.... Not true, I've bought parsnips regularly from markets and supermarkets, including Eroski. The big difference I've found is that unlike the UK when you can buy them all year round is that they are seasonal in Spain. (At least that is what I've found). My advice is to try and buy a vacuum sealer, seal the foods you want at other times of the year and also freeze them. That way most veg will last around 18 months assuming you don't eat it. Vacuum sealing also works well with spices (ground or whole) and you don't need freeze them. Most spices lose their fragrance and taste 4 - 6 months after opening and I know a lot of folk buy those large packs sold at Tescos only for them to have to throw most of it away. Even in the UK we seal spices and dried herbs so we can buy in bulk usually once every two years. Just an idea and it all stems from parsnips. Whatever next....


Well there you go. I _*was*_ under the impression they weren't on the market in Spain 'cos I've never seen them. Mind you, i don't scour the super market veggies constantly looking for them. However my OH and his family are from the north where Eroski's based and they wouldn't know a parsnip if it begged them to roast it in a nice hot oven!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Well there you go. I _*was*_ under the impression they weren't on the market in Spain 'cos I've never seen them. Mind you, i don't scour the super market veggies constantly looking for them. However my OH and his family are from the north where Eroski's based and they wouldn't know a parsnip if it begged them to roast it in a nice hot oven!


actually we get them in Mercadona - usually only in a 'cocido' pack for stews & so on, though

I think I've seen them loose in the mercado & the mercadillo :confused2:


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> actually we get them in Mercadona - usually only in a 'cocido' pack for stews & so on, though
> 
> I think I've seen them loose in the mercado & the mercadillo :confused2:


 And I suppose the Spanish for parsnip isn't parsnipo, is it?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> And I suppose the Spanish for parsnip isn't parsnipo, is it?


well if you ask one of my students (a lost cause really - but he gives us all a good laugh), then, yes, it could well be

actually he's not that bad - he just can't get the hang of role-play, or see any point to learning to put a whole sentence together

he insists he'd never speak in sentences in English - so why would he in Spanish:confused2:



it's chirivía


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> well if you ask one of my students (a lost cause really - but he gives us all a good laugh), then, yes, it could well be
> 
> actually he's not that bad - he just can't get the hang of role-play, or see any point to learning to put a whole sentence together
> 
> ...


Thanks!


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

apparently parsnip in Spanish is parsnip spoken with an accent of course


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## JBODEN (Jul 10, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> ... he seized my hand, kissed it, bowed and clicked his heels. Is that kind of behaviour common (common in the sense of 'usual;' not in the sense of 'vulgar') do you know,or was he just trying to impress an Angielka?


Kissing a lady's hand is quite normal. 
Not sure about the heel clicking though. :confused2:


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