Latest news with #Carrs
The Sun
09-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Aldi discontinues lunchtime essential that's ‘better than rivals' and shoppers are gutted
Lauren Uttley Published: Invalid Date, ALDI has axed a lunchtime essential from its shelves and shoppers are very disappointed. The German discounter confirmed the news on X yesterday, sparking outrage from fans. It came after a concerned customer wrote to Aldi asking why the Savour Bakes water biscuits were 'absent from shelves', adding: 'they are tasty and much lower in saturated fat than others.' Aldi wrote back: 'We have looked into this for you and can confirm we have discontinued these from our everyday range.' Shoppers have described the move as 'very, very disappointing'. The own-brand Savour Bakes crackers were a cost-friendly dupe of the fancy Carr's water biscuits. A 150g box of Carr's will set you back £1.70 in Sainsbury's while Aldi 's 125g version was just 59p. That makes Aldi 47p per 100g and Carr's £1.13 per 100g - over double the price. If you're feeling down about the news, Aldi still has a few cracker options which can help you save money. The Specially Selected Gourmet Savoury Crackers come in flavours rosemary and black pepper and cost 89p for 185g - which is 48p per 100g. You can also get your hands on 170g Savour Bakes crackers for 85p, which is 50p per 100g, in Multigrain and Wheat Multigrain. An identical box of Jacob's crackers is £1.30 in Sainsbury's for 200g - so 25p extra per 100g. Supermarket deals However, if you've got a specific craving for water biscuits like Carr's, but don't want to pay the extra cost, you could look elsewhere. In Sainsbury's you can get own-brand water biscuits for 60p per 100g, which is still almost half of what you'd spend on the fancier brand. And Tesco 's own-brand water biscuits are the same price. Unfortunately, Lidl have also discontinued their water biscuits which were competitive with Aldi prices. It comes as a reminder to always compare prices before swapping out for the pricier option. A great way to do this is by using a comparison site like Trolley, which draws all the latest products together for you. DISCONTINUED ALDI ITEMS Other items which have sadly been axed from Aldi shelves in recent months include the Village Bakery Chilli Cheese topped rolls, which shoppers described as 'lush'. A spokesperson for Aldi said at the time: "We continually review our range of products to make sure we're meeting the needs of Aldi shoppers." Not only that, but Coconut Rings and Chocolate Rich Tea biscuits have both been given the shove by the supermarket. The supermarket 'apologised for any disappointed' after shoppers were left reeling. In October Aldi also confirmed it had axed its 'unreal' 69p salted caramel tea bags. One shopper cried: '@AldiUK OMG, NO! Year ruined, they were unreal!' To keep up to date with the latest discontinued items, it can help to join local foodie Facebook groups. If you have a specific query you can also write to Aldi on X, and a member of their customer service will get back to you. Or, you can go into your local store and ask a floor assistant. You can find your local Aldi using the Store Finder tool on its website. How to save money on your supermarket shop THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop. You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they've been reduced. If the food is fresh, you'll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time. Making a list should also save you money, as you'll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket. Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too. This means ditching "finest" or "luxury" products and instead going for "own" or value" type of lines. Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they're misshapen or imperfect. For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50. If you're on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too. Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund. .
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Carrs-Safeway is closing its historic Gambell Street store near downtown Anchorage
Apr. 2—The oldest Carrs grocery store, a landmark near downtown Anchorage since the 1950s, will shut its doors in the coming weeks, a Carrs-Safeway official confirmed Tuesday. The planned closure of the store and pharmacy at 1340 Gambell St. will leave a hole in the neighborhood of Fairview as community advocates are trying to revitalize the area, said James Thornton, president of the Fairview Community Council. The shutdown also raises questions about access to a grocery store and pharmacy for a neighborhood where many people walk and don't own vehicles, he said. Fairview, a diverse neighborhood home to many low-income residents, was once the center of the Black community in Anchorage. "It's devastating," Thornton said. "The neighborhood needs this primary source of food, especially those that don't have vehicles. It's their only way to get food and medicine in a lot of cases." "It's a very sad day," said Richard Watts Jr., who began his decades-long career at Carrs working at the Gambell store in 1964 as a box boy — a bagger today — and later managed the store. The Gambell store is unique among other Carrs stores in Anchorage because it's so central to the people in the Fairview neighborhood, he said. "The Carrs-Safeway on Gambell is the heartbeat of Fairview, so it's almost like cutting the heart out of the community," Watts said. "I just hope another store opens there after it closes." The Gambell location will close by May 10, said Sara Osborne, a Carrs-Safeway spokeswoman, in an email. The 35 people employed by the store will have the option to transfer to surrounding stores, she said. The store's pharmacy will close on the same date as the overall operation, Osborne said. The pharmacists and prescriptions at the Gambell Carrs will transfer to the Carrs pharmacy in the Midtown Mall at 2920 Seward Highway, Osborne said. "Carrs-Safeway has been proudly serving Anchorage for decades, and the decision to close this store isn't one we made lightly," Osborne said. "With our focus on growth, we continuously evaluate the performance of our stores, and occasionally it's necessary to close locations that are not growing and are perpetually unable to meet financial expectations," she said. The Carrs-Safeway supermarket chain, a subsidiary of Albertsons, will continue to operate eight stores in Anchorage, Osborne said. Workers at the store Tuesday said they could not comment on the planned closure. Shoppers expressed shock and dismay. Some said they drive in from other areas of Anchorage in part because they love shopping there, even though it has a reputation for attracting sometimes unsavory loiterers outside its doors. They said the store is well-stocked with groceries compared to other Carrs locations, in part because it seems to draw fewer shoppers. They also praised the store's employees for their longevity and often knowing customers by name. "I just heard and it's like, 'What? Oh no!'" said shopper Christina Anowlic of the closure, her arms full of fruits, vegetables and other items. She said she grew up shopping at the store in the 1980s with her parents. She still returns to shop there occasionally, also from Government Hill where she lives. "It's kind of sad," she said. A historic grocery store The Carrs store at Gambell opened in the 1950s. It was located near the original Carrs that was opened by Laurence John "Larry" Carr in a Quonset hut in 1950, at 14th Avenue and Gambell Street. Within a couple of years, Carr moved the store to the current location at 13th and Gambell. The building suffered a fire and was rebuilt, Watts said. The current 30,000-square-foot building was constructed in 1957, Anchorage municipal records show. With the land it sits on, it's appraised by the municipality at $3.1 million. When the store hired Watts in 1964, he became the first Black person to work in retail in Anchorage, he said. He was hired at the store after he and others, including his late parents, picketed the Carrs for not hiring Black people in public-facing positions, at protests organized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Watts said his hiring opened the door for "other people of color" to be hired at other Anchorage stores. The Carrs at Gambell for many years served as the administrative headquarters for the Carrs chain as it began to grow around the state, said Watts. He moved up through the ranks at Carrs to eventually become one of two district operation managers in Alaska, overseeing 15 stores. He retired in 2017 at the age of 70. A blow to the store came in 2019, when Carrs opened in a new spot at the Midtown Mall, after closing at a different spot in the mall four years earlier, Watts said. "That probably drew some customers from the Carrs on Gambell, and added to the red ink that was already there," Watts said. Thornton, with the Fairview Community Council, said he hopes the closure can somehow be averted. "We're going to do everything we can to fight this, because I don't know how Fairview continues on without our Carrs store," he said. "There's a stigma associated with the store, but it's the original Carrs store in Anchorage and a lot of people love it. And the people that run it have done a great job supporting the community over the years."
