Have posted the following to the Carmarthen Journal -- let's see if they print it -- not sure if I've sent it too late for this week's deadline...

10 October 2011

The Editor
Carmarthen Journal
18 King Street
Carmarthen
SA31 1BN

Dear Sir,

There has been much said in these pages and at the meeting hosted by Llandeilo Town Council last Wednesday night about how we need Sainsbury’s in Llandeilo because it is cheaper.  I decided to check this out for myself and discovered that it is not as clear-cut as it seems.

I went to Sainsbury’s in Lampeter and checked prices on a number of items there and then checked the prices on the same items in the Co-op in Llandeilo and found that a number of basic items, including wholemeal sliced loaf, milk, cream, and margarine, are exactly the same price in both stores.  Some items, such as white granulated sugar, are cheaper in the Co-op.  Tea is cheaper in Sainsbury’s while instant coffee is cheaper in the Co-op.

The conclusion to be drawn from this is that which shop is cheaper for the individual shopper depends on what you’re buying – Sainsbury’s is not necessarily cheaper than options we already have in Llandeilo – and, in fact, milk is cheaper in CK’s than in either Sainsbury’s or the Co-op.

Another point raised at the meeting last Wednesday was how much local produce Sainsbury's would stock in the proposed store.  The representative from Sainsbury’s said that he couldn’t say how many items from SA19 there would be as there wasn’t presently a store in SA19.  In the Sainsbury’s in Lampeter, which has been open for over two years now, postcode SA48, I was unable to find a single item produced in the SA48 postcode.

As the representative from Sainsbury’s confirmed in response to my question, if, after the store is built, it then transpires that it does adversely affect local businesses or adds to the traffic and pollution problems in Llandeilo, we have no recourse.  Is it worth taking this chance?  I think not.

Yours truly,

Jessica Wecker