Small scale supermarket on lamma

_________________
Sabe 1

There are already at least two "small scale supermarkets" here.

It's not like Wellcome is likely to, but I'm happy there are no chain stores here.
It would wipe out all the general stores.

Several of them have interesting and sometimes very cheap products that you don't find in the big supermarkets.

Anyway, you can order online from Wellcome and they will deliver to the Kaido pier a day or two later, costs $5 per box delivery. Minimum order $500.
http://shop.wellcome.com.hk

What I do miss is when you could use your monthly ticket to go to Aberdeen, the supermarkets and wet market are convenient to the pier there for a Sunday shopping run. It's not worth the extra cost to do that now.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the ppl who run the general stores doing so as a hobby? Just a way to keep busy, while their big $$ comes in from local properties? I find a lot of items can be up to 25% more than prices elsewhere in HK. And also prices vary from shop to shop...gets a little frustrating!

_________________
Sabe 1

I love shopping in Yung Shue Wan.

You still have the personal service (although some could work a bit on customer relations, and not just 'take the money'.)

Prices are cheaper here too. The only thing I buy in Hong Kong are cleaning products and 'girlie stuff'. Cleaning stuff is a lot more expensive on Lamma, but that's the only thing that I've noticed.

We have an amazingly huge choice of 'food shops' here within a 100 meters.

I can still have food delivered to my home. I just have to buy a minimum $500 worth of goods. Same as the big chain stores in HK.

I love the individual shops. Reminds me of being a kid and all the different shops ... newsagents, butchers, bakery, small grocery stores, cobblers, hairdressers, sweet shops, fish n chip shop (OK in England),.... but let's say 'noodle shops' for Lamma.

Now all this is gone, and we have huge supermarkets and impersonal shopping experiences.

The idea of a supermarket on Lamma fills me with dread.

And the small local shops will go out of business. Simple.

I'm totally against it.

if we are to have supermarkets and 7 Eleven's here, I might as well move to DB. Cheaper rents and not filled with illegal construction waste and dodging speeding village vehicles.

I don't think anyone would run a shop six or seven days a week as a hobby. Doesn't look like a lot of fun.

Anyway, some things are more expensive. others are cheaper.


As someone who does most of their shopping here, I find it interesting to see obscure brand names and products you don't see in large chains. I think distributors get rid of odd bits of stock, or approaching the useby date, in places like this, as the big chains only want bulk.

Most people here regularly go to HK, so have access to the supermarket duopolists.

When I worked in Central I just went shopping at lunchtime or on the way to the ferry.

Check Ah Ying (the vegetable vendor) and the Eternity Gas shop behind them.

But the dispensaries in HK are much cheaper than the supermarkets for soap, detergent, toiletries, powdered milk and such. I load up when I make my infrequent forays into civilisation.

My local, long time, well known store can get bloody frustrating for not being open when they say they are.

Yes, it's a way for some village shops to just stay busy. Not a bad thing, I wish I was in that position

Not all of them are greedy bastards making big bucks from property.

And many of the stores, it is their job, their income and their life.

Only cleaning products, plants and electrical equipment are more expensive IMHO.

Don't get frustrated.... shop around... it's a small village. Differences in prices are only usually a few dollars.

Maybe you are comparing the prices of international supermarkets like in IFC. Cheung Chau has lots of chain stores and still there are many privately owned shops...better comparison than DB which has more than 1 transport option!

_________________
Sabe 1

Cheung Chau has about 25,000 people, 5 times the population of Lamma. YSW is a village. It's not at all the same.

And there are some bargains here.
For example:
Olive oil, somehow, is about half the price of Wellcome, the same brand even. Milk is $12/litre, at least $15 at Wellcome.

Anyway, a Wellcome here would be a big step towards losing Lamma's character. Jackson and the other real estate dealers would cheer it on and raise all the rents another few percent.

Fortunately, there seems no chance of it in the near future.

Did u say higher rents? Ok I'll make do with expired products and inflated prices

_________________
Sabe 1

Just have a look into the property agent windows along Main Street for a demo of the current massive, short-term property bubble, only at the top end of the market, while low- and medium market prices remain reasonable.

For example: Man Fung property, the first one from the ferry: Out of about 10 available flats, including old 1/F flats in Tai Peng Old Village, only about 2 are still below $10K.

Another example: Kerry Property outside Ngau Kee, one of Mr. Ma's new Village Houses in Yung Shue Long New Village, is holding the current all-time record asking for $53K rent for a single Village House. This is higher than the quoted minimum rent for a house in "Lamma One", but without any of their "gated community" services.

But it's Kerry's only property advertised for rent unsuccessfully for several months now. Some sanity prevails.

In the meantime, the big success of Lamma start-up JustGreen - a kind of small organic "supermarket" - shows the changing nature of YSW's population. Lamma's overall population has only been growing by 10% over the last ten years (from 5,450 to 6,023, according to the latest census data), but it's become more diverse and richer.
JustGreen is comparable in products and prices to CitySuper! or Threesixty (but nicer and friendlier, IMHO). They're doing great business these days, expanding to 2 more shops on HK Island, after a very long and slow start in the former location, years ago.

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

I shop in Wellcome or Park n Shop in Kowloon or on HK Island.

I think that the prices of most things are a lot cheaper here than in the big chain stores. I have never understood how that can be, but it's true. A tin of tomatoes...(and I could go on... ) is $17 in town.

Better not say too much here, or someone may raise their grocery prices

I'm very happy drinking expired (May 2012) Korean beer at $2.50 a bottle myself.

Obviously Yung Shue Wan isn't a shopping paradise.
While a chain supermarket would bring some convenience, the cost would be loss of many local businesses. A Wellcome here would be undoubtedly very small and not have only a full range of goods anyway.

Coco pops are $14 on hk side and $19 on Lamma (that's all I eat)

_________________
Sabe 1

Not at Wellcome. You'd save $1.


Bananas are free. And my neighbour collects a bucket of sea urchins from Hung Shing Yeh several times a week.

Uni, beer, bananas: a good balanced diet I think.

I've just noticed recently that Just Green opened up its fourth (!) HK location, in Discovery Bay, of all places. Congratulations!

Not bad for a tiny little single shop that started out just beyond the Bookworm Cafe just a few years back, so low-key and little-known locally that I was usually the only customer when going shopping in there ... till they started their first advertisements on this website.

It's grown into an ever-expanding "Organic Empire" (official name of their company).

To my knowledge, this is the first-ever Lamma shop/restaurant that has ever expanded into DbAY, but none has ever expanded the other way?

Has anybody visited the new shop yet? Larger and better than the other 3 locations? The seaside terrace and "Living Room" of their Lamma shop are hard to beat....

Just Green locations

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.