159-473: Somerfield ( / ˈ s ʌ m ər f iː l d / SUM -ər-feeld ) was a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom . The business started life in the 19th century as grocers J. H. Mills, and after a series of buyouts and mergers, the company became known as Gateway. A major rebranding to the created Somerfield brand started in 1990, and in 1998 the company purchased
318-591: A Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1989, and is designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention . Apex Leisure and Wildlife Park , in the south-west corner of Burnham-on-Sea, north of the River Brue , occupies an area of more than 42 acres (17 hectares). The park was created from excavated clay pits, which were flooded, and the lakes are now home to many types of wildlife and leisure activities. Hinkley Point
477-619: A Western Daily Press campaign to fund an inshore hovercraft . BARB currently operates the Spirit of Lelaina alongside her sister hovercraft the Light of Elizabeth , which is named after Lelaina's sister. The civil parish of Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with
636-449: A department store is sometimes known as a hypermarket . Other services may include those of banks, cafés, childcare centers/creches, insurance (and other financial services), mobile phone sales, photo processing, video rentals, pharmacies, and gas stations . If the eatery in a supermarket is substantial enough, the facility may be called a "grocerant", a portmanteau of "grocery" and "restaurant". The traditional supermarket occupies
795-409: A greengrocer , butcher , bakery , fishmonger and dry goods store, in addition to a general store . Milk and other items of short shelf life were delivered by a milkman . These small retailers were the final links in a "long and tortuous food chain," as they were far too small to deal directly with most of the persons who actually harvested, processed, and distributed all that food. During
954-437: A seaside resort . Burnham-on-Sea forms part of the parish of Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge and shares a town council with its neighbouring small market town of Highbridge . According to the 2011 census the population of the parish (including Highbridge) was 19,576, of which the most populous wards 'Burnham Central' and 'Burnham North'; totalled 13,601. Burnham-on-Sea is famous for its low lighthouse . The lighthouse
1113-582: A B Class rigid-hulled boat and an inflatable D Class. The Burnham-on-Sea Area Rescue Boat now known as BARB Search & Rescue was set up in 1992 to fund and operate rescue craft in the Bridgwater Bay area. BARB's boat house on the sea front was built in 1994 by the Challenge Anneka TV show. In 2002, Lelaina Hall, a five-year-old girl from Worcester, died on the mud flats before help could reach her. The outcry over her death prompted
1272-538: A contingent from the ship to visit the town and march through its streets. Burnham was reduced to reserve at Milford Haven , Wales, in November 1944. She was ultimately scrapped at Pembroke , in December 1948. Burnham-on-Sea is notable for its beach and mudflats , the danger they pose to individuals and shipping, and the efforts to which locals have gone in defending their town and preventing loss of life. Burnham
1431-410: A high degree of convenience to the consumer to make the shopping experience pleasant and increase customer spending. This is done through the character of merchandising and product placement. There are many different ideas and theories in relation to layout and how product layout can influence the purchases made. One theory suggests that certain products are placed together or near one another that are of
1590-542: A high volume of sales, and with of higher-margin items bought by the customers. Self-service with shopping carts (trolleys) or baskets reduces labor costs, and many supermarket chains are attempting further reduction by shifting to self-service check-outs . Historically, the earliest retailers were peddlers who marketed their wares in the streets, but by the 1920s, retail food sales in the United States had mostly shifted to small corner grocery stores. In that era,
1749-519: A hundred A&P stores. By 1937, 44 percent of A&P stores were losing money. By February 1940, A&P had closed 5,950 stores and cut the percentage of money-losing stores to 18 percent. The numbers driving this process were unassailable: in A&;P's traditional grocery stores, "wages and overhead expenses" had consumed 18 percent of sales, while in A&P's newly opened supermarkets, those same numbers were less than 12 percent of sales. Once
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#17327802790861908-626: A large amount of floor space, usually on a single level. It is usually situated near a residential area in order to be convenient to consumers. The basic appeal is the availability of a broad selection of goods under a single roof, at relatively low prices. Other advantages include ease of parking and frequently the convenience of shopping hours that extend into the evening or even 24 hours of the day. Supermarkets usually allocate large budgets to advertising, typically through newspapers and television. They also present elaborate in-shop displays of products. Supermarkets typically are chain stores , supplied by
2067-595: A level never experienced before. Kroger took the idea one step further and pioneered the first supermarket surrounded on all four sides by a parking lot . For A&P, the conversion from traditional grocery stores to supermarkets came as a terrible shock for the thousands of retail employees whose lives were changed forever. But A&P had no choice but to plunge ahead. One of King Kullen's earliest imitators, Big Bear, opened its first supermarket in 1933 in New Jersey and collected more revenue in one year than over
2226-676: A lullaby in Chinese, while Albert acts as his "Lookout" (for police officers). In the coming of age play and film Beautiful Thing written by Jonathan Harvey , the main character Jamie asks Tony (the new-age lover of his mother Sandra) where they met, to which he responds "Gateways". Gateway was specifically mentioned by Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave after the local newspaper erroneously reported that Victor had 'gone to ground', when in fact he had 'gone to Gateway'. In one episode of
2385-564: A marine biologist, was born in the town in 1898, and it was also the birthplace of John Pople , a theoretical chemist, in 1925. The novelist Isobel English was sent to La Retraite, a Burnham-on-Sea convent school, in 1920. Arthur Gilbert , confirmed as the world's oldest triathlete in 2011, lives and competes in the town. George Shelley of X Factor boy band Union J lived in Burnham-on-Sea and attended The King Alfred School, Highbridge , where he studied his GCSEs. Also resident
2544-498: A new Food Giant discount brand, with the first store opening in Nottingham in 1991. Two years later, a further chief executive, David Simons, was in the post. In May 1994, the company changed its name to Somerfield plc. According to The Guardian newspaper, the holding company almost collapsed in the 1990s under a "mountain of debt". In 1996, Somerfield plc was floated on the stock market in an initial public offering , after
2703-490: A new chief executive, Bob Willett, was appointed and a decision was taken to rebrand the company's operations as Somerfield after a successful pilot scheme in 1990 with a new store and the first Somerfield store in the country being built in Burnham on Sea , Somerset , and the company then built its success upon the new brand alongside the existing Gateway and Food Giant chains. A small number of stores were also relaunched under
2862-573: A new wider Esplanade. Taking five years to complete and coming into operation in 1988, beach access is now via a series of raised steps for visitors, with three vehicle access points which can be closed during storms using sealed gates. There have been many shipwrecks on the Gore Sands. The first lifeboat was sent to Burnham by the Bridgwater Corporation in 1836, and a replacement boat in 1847. The first Royal National Lifeboat
3021-411: A number of markets within this one supermarket. Marketers use well-researched techniques to try to control purchasing behavior. The layout of a supermarket is considered by some to consist of a few rules of thumb and three layout principles. The high-draw products are placed in separate areas of the store to keep drawing the consumer through the store. High impulse and high margin products are placed in
3180-401: A position to promote circulation. In most supermarkets, the entrance will be on the right-hand side because some research suggests that consumers who travel in a counter-clockwise direction spend more. However, other researchers have argued that consumers moving in a clockwise direction can form better mental maps of the store leading to higher sales in turn. The second principle of the layout
3339-566: A separate civil parish, itself divided in 1896 between the new civil parishes of North Highbridge (within Highbridge Urban District) and Burnham Without . Burnham itself became Burnham Urban District , renamed Burnham-on-Sea Urban District in 1917. In 1933 it annexed Highbridge Urban District. This combined urban district became a civil parish in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 . Unitl April 2023,
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#17327802790863498-433: A series of store closures was announced as Somerfield's new owners continued their restructuring activity. Some of these were poorly performing Somerfield stores and some were former Kwik Save sites that had not proved successful after being converted to Somerfield stores in 2006. Some stores were sold to other groups, including Sainsbury's , which bought five stores, while others were closed completely. In October 2006, it
3657-450: A similar or complementary nature to increase the average customer spend. This strategy is used to create cross-category sales similarity. In other words, the toothpaste is next to or adjacent the toothbrushes and the tea and coffee are down the same aisle as the sweet biscuits. These products complement one another and placing them near is one-way marketers try to increase purchases. For vertical placement, cheap generic brands tend to be on
3816-585: A snap purchase and to also entice them to shop down the aisle. The most obvious place supermarket layout influences consumers are at the checkout. Small displays of candy, magazines, and drinks are located at each checkout to tempt shoppers while they wait to be served. The large scale of supermarkets, while often improving cost and efficiency for customers, can place significant economic pressure on suppliers and smaller shopkeepers. Supermarkets often generate considerable food waste , although modern technologies such as biomethanation units may be able to process
3975-470: A steamer service to Wales was inaugurated, but it was never a commercial success, and ended in 1888. The pier retains its railway lines under a surface coating of concrete. The concrete pier , built in 1911–1914, is claimed to be the shortest pier in Britain. However it is merely a beach pavilion, and is thus discounted by many pier experts. In 2008, it was rated amongst the top five piers in Britain by
4134-545: A strong anti-chain rhetorical device. With public backlash came political pressure to even the playing field for smaller vendors lacking the luxury of economies of scale. In 1936, the Robinson-Patman Act was implemented as a way of preventing such large chains from using their buying power to reap advantages over small stores, although the act was not well enforced and did not have much impact on such chains. Supermarkets rapidly proliferated across both Canada and
4293-402: A supermarket is a visual merchandising project that plays a major role. Stores can creatively use a layout to alter customers' perceptions of the atmosphere. Alternatively, they can enhance the store's atmospherics through visual communications (signs and graphics), lighting, colors, and scents. For example, to give a sense of the supermarket being healthy, fresh produce is deliberately located at
4452-623: A swimming pool and sports academy. The Burnham-on-Sea rugby union club was formed in 1887. It was wound up after World War 2 and subsequently reformed. After winning the Tribute Somerset Premier in the 2008–09 they were promoted to the Western Counties North , a level seven rugby union league for clubs based in the south-west of England. The Burnham-on-Sea cricket club was established in 1861 and has played continuously since then. They currently play in
4611-587: A very intense secondary low-pressure area moving rapidly at 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph) into the Bristol Channel, with pressure dropping from 1,012 to 962 hectopascals (29.9 to 28.4 inches of mercury) between 00:00 and 18:00. This caused a large rising surge in sea level, with the maximum surge at Hinkley Point measured at 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) above the 7.4 m (24 ft 3 in) tidal level Ordnance Datum (OD) at 20:25, and 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) measured at Avonmouth. The wind
4770-461: Is The King Alfred School , a coeducational comprehensive school located in Highbridge . The school is a specialist Sports College . In 2007, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary. The facilities of the dual-use King Alfred Sports Centre, which is next to the school site, are shared between the school and town. The parish church, St. Andrew's , is a Grade I listed building dating from
4929-467: Is a headland extending into Bridgwater Bay 5 miles (8 km) west of Burnham-on-Sea, one the opposite side the mouth of the River Parrett. The landscape of Hinkley Point is dominated by two closed nuclear power stations : Hinkley Point A and Hinkley Point B , and Hinkley Point C , which is under construction. Along with the rest of South West England , Burnham has a temperate climate which
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5088-536: Is a higher risk of shoplifting , the costs of appropriate security measures ideally will be outweighed by reduced labor costs. Historically, there has been much debate about the origin of the supermarket. For example, Southern California grocery store chains Alpha Beta and Ralphs both have strong claims to being the first supermarket. By 1930, both chains were already operating multiple 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m ) self-service grocery stores. However, as of 1930, both chains were not yet true supermarkets in
5247-624: Is also reserved for canned and packaged goods and for various non-food items such as kitchenware , household cleaners , pharmacy products and pet supplies. Some supermarkets also sell other household products that are consumed regularly, such as alcohol (where permitted), medicine, and clothing , and some sell a much wider range of non-food products: DVDs , sporting equipment, board games, and seasonal items (e.g., Christmas wrapping paper , Easter eggs , school uniforms, Valentine's Day themed gifts, Mother's Day gifts, Father's Day gifts and Halloween ). A larger full-service supermarket combined with
5406-793: Is close to the estuary of the River Parrett where it flows into the Bristol Channel , which has the second highest tidal range in the world. At 11 m (36 ft), it is second only to the Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada. Burnham's extensive mud flats are characteristic of Bridgwater Bay and the rest of the Bristol Channel, where the tide can recede for over 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometres). Bridgwater Bay consists of large areas of mud flats , saltmarsh, sandflats and shingle ridges, some of which are vegetated. It has been designated as
5565-419: Is coordination. Coordination is the organized arrangement of product that promotes sales. Products such as fast-selling and slow-selling lines are placed in strategic positions in aid of the overall sales plan. Managers sometimes place different items in fast-selling places to increase turnover or to promote a new line. The third principle is consumer convenience. The layout of a supermarket is designed to create
5724-481: Is from the south-west. Burnham was seriously affected by the Bristol Channel floods of 1607 , and various flood defences have been installed since then. In 1911, a concrete sea wall was built, and after World War II further additions to the defences were made using the remains of a Mulberry harbour . On 13 December 1981, a large storm hit the North Somerset coast . Meteorological conditions resulted in
5883-526: Is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 °C (50 °F). Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately 21 °C (70 °F). In winter, mean minimum temperatures of 1 or 2 °C (34 or 36 °F) are common. In
6042-428: Is non- union and operates with better buying power. Other competition exists from warehouse clubs such as Costco that offer savings to customers buying in bulk quantities. Superstores , such as those operated by Wal-Mart and Asda, often offer a wide range of goods and services in addition to foods. In Australia, Aldi, Woolworths and Coles are the major players running the industry with fierce competition among all
6201-408: Is often used to mean "supermarket". The supermarket store format first appeared around 1930 in the United States as the culmination of about two decades of retail innovations, and began to spread to other countries after extensive worldwide publicity in 1956. The supermarket typically has places for fresh meat, fresh produce , dairy , deli items, baked goods, and similar foodstuffs. Shelf space
6360-530: Is part of the West Country Carnival circuit. Burnham and Berrow Golf Course lies at the North of the town and is a 36-hole championship. Burnham-on-Sea is a noted venue for kitesurfing , as well as other water sports, and has its own sailing club. Land side many activities cater for either the dominant resident elderly population or the seasonal tourists, including bowls , and there is also
6519-539: The Daily Express . The hotel was built in 1796 and incorporated the first bar in Burnham-on-Sea. The Esplanade along the sea front contains several listed buildings from the early 19th century, including number 44, which is also known as Steart House, and numbers 46 and 47. On Berrow Road, near the High Lighthouse, numbers 4, 6 and 8 were part of a terrace built between 1838 and 1841. Number 31
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6678-709: The Bridgwater county constituency which elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , by the first past the post voting system. Prior to Brexit in 2020, it was within the South West England constituency of the European Parliament . Because of its position near the mouth of the River Parrett, and the constantly shifting sands of
6837-482: The Bristol Channel , there has always been a significant risk to shipping in the area. As a result, several lighthouses , have been built. The original lighthouse, known as the Round Tower , was built after the local vicar, either John Goulden in 1764 or Walter Harris in 1799, raised a subscription amongst the local population to replace the light on the top of St Andrews Church tower. The four-storey Round Tower
6996-637: The Kwik Save chain of discount food stores. The company was taken over by the Co-operative Group on 2 March 2009 in a £1.57 billion deal, creating the UK's fifth-largest food retailer. The Somerfield name was replaced by the Co-operative brand in a rolling programme of store conversions ending in summer 2011. The company had its origins in a Bristol -based grocer known as J.H. Mills which
7155-609: The Normandy Landings , and burying them in the sand. Today the town is defended from flooding by a large curved concrete wall, completed in 1988 following serious flooding in 1981. The wall runs along the Esplanade, and serves as the canvas for a wide variety of graffiti and street art . USS Aulick was a Clemson -class destroyer in the United States Navy built in 1918 to 1919. In 1940 she
7314-600: The River Severn and the Bristol Channel . The Romans were the first peoples to try to reclaim the Somerset levels, and it was their people who were probably the first settlers in the high sand dunes behind the River Parrett . This could have been in part to maintain navigational systems, to aid ships entering the River Parrett and what is now Highbridge . When the Romans left , the system of drainage they installed
7473-629: The distribution centers of their parent companies , thus increasing opportunities for economies of scale . Supermarkets usually offer products at relatively low prices by using their buying power to buy goods from manufacturers at lower prices than smaller stores can. They also minimize financing costs by paying for goods at least 30 days after receipt and some extract credit terms of 90 days or more from vendors. Certain products (typically staple foods such as bread, milk and sugar) are very occasionally sold as loss leaders so as to attract shoppers to their store. Supermarkets make up for their low margins by
7632-544: The "mountains of food". In the United Kingdom, self-service shopping took longer to become established. Even in 1947, there were just ten self-service shops in the country. In 1951, ex-US Navy sailor Patrick Galvani, son-in-law of Express Dairies chairman, made a pitch to the board to open a chain of supermarkets across the country. The UK's first supermarket under the new Premier Supermarkets brand opened in Streatham , South London , taking ten times as much per week as
7791-637: The 102 Kwik Save sites it had retained under its own name and a further 77 stores were sold to other retailers, thought to include Netto and Aldi , leaving the company to focus solely on the Somerfield brand. Subsequent to the initial sale, a further 19 Kwik Save stores were acquired by BTTF, including some of those included in the Competition Commission investigation ruling into the Safeway Compact takeover. In August 2006,
7950-504: The 14th century. It has a 78 ft (24 m) high tower, which leans significantly from the vertical, caused by its poor foundations . During the 18th century, a light was placed on the tower to guide fishing boats into the harbour. The church contains a number of marble carvings designed by Sir Christopher Wren for the private chapel in the Palace of Westminster . There is also an unofficial mosque by Burnham Swimming Centre, otherwise
8109-459: The 1920s, the highly inefficient nature of the American food distribution system meant that the "average urban family spent fully one-third of its budget on food". One of the most important defining features of the supermarket is cheap food. The vast abundance of cheap, wholesome food which modern consumers take for granted today was simply unimaginable before the middle of the 20th century, to
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#17327802790868268-423: The American grocery landscape with their low overhead and low prices (while crushing numerous independent small stores along the way), a backlash to this radical alteration of food distribution infrastructure appeared in the form of numerous anti-chain campaigns. The idea of " monopsony ", proposed by Cambridge economist Joan Robinson in 1933, that a single buyer could outmaneuver a market of multiple sellers, became
8427-458: The American supermarket stood at the pinnacle of a food production and distribution system so efficient that less than three percent of the U.S. population produced more than enough food to feed everyone. The average American adult "will spend 2 percent of their life inside" supermarkets. In the 21st century, traditional supermarkets in many countries face intense competition from discounters such as Wal-Mart, Aldi and Lidl , which typically
8586-477: The Atlantic depressions, which is when they are most active. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around 700 mm (28 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction
8745-503: The Co-op has become the largest community retailer, with specialities in convenience stores and smaller supermarkets . At one point in early 2007, Somerfield was also briefly surpassed in size by Waitrose . The branch of Somerfield in Wells , Somerset , England had featured prominently in the film Hot Fuzz (2007) and Somerfield branding was clearly visible. In the film the manager of
8904-553: The Company in 2003. Then in 2005, Icelandic venture capital group Baugur made an approach, while United Co-operatives and London & Regional Properties also expressed an interest, but both groups dropped out of the running. Then on 21 December 2005, Somerfield plc was acquired for £1.1 billion by a consortium consisting of Apax Partners , Barclays Capital and the Tchenguiz Family Trust , at which time
9063-501: The German-based Tchibo brand, however this ceased by 2009. In October 2004, Somerfield acquired 114 Safeway Compact stores from Morrisons , which were subsequently re branded under the Somerfield name. This deal was referred to the Competition Commission . After completing its investigation, the commission instructed Somerfield to sell 12 stores. In September 2005, Somerfield announced its intention to appeal against
9222-449: The Gore Sands, which lie just offshore and can be exposed at low tides. Lighthouses are hence prominent landmarks in the town, with the original lighthouse known as the Round Tower built to replace the light on the top of the 14th-century tower of St Andrews Church . The 110-foot (34-metre) pillar or High Lighthouse and the low wooden pile lighthouse or Lighthouse on legs on the beach were built to replace it. The town's first lifeboat
9381-488: The High Lighthouse lights were permanently deactivated. They have a focal plane of 7 m (23 ft 0 in) and provide a white flash every 7.5 seconds, plus a directional light (white, red, or green depending on direction) at a focal plane of 4 m (13 ft 1 in). A 900 ft (270 m) stone pier was erected in 1858 by the Somerset Central Railway. Soon afterwards, in 1860,
9540-465: The Kwik Save brand. A few months later Simons resigned. The original plan to transfer all Kwik Save stores to the Somerfield branding was quickly abandoned after it became clear that many outlets were not suitable for conversion, either due to size or location. Also, the downmarket wooden shelving and poor quality fittings used by Kwik Save meant that every conversion required a full refurbishment of
9699-642: The Somerfield Direct board. At the time, Somerfield Direct only covered the South West of England from its base in Bristol. With the incorporation of Supermarket Direct, Somerfield Direct extended its range to the London area. While other home shopping services were providing internet ordering, at this point Somerfield Direct was a catalogue and call-centre operation, chief executive Simons expressing
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#17327802790869858-452: The Somerfield branding, but the group continued to suffer from a disparate store portfolio, the result of numerous ill-digested acquisitions by Kwik Save prior to the Somerfield takeover. At the end of 1999, Simons, facing strong criticism from the city, announced plans to sell a third of the company's 1,400 stores. He admitted that the group had underestimated the difference between Somerfield and Kwik Save, and had failed to support and maintain
10017-694: The Somerset Cricket League Premier Div. The ground is in Stoddens Road and boasts fine facilities. The best-known player in the club's history is Sammy Woods , who played Test cricket for England and Australia during the 1890s. The club has also provided a number of players for Somerset in the County Championship competition. In 2016 the town held the Burnham Spray Jam which decorated
10176-542: The United States with the growth of automobile ownership and suburban development after World War II. Most North American supermarkets are located in suburban strip shopping centers as an anchor store along with other smaller retailers. They are generally regional rather than national in their company branding. Kroger is the most nationally oriented supermarket chain in the United States, but it has preserved most of its regional brands, including Ralphs , City Market , King Soopers , Fry's , Smith's , and QFC . In Canada,
10335-429: The United States". The exhibit was a rather "modest staging", not a truly comprehensive duplicate of a typical full-size U.S. supermarket, and yet it was much larger than anything the world had ever seen. Just like the American consumers who had entered the first supermarkets two decades earlier, conference attendees, local Italian visitors, and the international news media were all astonished, bewildered, and stunned by
10494-522: The average British general store of the time. Other chains caught on, and after Galvani lost out to Tesco's Jack Cohen in 1960 to buy the 212 Irwin's chain, the sector underwent a large amount of consolidation, resulting in 'the big four' dominant UK of today: Tesco , Asda , Sainsbury's and Morrisons . In the 1950s, supermarkets frequently issued trading stamps as incentives to customers. Today, most chains issue store-specific "membership cards", "club cards", or " loyalty cards ". These typically enable
10653-637: The banner Steinberg's . By the 1950s, supermarkets had become part of the everyday lives of American consumers, but were still extremely rare outside of the United States. Most persons outside the United States had never seen a supermarket or even heard of the term. That began to change after 1956, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture presented an "American Way exhibit" at the International Food Congress in Rome, Italy. The exhibit included "the first fully stocked supermarket outside of
10812-403: The budget 'Makes Sense' range became 'Simply Value', the low calories 'Good Intentions' range became 'Healthy Choice', and the premium 'So Good' range became 'Best Ever!'. A new strapline "Giving you what you want" was introduced to reflect this. In 2005, Somerfield closed 22 of its 51 Scottish Kwik Save stores and rebranded the remainder under its own name, thus removing the Kwik Save brand from
10971-593: The business or to its head office in Manchester, to try to avoid redundancies. The takeover was officially completed on 2 March 2009. The conversion and rebranding of Somerfield stores into Coop stores took just over two years and was completed by summer 2011. Somerfield entered into a contract with ParkingEye Ltd. for the operation of store car parks, allowing customers a period of free parking and allowing ParkingEye to levy charges and retain payments from customers who overstayed their permitted parking time. The contract
11130-418: The cardholder to receive special members-only discounts on certain items when the credit card-like device is scanned at the checkout. Sales of selected data generated by club cards is becoming a significant revenue stream for some supermarkets. As of 2018, there were approximately 38,000 supermarkets in the supermarket's birthplace, the United States; Americans spent $ 701 billion at supermarkets that year; and
11289-408: The chain up for sale. News reports valued the chain at over £1.5 billion. Somerfield appointed Citigroup to manage the sale, and a preference to sell as a going concern rather than on a piecemeal basis was reported. It emerged that four provisional bids were made. Only the Co-operative Group, the UK's largest co-operative, publicly announced purchase talks, aiming to complete due diligence for
11448-409: The chain's free Home Delivery service. In 1998, the company took over the Kwik Save chain in a £473 million transaction. Although the deal was billed as a merger of equals, Somerfield investors owned 62.5% of the enlarged group. Observers questioned whether putting together two very different businesses would solve either's problems. The initial plan was to convert most of the Kwik Save stores to
11607-433: The chains' common practice of selling loss leaders to be anti-competitive. They are also wary of the negotiating power that large, often multinationals have with suppliers around the world. During the dot-com boom , Webvan , an online-only supermarket, was formed and went bankrupt after three years and was acquired by Amazon. The British online supermarket Ocado , which uses a high degree of automation in its warehouses,
11766-478: The church. Burnham was part of the hundred of Bempstone . One of the earliest recorded incidents to affect the town was the Bristol Channel floods of 1607 , since when various flood defences have been installed. In 1911 a concrete wall was built. After the Second World War , further additions to the defences against the sea were added by bringing part of the remains of a Mulberry harbour used for
11925-501: The clerk had to measure out and wrap the precise amount desired. Merchants did not post prices, which forced customers to haggle and bargain with clerks to reach fair prices for their purchases. This business model had already been established in Europe for several centuries. It offered extensive opportunities for social interaction: many regarded this style of shopping as "a social occasion" and would often "pause for conversations with
12084-433: The combination store. This was a grocery store which combined several departments under one roof, but generally maintained the traditional system of clerks pulling products from shelves on request. By 1929, only one in three U.S. grocery stores was a combination store. The concept of a self-service grocery store predates the supermarket; it was developed by entrepreneur Clarence Saunders at his Piggly Wiggly stores,
12243-478: The company was the subject of a £2bn takeover bid from a newly formed company, Isosceles; the deal was partly financed by a pre-arranged sale of 61 Gateway stores to Asda . When Isosceles, a newly created financial group led by David Smith and backed by several big investment institutions, bid successfully for Gateway in 1989 and took the company private, the plan was to restructure the business and refocus it on what were called "middle ground" outlets, falling between
12402-437: The consumer . Along with this path, there will be high-draw, high-impulse items that will influence the consumer to make purchases which they did not originally intend. Service areas such as restrooms are placed in a location which draws the consumer past certain products to create extra buys. Necessity items such as bread and milk are found at the rear of the store to increase the start of circulation. Cashiers' desks are placed in
12561-436: The court stated that the court reinforced long established legal authority for "the justice of treating a party who deliberately sets out to break the law in a serious respect, such as overloading a vessel, differently from a party who breaks the law without meaning to do so or in a way which may be minor". As an independent entity, Somerfield was the sixth largest food retailer in the UK, according to TNS Worldpanel , following
12720-493: The decision, a process delayed by a takeover bid for the chain. The Competition Appeal Tribunal upheld the commission's decision in February 2006. Somerfield therefore had to proceed with sale of the 12 stores. However, the sale of Kwik Save in February 2006 is likely to have removed the potential clashes between some of the offending stores. Retail entrepreneurs John Lovering and Bob Mackenzie made two failed bids to take over
12879-472: The entire estate of 900 Somerfield stores in the third quarter, but would be expected to sell a minority of stores. On 24 June, a Thomson Reuters newswire reported sources indicating that the Co-operative Group's acquisition of Somerfield could be finalised at the start of July, in a final deal worth £1.7 billion. Earlier in June, Morrisons confirmed that it was not bidding for Somerfield, but would consider
13038-591: The entrance to the left-hand side as the consumer will likely turn right upon entry, and this allows the consumer to do a full counter-clockwise circle around the store before returning to the checkouts. This suggests that supermarket marketers should use this theory to their advantage by placing their temporary displays of products on the right-hand side to entice you to make an unplanned purchase. Furthermore, aisle ends are extremely popular with product manufacturers, who pay top dollar to have their products located there. These aisle ends are used to lure customers into making
13197-698: The expansion of supermarkets in these countries has important repercussions for small farmers, particularly those growing perishable crops. New supply chains have developed involving cluster formation; development of specialized wholesalers; leading farmers organizing supply, and farmer associations or cooperatives. In some cases supermarkets have organized their own procurement from small farmers; in others wholesale markets have adapted to meet supermarket needs. Larger supermarkets in North America and in Europe typically sell many items among many brands, sizes and varieties. U.S. publisher Supermarket News lists
13356-403: The first of which opened in 1916. Saunders was awarded several patents for the ideas he incorporated into his stores. The stores were a financial success and Saunders began to offer franchises. The general trend since then has been to stock shelves at night so that customers, the following day, can obtain their own goods and bring them to the front of the store to pay for them. Although there
13515-548: The following categories, for example: Hypermarkets have a larger range of non-food categories such as clothing, electronics, household decoration and appliances. Most merchandise is already packaged when it arrives at the supermarket. Packages are placed on shelves, arranged in aisles and sections according to type of item. Some items, such as fresh produce, are stored in bins. Those requiring an intact cold chain are in temperature-controlled display cases. While branding and store advertising will differ from company to company,
13674-410: The following formats (store types) that sell groceries: ( commissaries ) Some supermarkets are focusing on selling more (or even exclusively) organically certified produce. Others are trying to differentiate themselves by selling fewer (or no) products containing palm oil . This as the demand of palm oil is a main driver for the destruction of rainforests. As a response to the growing concern on
13833-608: The following year. The company also purchased the UK arm of the French retailer, Carrefour when the French retailer exited Britain in the late 1980s. By this time, the Dee Corporation had over 1,100 stores and nearly 12% of the market, not far behind Sainsbury's and Tesco . Most of the Dee Corporation's outlets were small, high-street stores. Monk argued that there was a future for well-run conventional supermarkets as well as
13992-504: The front of the store. In terms of bakery items, supermarkets usually dedicate 30 to 40 feet of store space to the bread aisle. Supermarkets are designed to "give each product section a sense of individual difference and this is evident in the design of what is called the anchor departments; fresh produce, dairy, delicatessen, meat and the bakery". Each section has different floor coverings, style, lighting and sometimes even individual services counters to allow shoppers to feel as if there are
14151-524: The heavy use of petroleum-based plastics for food packaging , so-called " zero waste " and "plastic-free" supermarkets and groceries are on the rise. Beginning in the 1990s, the food sector in developing countries has rapidly transformed, particularly in Latin America, South-East Asia, India, China and South Africa. With growth, has come considerable competition and some amount of consolidation. The growth has been driven by increasing affluence and
14310-557: The issue. They defined the attributes of a supermarket as "self-service, separate product departments, discount pricing, marketing and volume selling". They determined that the first true supermarket in the United States was opened by a former Kroger employee, Michael J. Cullen , on 4 August 1930, inside a 6,000-square-foot (560 m ) former garage in Jamaica, Queens in New York City. The store King Kullen , operated under
14469-593: The large chains joined the supermarket trend, the new retail format exploded across the country like a wildfire. The number of American supermarkets almost tripled from 1,200 in 32 states in 1936 to over 3,000 in 47 states in 1937. It was well over 15,000 by 1950. One sign of the supermarket format's success in slashing labor costs, overhead, and food prices was that the percentage of disposable income spent by American consumers on food plunged "from 21 percent in 1930 to 16 percent in 1940". The modern era of "cheap food" had begun. As large chain stores began to dominate
14628-592: The large out-of-town stores. However, by 1987 the Dee Corporation ran into problems, mainly because of the difficulty of integrating so many disparate businesses. Some disposals were made in that year, including the Linfood wholesaling operation. In 1988, the Dee Corporation changed its name to the Gateway Corporation, and a new retailing chief was recruited from the US. Investors remained sceptical, and in 1989
14787-470: The larger out of town superstores and smaller, inner-city neighbourhood shops; the average size of the stores was between 5,000 sq ft (460 m) and 10,000 sq ft (930 m). The promoters of the Isosceles bid believed that, after this disposal and extensive restructuring of the rest of the portfolio, Gateway could become a viable competitor; the intention was to re-float the company on
14946-633: The largest such company is Loblaw , which operates stores under a variety of banners targeted to different segments and regions, including Fortinos , Zehrs , No Frills , the Real Canadian Superstore, and Loblaws, the foundation of the company. Sobeys is Canada's second largest supermarket with locations across the country, operating under many banners (Sobeys IGA in Quebec ). Québec's first supermarket opened in 1934 in Montréal, under
15105-420: The layout of a supermarket remains virtually unchanged. Although big companies spend time giving consumers a pleasant shopping experience, the design of a supermarket is directly connected to the in-store marketing that supermarkets must conduct to get shoppers to spend more money while there. Every aspect of the store is mapped out and attention is paid to color, wording and surface texture. The overall layout of
15264-691: The line at the north end of the platforms, and a goods shed was provided beyond this on the west side of the line. The Bristol and Exeter Railway amalgamated with the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1876. The town is approximately 3 mi (5 km) from the M5 motorway and the A38 road . There are two main bus routes serving Burnham-on-Sea. These are service 21A from Taunton operated by The Buses of Somerset and service 20 from Weston-super-Mare operated by First West of England . The town
15423-415: The local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. In recent years
15582-418: The logic of "pile it high and sell it cheap". The store layout was designed by Joseph Unger, who originated the concept of customers using baskets to collect groceries before checking out at a counter. Everything displayed for sale in the store "had prices clearly marked", meaning that consumers would no longer need to haggle over prices. Cullen described his store as "the world's greatest price wrecker". At
15741-425: The lowest shelves, products appealing to children are placed at the mid-thigh level, and the most profitable brands are placed at eye level. The fourth principle is the use of color psychology , and the locations of the food, similar to its use in fast food branding. Consumer psychologists suggest that most buyers tend to enter the store and shop to their right first. Some supermarkets, therefore, choose to place
15900-449: The market. Initial development of supermarkets has now been followed by hypermarket growth. In addition there were investments by companies such as Makro and Metro Cash and Carry in large-scale Cash-and-Carry operations. While the growth in sales of processed foods in these countries has been much more rapid than the growth in fresh food sales, the imperative nature of supermarkets to achieve economies of scale in purchasing means that
16059-522: The marketplace north of the border. After the group was taken over, it was reported that the new owners found the Kwik Save chain was losing £40m per year, effectively cancelling out around 40% of the profits generated by the Somerfield division. As a result, it increased the rate of converting stores from Kwik Save to Somerfield. On 27 February 2006, Somerfield Stores Ltd sold the Kwik Save brand and 171 stores to BTTF, an investment vehicle headed by Paul Niklas, for an undisclosed sum. Somerfield re-branded
16218-640: The modern sense because their prices remained quite high; as noted above, one of the most important defining features of the supermarket is cheap food. Their main selling point was free parking . Other strong contenders in Texas included Weingarten's and Henke & Pillot . To end the debate, the Food Marketing Institute in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution and with funding from H.J. Heinz , researched
16377-418: The most predominant areas to grab attention. Power products are placed on both sides of the aisle to create increased product awareness, and end caps are used to receive a high exposure of a certain product whether on special, promotion or in a campaign, or a new line. The first principle of the layout is circulation. Circulation is created by arranging product so the supermarket can control the traffic flow of
16536-457: The name Somerfield Direct in early 1999. As a call centre operated service, customers would telephone the company to order Somerfield produce, which would be delivered direct from the warehouse. After the launch, Somerfield bought Supermarket Direct in April 1999 for £3.25 million to extend the range of Somerfield Direct, and Supermarket Direct partners Dominick Scott-Flanagan and David Noble joined
16695-521: The name of the group changed to Somerfield Ltd. The aim of the new owners was to simplify the business and attract new customers. The first move was the end of the Saver Card loyalty scheme in May 2006 with promotional deals becoming available to all customers. A new point of sale was introduced to make promotions and price cuts more visible to customers. Somerfield's three own-label brands were overhauled;
16854-619: The nearest official mosque would be in Weston-super-mare . There are also places of worship for Baptists , Methodists , Roman Catholics and Jehovah's Witnesses in the town. Burnham-on-Sea railway station was the terminus of the Burnham branch of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway , but the tracks continued onto the jetty, where ferry services to South Wales could be boarded. The station opened in 1858 as Burnham, and
17013-506: The order is complete, the customer will pick it up (i.e. "click-and-collect") or have it fulfilled via home delivery. Supermarkets are investing in micro-fulfillment centers with the hope that automation can help reduce the costs of online commerce and e-commerce by shortening the distances from store to home and speeding up deliveries. MFCs are said by many to be the key to profitably fulfilling online orders. The U.S. FMI food industry association, drawing on research by Willard Bishop, defines
17172-430: The parish council has become a significant grant funder of local organisations and events. There is currently a debate underway about the correct disbursement and monitoring of these grants, following allegations of impropriety regarding some councillors. Burnham was a large ancient parish , and until the late 19th century included the then hamlet of Highbridge and rural areas around Edithmead . In 1894 Highbridge became
17331-460: The parish was estimated at £1.5M. Although emergency repairs were undertaken, Wessex Water Authority began planning new sea defences for the town. Construction work started in 1983 on a £7M scheme, creating what was then Britain's biggest wave return wall . The scheme raised the level of the sea wall and the promenade by 1 m (3 ft 3 in), by creating a 1.6 km (0.99 mi) long and 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in) high sea wall, and
17490-514: The point that the first American supermarket customers in the 1930s were overcome with emotion at the sight of so much cheap food. Before the 20th century, food was neither cheap, nor wholesome, nor abundant. For example, in 1812, almost 90 percent of Americans worked in food production, and they struggled to stay alive on food which was often scarce, of poor quality, and riddled with diseases which could and did often kill them. The concept of an inexpensive food market relying on economies of scale
17649-423: The premium 'So Good' range, the low fat 'Good Intentions', and a new advertising strapline: "Good Food Made Easy". This strapline later changed several times - see the list of slogans mentioned earlier on this page. A low-price own brand label called 'Makes Sense' was introduced to compete with rival low-cost brands, such as Tesco Value. At some time in the mid-2000s, some stores started selling products labelled under
17808-452: The purchase of any stores that are sold after the acquisition. Newspaper sources said that other major supermarket chains are also interested in such purchases. In July 2008, the Co-operative Group announced a deal to purchase Somerfield for £1.57 billion, creating the fifth largest supermarket chain in the UK. It was confirmed on 20 October 2008 that the Office of Fair Trading had approved
17967-415: The recovery had reached the point where flotation became feasible with a market value of around £600M, and the proceeds were used to repay banks that had lent to Isosceles. At the time of the flotation the company's market share had fallen to 5.3%, its lowest level for two years, but Simons claimed that the company was now clearly positioned in the market, and that the business would benefit from what he saw as
18126-612: The rise of a middle class; the entry of women into the workforce; with a consequent incentive to seek out easy-to-prepare foods; the growth in the use of refrigerators, making it possible to shop weekly instead of daily; and the growth in car ownership, facilitating journeys to distant stores and purchases of large quantities of goods. The opportunities presented by this potential have encouraged several European companies to invest in these markets (mainly in Asia) and American companies to invest in Latin America and China. Local companies also entered
18285-512: The sale of Somerfield under the condition that 133 stores must be sold. This process continued into 2009 with many stores changing ownership, for example to Lidl . In February 2009, it was announced that The Co-operative Group planned to close the Somerfield head office in Bristol and relocate all operations to its existing head office in Manchester . The Co-operative said that it would try to relocate as many staff as possible to other areas of
18444-452: The sale of the Kwik Save unit and the closure or sale of unprofitable stores, with 977 stores (as of January 2007). Also the fifth largest private company in the UK, Somerfield had a 3.8% share of the UK grocery market in 2007, down from 4.5% in 2006. The five larger retailers (in descending order of size) were Tesco , Asda , Sainsbury's , Morrisons and The Co-operative Group . The top four have specialities in larger superstores, while
18603-474: The same show, a Gateway store can be seen in the background. Supermarket A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food , beverages and household products , organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores , but is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box market . In everyday United States usage, however, " grocery store "
18762-577: The size of some of their shops, using a similar format to its convenience stores. Signage was replaced with the Somerfield brand. On 16 July 2008, it was announced that Somerfield would be acquired by the Co-operative Group for £1.57 billion, subject to approval from the Office of Fair Trading . The build-up to this announcement began in late 2007, when the parent private equity consortium, that had acquired Somerfield in December 2005, put
18921-419: The staff or other customers". These practices were by nature slow, had high labor intensity , and were quite expensive. The number of customers who could be attended to at one time was limited by the number of staff employed in the store. Early grocery stores were "austere" and tiny by modern standards, with as few as 450 items. Shopping for groceries often involved trips to multiple specialty shops, such as
19080-415: The standard retail grocery business model was for a clerk to fetch products from shelves behind the merchant's counter while customers waited in front of the counter, indicating the items they wanted. Customers needed to ask because "most stores were designed to keep customers (and their children) away from the food". Most foods and merchandise did not come in individually wrapped consumer-sized packages, so
19239-407: The stock market within three to five years. However, the bid was highly leveraged, and it was not clear that the new company would be able to fund the necessary modernisation of the business. Some of the planned disposals of non-core businesses took longer than expected to complete. Financial strains led to the enforced departure of David Smith and other executives in 1991. In the following year,
19398-442: The store - simply changing the signage and uniforms would have risked dragging the carefully developed Somerfield brand downmarket. Instead, the larger Kwik Save stores were converted, some were sold or closed and the chain became a trading division of Somerfield Stores Ltd, sharing its supply chain and back office systems with Somerfield. For some years, the own brand products in Kwik Save stores were Somerfield, although this policy
19557-722: The streets with artwork from John D'Oh, Andrew Burns Colwill, SPZERO, Irony, Cheba, Diff, Angus, The Agent, Miss Wah, 23 Magpies, Korp and many others. This year the Spray Jam has been incorporated into BOSfest which will also include music, poetry and street entertainment. The town is home to multi-award winning eat:Festivals, who organise three food and drink festivals in this town and in 9 other Somerset towns. The festivals have very high sustainability standards and are always free to attend. Featuring workshops, demos, master classes alongside over 100 local producers from within 25 miles and lots of free entertainment. Thomas Alan Stephenson ,
19716-455: The summer the Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, however convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours. Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection . Most of the rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by
19875-416: The supermarket Simon Skinner, played by Timothy Dalton , is a charming but sinister individual. The film includes a gun battle scene in the supermarket between police and staff members in full Somerfield uniforms, and a scene involving hand-to-hand combat. Simon Skinner was also injured after tripping on a miniature Somerfield lorry in a model village, landing on the model church and getting severely injured in
20034-431: The supermarket set modelled and furnished by Somerfield from 1995 to 1997. A store under its Gateway name featured briefly in the 1990 Christmas Special of Only Fools and Horses ("Rodney Come Home"), in which the store can be seen behind the main characters Del Boy and Uncle Albert as they travel up an escalator to reach the top floor of a shopping precinct, so Del Boy can sell a set of dolls that wet themselves and sing
20193-542: The three. The rising market share of Aldi has forced the other two to cut prices and increase their private label product ranges. The proliferation of such warehouse and superstores has contributed to the continuing disappearance of smaller, local grocery stores, the increased dependence on the automobile , and suburban sprawl because of the necessity for large floor space and increased vehicular traffic. For example, in 2009 51% of Wal-Mart's $ 251 billion domestic sales were recorded from grocery goods. Some critics consider
20352-561: The thriving Frank Dee's purpose built facilities in Anlaby and Billingham, and the existing Gateway warehousing site in Bristol. Alec Monk , chief executive of the Dee Corporation, having escaped a takeover bid from Argyll Foods in 1981, decided to create his own supermarket empire. Three of the biggest acquisitions were of Key Markets Supermarkets from Fitch Lovell , International Stores , bought from British American Tobacco in 1984, and Fine Fare , bought from Associated British Foods
20511-451: The throat. The Somerfield shop also appeared on BBC's Top Gear , during an interview between actor Simon Pegg and host Jeremy Clarkson . The reason the store was chosen was due to the director of the film Edgar Wright having formerly worked at the store. Wright also made an amateur film called Dead Right that had scenes in the same store which is featured on the bonus DVD editions of Hot Fuzz . The gameshow Supermarket Sweep had
20670-409: The time of his death in 1936, there were seventeen King Kullen stores in operation. Although Saunders had brought the world self-service, uniform stores, and nationwide marketing, Cullen built on this idea by adding separate food departments, selling large volumes of food at discount prices and adding a parking lot. Early supermarkets like King Kullen were called "cheapy markets" by industry experts at
20829-506: The time; this was soon replaced by the phrase "super market". The compound phrase was then closed up to become the modern term "supermarket". Other established American grocery chains in the 1930s, such as Kroger and Safeway Inc. at first resisted Cullen's ideas, but were eventually forced to build their own supermarkets as the economy sank into the Great Depression . American consumers became extraordinarily price-sensitive at
20988-457: The total cost of the damage caused at £6M. This resulted in a three-year programme of sea defence assessment, repair and improvement. Burnham, being the largest occupied town within the 1981 surge affected area, also bore the brunt of the resultant damage. 400 properties were affected, with pavements, stone and concrete from the sea wall ripped up and the Esplande destroyed; total damage within
21147-442: The town now fell within the non-metropolitan district of Sedgemoor , which was formed under the same legislation. On 1 April, all Somerset councils were replaced with a single unitary authority , Somerset Council , which is responsible for running all council services. There are two electoral wards in the town itself (Central and North) making the total population at the 2011 census mentioned above of 13,601. It falls within
21306-468: The trend back towards high-street shopping. The aim was to become the UK's strongest neighbourhood food retailer. Questions remained about whether, at a time of intense competition both from discounters and from the larger chains, Somerfield could generate adequate growth in sales and profits. In 1997, the Somerfield website was launched, which gave customers access to viewing online content such as offers, services and recipes, as well as online shopping via
21465-588: The view that "Mrs Smith in Stockport is more likely to use a handy catalogue from her supermarket than surf the Net in search for Fido's dog food". The operation launched internet ordering in July 1999, and was then rebranded as "Somerfield 24-7". At its peak the home shopping division employed 225 staff and operated from three distribution centres. However, Somerfield suffered large losses in 2000, its home shopping venture
21624-452: The waste into an economical source of energy. Also, purchases tracking may help as supermarkets then become better able to size their stock (of perishable goods), reducing food spoilage. Burnham on Sea Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset , England, at the mouth of the River Parrett , upon Bridgwater Bay . Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as
21783-510: Was automated in 1920. In 1992, it was sold to a member of the Rothschild family , who owned it until 1996, when it was bought at auction by Patrick O'Hagan. Conversion for residential use included the removal of the 6th floor and the construction of stairs where there had previously only been ladders. A Grade II listed building , it is now available for holiday lets. The low wooden pile lighthouse or "Lighthouse on legs", or "Nine Pins",
21942-529: Was built in 1832 and is a Grade-II listed building with a red and white striped facade. The position of the town on the edge of the Somerset Levels and moors where they meet the Bristol Channel , has resulted in a history dominated by land reclamation and sea defences since Roman times. Burnham was seriously affected by the Bristol Channel floods of 1607 , with the present curved concrete wall being completed in 1988. There have been many shipwrecks on
22101-442: Was built next to the church. It was taken over and improved by Trinity House in 1815, and operated until 1832, following which the top two storeys were removed. The 110 ft (34 m) pillar or High Lighthouse was designed and built by Joseph Nelson for Trinity House in 1830, and equipped with a paraffin lamp. The ground floor was 5 m (16 ft 5 in) in diameter and the top room 3 m (9 ft 10 in). It
22260-415: Was built two years later, also by Joseph Nelson, to complement the High Lighthouse. It is a total of 36 ft (11 m) high, with the light being at 23 ft (7.0 m) above the sand. It stands on nine wooden piers, some with plate metal reinforcement. The structure is whitewashed with a vertical red stripe on the sea side. The lights were inactive between 1969 and 1993, but were recommissioned when
22419-411: Was described as an "ill-fated foray", and development was halted that June. John von Spreckelsen, former chief executive of convenience food retailer Budgens , was brought in as chairman in April 2000. The new strategy was to keep Somerfield and Kwik Save as separate businesses, while sharing common services in such areas as information technology and corporate finance. By mid-2002 – halfway through what
22578-475: Was developed by Vincent Astor . He founded the Astor Market in 1915, investing $ 750,000 of his fortune into a 165′ by 125′ (50×38-metre) corner of 95th and Broadway, Manhattan , creating, in effect, an open-air mini-mall that sold meat, fruit, produce and flowers. The expectation was that customers would come from great distances ("miles around"), but in the end, even attracting people from ten blocks away
22737-559: Was difficult, and the market folded in 1917. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P), which was established in 1859, was an early grocery store chain in Canada and the United States. It became common in North American cities in the 1920s. Early chains like A&P did not sell fresh meats or produce. During the 1920s, to reduce the hassle of visiting multiple stores, U.S. grocery store chains like A&P introduced
22896-399: Was founded in 1875 and which developed a self-service supermarket chain named Gateway Foodmarkets in 1960. During the early 1970s, Gateway operated primarily in the southwest of England with a few stores elsewhere. Ford and Lock stores and S&H Pink Stamp acquisitions took place during the period when loyalty stamps were prevalent and the first freezer centres were opened. Gateway Foodmarkets
23055-440: Was funded by the town of Cheltenham , and arrived in 1866. The lifeboat was removed in 1930 because of the difficulty in getting a full crew, and because the launching arrangements were not suitable for a powered boat. The current Burnham-on-Sea Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations. The present station was opened in 2003. It operates two inshore lifeboats (ILBs),
23214-526: Was largely a matter of making the best of a very difficult job; the main problem, which had not been solved by the end of the 1980s, was to make some sense of the heterogeneous collection of stores which it had acquired through its numerous takeovers. Somerfield changed its logo in 2002 from a rectangular shape to a more contemporary design and opened several new store formats, including Somerfield Essentials and Somerfield Market Fresh. It further changed its brand image by introducing newer own-brand lines including
23373-612: Was measured at 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph) from the west. Over topping of the sea defences along a 7 mi (11 km) stretch of the Somerset coast at 22 locations from Clevedon to Porlock began after 19:30, and continued until about 21:30 when the wind speed had reached 50 knots (93 km/h; 58 mph) from the west. Although there was no loss of life, the resultant flooding covered 12,500 acres (5,100 ha) of land, affecting 1,072 houses and commercial properties, with £150,000 worth of livestock killed and £50,000 of feed and grain destroyed. Wessex Water Authority estimated
23532-647: Was not maintained, and the areas reverted to become a tidal salt flat during the Anglo Saxon period. It is likely that at the time of the Norman Domesday book , settlements existed at Burnham and Huntspill , their common boundary running along what is now the Westhill Rhyne . The church at Burnham and its lands were given to Gloucester Abbey in the 12th century, later transferred to Wells Cathedral along with up to 50 houses surrounding
23691-510: Was not the case. The supermarket sought to cancel the contract due to its illegality due to deception, but the Court of Appeal ruled in 2012 that the misrepresentations in ParkingEye's process did not justify termination of the contract, noting that earlier action requesting ParkingEye to revise its debt material would have resolved the situation. There was some learning in this case, in that
23850-598: Was previously a lodge. On the corner of Berrow Road and Sea View is a drinking fountain from 1897 with a single dressed stone pier and moulded plinth, topped by a cast iron urn. Each side has the lions head design with those on the north and south sides giving water into a Purbeck Marble bowl. Primary schools in the town providing education for children up to the age of 11 include: Berrow Church of England Primary School, Burnham-on-Sea Community Infants School, St Andrew's Church of England Junior School, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School and Nursery. The nearest secondary school
24009-592: Was provided in 1836 by the Corporation of Bridgwater . The name Burnham is derived from Burnhamm , as it was called in the will of King Alfred , made up from the Old English words Burna meaning stream and Hamm for enclosure. On-Sea was added later as there are several other towns of the same name in England. The history of Burnham-on-Sea is the history of the reclamation of the Somerset Levels from
24168-480: Was renamed Burnham-on-Sea in 1920. It closed to scheduled passenger traffic in 1951 and stopped being used for excursions in 1962. It finally closed to goods traffic in 1963. The former Great Western Railway station is now known as Highbridge and Burnham . The station was opened as "Highbridge" on 14 June 1841, when the Bristol and Exeter Railway opened its broad gauge line as far as Bridgwater . A road crossed
24327-732: Was revealed that 40 Somerfield stores, including many retained Kwik Save branches, had been sold. These stores were mainly under-performing converted Kwik Save stores. In November 2006, the company also sold a further 12 stores to Marks & Spencer to trade under the M&;S Simply Food brand. This deal included stores in Blackheath in south-east London, Broughty Ferry in Dundee , and Petersfield and Alton in Hampshire . Having bought 140 Texaco petrol stations in 2007, Somerfield tripled
24486-408: Was reversed once it was decided to keep the brand. Somerfield's existing Food Giant discount supermarkets were rebranded as Kwik Save. It was clear that more than a hundred Somerfield and Kwik Save stores were within a mile of each other and directly competing: also customers were switching from high street to out of town shopping. Somerfield launched a home shopping pilot in the Bristol area under
24645-405: Was seen as a five-year recovery programme – the company announced a return to the black, and dividends were resumed after a two-year break, although the positioning issues remained unsolved. Somerfield was the product of opportunistic acquisitions, driven more by financial engineering than by any conception of where the company should be positioned. The focus on medium-sized high street supermarkets
24804-517: Was taken over by Linfood Holdings, a consortium which already owned the Frank Dee Supermarkets which operated over the north and east of England. At the time, Frank Dee Supermarkets and the larger DEE Discount stores were a business larger than Gateway and had a chain of 79 supermarkets, in 1977. In 1983, Linfood Holdings was renamed the Dee Corporation. Initial plans were proposed to utilise the distribution depots on three main sites;
24963-655: Was the first successful online-only supermarket. Ocado expanded into providing services to other supermarket firms such as Waitrose and Morrisons . Grocery stores such as Walmart employ food delivery services offered by third parties such as DoorDash . Other online food delivery services, such as Deliveroo in the United Kingdom, have begun to pay specific attention to supermarket delivery. Delivery robots are offered by various companies partnering with supermarkets. Micro-fulfillment centers (MFC) are relatively small warehouses with sophisticated automated rack-and-tote systems which prepare orders for pickup and delivery. Once
25122-539: Was to operate for a minimum of 15 months but was terminated after 6 months, leaving ParkingEye (who had funded the provision of the parking monitoring system) short on revenue due to the curtailed payment period. Somerfield argued that some parts of the ParkingEye process were deceptive, in that in that they stated that customers owed money to ParkingEye when in fact they had breached their agreement on parking duration with Somerfield and their debt lay with Somerfield, and stated that Somerfield would be taking legal action, which
25281-658: Was transferred to the British under the agreement with the United Kingdom exchanging American destroyers for bases in the Atlantic. She transferred to the Royal Navy where she served as HMS Burnham (H82) during the Second World War. In 1942, Burnham was formally adopted by Burnham-on-Sea. In 1944, she was used on aircraft training duties in the Western Approaches Command , which allowed
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