My experience of Sainsbury's is of my father working as a butcher. He worked for the company for most of his working life, working long hours as in his day all the meat would arrive from London early and then the carcases had to be cut up ready for sale. He finally worked at the Southbourne Branch which came part self service whilst he was there. He received a 25 year service watch which I have before he retired and after his death my mother still received a cheque for £50 on her birthday although she did not work for the firm. I have many happy memories of visiting him at the shop and also on one occasion being taken around the main warehouse in London to see how all the food was packed and dispatched. Sainsbury's to me is still the main place for me to shop due to my family connections. I have sent some photos of the Southbourne shop and one of my father at the shop to you archive department.
Thank you Sainsburys
Comments (1)
I was born in 1950 and lived around the corner from the Westbourne Grove Sainsbury's for the first 10 years of my life. I remember it well. One aisle down the centre of the shop, tiles on the walls, and marble counters. On the left, all the cheeses, and on the shelf behind the servers huge blocks of butter which would be cut down into smaller pieces etc with butter pats to sell to the customers. Then the large selection of cold cuts and salamis. We always had salami in the house and liked the Hungarian style, did not like Danish or German. On the right of the aisle also near the door as were the cheeses there were the biscuits etc. I distinctly remember getting those Iced Gems. I have vivid memories of this shop although they are only of the what was close to the door. Maybe the stuff further back was not so interesting to me. I noticed some advertising from this particular branch from the 30s and it shows that this shop is across from Bradley's. We always used to take the bus and get off at the stop called Bradley's Corner (Chepstow Road and Westbourne Grove). I still think of it as that, although nobody would know what I was talking about. Now, the former Bradley's, which was a very high-end furriers, is a very fancy apartment building.
Stefany Reich-Silber, 24 April 2023