Supermarket share

 

Few in Greece and probably even fewer outside Greece are aware of the absorption of Dia Hellas (Greek supermarket chain) by Carrefour-Marinopoulos. Whilst Greece has the lowest percentage of concentration in Europe with the top three chains having just over a third of the total grocery market I do hope Greece will not see a move of large group domination.

Having spent all my working life in supermarket retailing in the UK I feel qualified to make the statement that Greek society is the richer for having a wide variety of private retailers. There is room for both the giant superstore and  private business if legislation is introduced controlling trading practices. Let us not see Greece go the way of the UK with Sunday opening and late night / 24 hour trading in supermarkets. A restriction on stores in excess of 400sq m on trading times will allow the private man to prosper on a local level.

I wholeheartedly support free trade, but there are times when society and family values far outweigh commercialism. 

Caution ahead..........

Traffic signal ‘attention to the prostitutes’ has been placed the town of Treviso in northern Italy creating confusion among drivers. Drivers can not understand if the sign means “caution not to hit the prostitutes who often cross the street ‘or’ attention to the work of prostitutes in the area. The triangle warning for traffic has a red border and in the centre instead of the symbol of the dangerous turn etc, is the figure of a woman with large breasts, mini dress, heeled shoes and a handbag. At the bottom of the label indicates “attention to prostitutes.

Now in Greece establishments for the same are often marked with symbols of mermaids, dolphins etc.   I guess here it means a warning of semen  seamen .................

Happy Easter

 

Spending Easter in Greece is just so different from being the UK.  Yes the weather will be better, but the main point I am making is the Greek understanding of the "real  meaning" of Easter.

To start with, whilst there are some Easter eggs in the shops, it is far more traditional to give red painted eggs; even more traditional is the giving of candles, and they are in the shops in their thousands ranging from religious painted to candles to "power rangers!!"  

The religious ceremony starts of course on Good Friday and continues daily through to the Monday. Processions are seen in the villages at midnight on the Friday and Saturday (it is on the Saturday the candles are lit at the churches and carried home by the villagers). There are plenty of details on the internet (and my blog from last year) as to what actually takes place in these ceremonies rather than me write again.

More so however is the bringing together of families. People come together mostly in their birth villages with their extended family for the tradition Sunday roast lamb feast; and here its not roast lamb dinner but whole lamb roasted on a spit in the open.

I'm off to have mine with my friends here in Greece.......thankfully they were up at 0700hrs roasting the lamb and turning the spit !!!!!

                                             

Euros" & military security

I am uncertain what to make on the recent agreement by Greece to buy new military hardware from France and Germany. Greece already spends about 2.8% of its GDP on the military. Clearly this has been historic due to the relationships in the region, especially with Turkey. Obviously Turkey has criticised Greece for this purchase agreement, but even today we hear about Turkish intervention to Greek waters etc., and we are far from settling the Cypriot land disputes. 

One another front the financial crisis of Greece much published shows up strongly the weakness of having one European currency with out one European government. Now God forbid we should suffer such monstrous European controls, but I bet owing to what has been seen as the weakness in controlling the currency the "little grey cells" in politicians minds will be working overtime.

Spring has sprung, the grass has ris...I wonder where the mower is?

The economy in Greece may not be growing too well at the moment but the grass certainly is!  Having just spent two days mowing and strimming it seems to lay down flat when I approach and jump up again when I turn my back.

Now there is an upside to this. Horta is free, snails abound and the veg grows much faster than in the UK. 

Now talking of food, why is fish so expensive?  Not just here in Greece but in many European countries..................

UK versus Greece

Having just returned from the UK after spending 3 weeks there it is interesting to see and hear just how people see the reported financial problems Greece is experiencing.  Now despite us beginning to feel the pinch in rising prices here in Greece it is all too easy to forget prices in the UK are going up as well, and the UK budget is yet to come.  Some time back on my blog I stated as the UK was not in the Eurozone (money) people were not looking at the massive debt it has also incurred, now the headlines are as prominent as the financial headlines are in Greece.  

Despite this clothes & footwear remain a fraction the price in the UK compared to Greece, as does many electronic items. We are all aware of the used car market differences, but prices of good used cars are creeping up as the result of the car scrapage allowances; fuel prices are now virtually equal. 

Despite all this we have one great asset over the UK.........Weather and the relaxed way of life !!!!!