Temple of British tables (1): Waitrose’s motto

Waitrose is the temple of British tables: a place you enter with the same spirit required during the Elizabethan time in cathedrals. Here the individualistic approach to life, inherited from the Protestant ethics, matches the possibility to buy aliments qualitatively superior than in other stores. In a way, Waitrose represents the tangible palate gratification for those who have had economic success in their lives. After Waitrose, there merely are those food boutiques that each town is likely to host. The most famous and renowned throughout the world being, ça va sans dire, Harrods’ Food hall:

Harrods at the beginning of the XXI century

Postcard of Harrods

Harrods food hall in 1904

Vegetables assortment

Bread variety

Lush cheeses

Patisserie irresistible

Mushrooms exposition

Waitrose is a upmarket brand, worldly known, that started in 1904 as a food boutique itself and was - fifty years later - acquired by the John Lewis group, a colossus of the second British industrial revolution. This is interesting, since it shows the strong link between industrialization and multinational approach to economy! Yet to understand Waitrose we have to look over the shoulder of its old motto: “Quality food, honestly priced!” and we have to dig elsewhere. Waitrose in 2008 dropped this line in favour of Everyone deserves quality food. Everyone deserves Waitrose, which is an attempt to become appealing to a broadened number of potential customers in an era of healthy living:

The new environment friendly and youthful image of Waitrose

Here is an enlightening article by Leah Hardy on the Daily Mail, which draws a comparison between M&S and Waitrose. A head to head competition to establish which of these two chains is actually the leader of quality food. One may disagree, but the article is acute:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1241205/Marks--Spencer-John-Lewis--Britains-best-loved-store.html

The famous line from Horace, carpe diem, offers
an angle to understand how the motto-geist works!
Here the Latin-English version of the ode:
http://www.epicurus.net/en/carpediem.html

A motto is a tricky etiquette. What i find deceptive is the portion of Reality left aside: size the day can be taken as a wise advice to take every good thing how and when it comes. Or it can be read as invitation to do what you feel, without moral restraints because life is short. In other words, each motto shows only a face of the medal and even if they are apparently true, they also are elliptic. Every one deserves quality food is a sharable statement, but it does pretend to ignore that - without a proper alimentary cultivation and a proper piggy-bank - Waitrose becomes a chimera and not an option. YES MAN, with Jim Carrey, Bradley cooper and Zooey Deschanel, expands somehow this very topic:

Here the movie trailer of Yes Man and above a poster

Zooey Deschanel, sincerely beautiful, with that touch
of elegance that Katy Perry for instance does not reach,
although they look like siblings.

Every slogan says and hides at the same time the most important issue. M&S, Tesco, Sainsbury’s Asda and Waitrose evoke directly the merchandise cost. Lidl and Morrisons pursuit goals which look apparently different. Let’s read them first:

• Everyone deserves quality food. Everyone deserves Waitrose (Waitrose)

John Lewis food hall with Waitrose products in Oxford st, London.

• Quality worth every penny (M&S)

M&S typical food hall, often claustrophobic in my opinion,
because located into basements.

• Every little helps (Tesco) 

• Good food costs less at Sainsbury’s (Sainsbury’s)

• We go further so you do not have to (Co-operative)

• That’s Asda price! (Asda)

• Fresh choice for you (Morrisons)

• On the way to a better tomorrow (Lidl)

Lidl typical inside structure: a snake of pallets and fridges,
which does not change from country to country. The idea is that
of simplicity and punctuality: the client knows she/he is there
to shop in the shortest amount of time. 

to be continued...