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May. 10th, 2014 04:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ventaTell me, oh, UK-based people of LJ, what are your general thoughts and impressions of the Nisa chain of corner shops?
I always think of Nisa's as the most down-market of convenience corner-shops. Fine if you want a pint of milk, but a dead loss if you want anything else other than white bread and processed cheese.
Which means I've been surprised repeatedly by the Nisa on my local shopping street. The street has two small Co-Ops on it, and a bunch of indepent shops. If you want fresh meat, or fresh fish, or greengrocery, or wine, or something that the high-end deli sells, you're sorted. But there's a large range of comestibles which are too obscure/exotic to appear in a small Co-Op, and not covered by one of the specialist shops.
After years of walking past the Nisa, I went in out of desperation when I was halfway through a recipe and realised I'd run out of Stork baking marg[*]. Nisa had Stork. I was surprised. Today they furnished me with tahini, tamarind sauce and coconut milk. They also have an impressive array of spices, dried pulses, nuts and seeds. I know corner-shops can be unexpected; particularly if they're run by people of different ethnicities - one cuisine's exotic is another cuisine's staple. But the range of goods this Nisa has jammed into its tiny space is awesome. (And I do mean jammed - the chap who directed me to the tamarind sauce returned to shelf-stacking and vanished shortly afterwards in an avalanche of rice cakes.)
Just before I posted this, I looked Nisa up on Wikipedia. And it turns out that they're not really a chain. They're more of a buying co-op, so independent retailers can compete with the big boys. Which is a great idea.
And, if you're curious: Northern Independent Supermarkets Association. Though that still doesn't answer the question of whether it's Nissa or Neesa.
[*] If you're going to get sniffy about baking with Stork, I remind you that I regularly feed dairy-allergic people ;)
I always think of Nisa's as the most down-market of convenience corner-shops. Fine if you want a pint of milk, but a dead loss if you want anything else other than white bread and processed cheese.
Which means I've been surprised repeatedly by the Nisa on my local shopping street. The street has two small Co-Ops on it, and a bunch of indepent shops. If you want fresh meat, or fresh fish, or greengrocery, or wine, or something that the high-end deli sells, you're sorted. But there's a large range of comestibles which are too obscure/exotic to appear in a small Co-Op, and not covered by one of the specialist shops.
After years of walking past the Nisa, I went in out of desperation when I was halfway through a recipe and realised I'd run out of Stork baking marg[*]. Nisa had Stork. I was surprised. Today they furnished me with tahini, tamarind sauce and coconut milk. They also have an impressive array of spices, dried pulses, nuts and seeds. I know corner-shops can be unexpected; particularly if they're run by people of different ethnicities - one cuisine's exotic is another cuisine's staple. But the range of goods this Nisa has jammed into its tiny space is awesome. (And I do mean jammed - the chap who directed me to the tamarind sauce returned to shelf-stacking and vanished shortly afterwards in an avalanche of rice cakes.)
Just before I posted this, I looked Nisa up on Wikipedia. And it turns out that they're not really a chain. They're more of a buying co-op, so independent retailers can compete with the big boys. Which is a great idea.
And, if you're curious: Northern Independent Supermarkets Association. Though that still doesn't answer the question of whether it's Nissa or Neesa.
[*] If you're going to get sniffy about baking with Stork, I remind you that I regularly feed dairy-allergic people ;)
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Date: 2014-05-10 05:18 pm (UTC)