You'd fit this in the back of a Smart car,
but not much else. Photo: Frank Baron.
Has the world gone mad? It's a question I would normally leave the Daily Mail to ask but I can't think of any other way to react to the news that Waitrose is providing a chauffeured car service for some of its shoppers in London.
Apparently it all started when Whole Foods Market opened its doors last week and the retailer realised that with its flagship store in Marylebone closed for refurbishment, it risked losing customers to the new American kid on the block. Rather that disappoint those looking for their organic muesli, Waitrose is offering to drive them to the next nearest branch in Bloomsbury.
Okay, so it's using Smart cars to do it - but these are low-emission vehicles, not no-emission vehicles and, this being central London they'll be bound to be sitting in traffic, pumping out fumes as they do so.
Between Marylebone and Bloomsbury they'll be passing other independent retailers that could have supplied some, if not all, of the items shoppers are being driven to collect. As a store that prides itself on supporting small suppliers and being the greenest of the big name retailers this seems like a bizarre act.
Add to this the fact that you can't exactly get much shopping in the back of a Smart car, and it seems fair to wonder if Waitrose has lost the plot.
