Shops in Britain

British Shopping Habits

The British are not very adventurous shoppers. They like reliability and buy brand-name goods wherever possible, preferably with the price clearly marked. They are not very keen on haggling over prices. It is therefore not surprising that a very high proportion of the country's shops are branches of chain stores. Visitors from northern European countries are sometimes surprised by the shabbiness of shop-window displays, even in prosperous areas. But the British do not demand art in their shop windows. In general, they have been rather slow to take on the idea that shopping might actually be fun.

On the other hand, visitors are also sometimes struck by the variety of types of shops. Most shops are chain stores, but among those that are not, there is a lot of individuality. Independent shopowners face no need to follow conventional ideas about what a particular shop does and doesn't sell.

The British have their own systems of measurement. Although on tins and packets of food in British shops the weight of an item is written in the kilos and grams familiar to people from the continent, most British people have little idea of what these terms mean. Everybody in Britain still shops in pounds and ounces. Therefore, many of their packets and tins also record their weight in pounds (written as "lbs") and ounces (written as "oz"). Moreover, nobody ever asks for a kilo of apples or 200 grams of cheese. If those are amounts you want, you should ask for "two pounds or so" of apples and "half a pound or less" of cheese.

Shoe and clothing sizes are also measured on different scales in Britain. The people who work in shops which sell these things usually know about continental and American sizes too, but most British people don't.

Authorities are now trying to attract more people to shops. In fact, in recent years shop opening hours have become more varied. It is now much easier than it used to be to find shops open after six. In some areas the local authorities are encouraging high-street shops to stay open very late on some evenings as a way of putting new life into their "dead" town centres.

But the most significant change in recent years has been with regard to Sundays. Large shops and supermarkets can now stay open on Sundays for six hours, and small shops are allowed to open on Sundays for as long as they like. So shopping is now something that the whole family can do together.

Vocabulary

reliability — надежность

preferably — желательно

brand-name goods — фирменные товары, имеющие хорошую репутацию

to haggle — торговаться

shabbiness — потрепанность, ветхость

prosperous — богатый, зажиточный

to demand — требовать, нуждаться

to be struck — поражаться

variety — разнообразие

conventional — традиционный

particular — индивидуальный, частный, отдельный

measurement — измерение, система мер

authorities — власти

to encourage — поощрять, рекомендовать

significant — значительный

with regard to — в отношении, относительно

Questions

1. What sort of shoppers are the British? Why?

2. What kind of things do they usually buy?

3. What sort of shoppers are Russian people?

4. Do Russian people like to haggle over prices? And what about you?

5. Why do people usually haggle over prices?

6. Why do the British still shop in pounds and ounces?

7. What are the recent changes in shop opening hours?

8. What are shop opening hours in Russia?

9. Is it convenient to do the shopping in Russia?

Shops in Britain

In all big cities of deal Britain there are a lot of department stores. They are big shops where you can find almost everything you want and which offer a wide choice of things. The most famous British department store, Harrods, started as a small grocery shop in 1849. The present store has more than 300 departments and a staff of over 4,000 people. The display in the food hall is amazing.

For example, there is a choice of over 500 types of cheese. Street markets are both fun and cheap. Most markets sell fruit and vegetables, clothes, things for the house, records and jewellery. In London there are about 40 or 50 markets. Some specialize in flowers, pets or second-hand books.

In the centre of most towns and villages there is a main street with lots of different shops. This street is usually called the High Street. The high streets of Britain are beginning to look more and more the same. This is because they are full of branches of big chain stores.

One of the best-known chain stores is Marks & Spencer, which sells clothes and food. The company has over 700 stores worldwide and has a reputation for good quality. If you buy something that you decide you don't like, you can take it back and get your money back.

Some towns are called market towns: a market is held there, usually once a week. People come from the surrounding villages to do shopping there.

Eighty-seven per cent of British people live less than a mile from their local corner shop. A corner shop is a small shop on, or near, a street corner. Only in corner shops do shopkeepers know their customers personally. Only in them is the interaction across the counter often social as well as transactional. Many cornershops are run by Indian or Pakistan families. Most corner shops sell food and newspapers. They are open until late in the evening, as well as on Sundays.

However, many small high-street and cornershops are closing because people prefer to drive to a shopping complex outside town. There they can park their cars without any problems and do all the shopping in one place.

In a British shopping complex you usually find a supermarket, a branch of most of the chain stores, some smaller shops, a few cafes and sometimes a multi-screen cinema. Most of the new shopping complexes are built near big roads, outside town. Here you also find "superstores". These enormous shops sell their products more cheaply than in the high-street shops. Many of the superstores are branches of chain stores from countries outside Britain, such as IKEA or Aldi. However, this trend has not gone as far as it has in some other European countries.

The normal time for shops to open is nine in the morning. Most small shops take a break for lunch, usually between one and two, and then close al half past five or a bit later. Large out-of-town supermarkets stay open all day until about eight o'clock.

Vocabulary

staff — персонал

display — витрина, демонстрация (товаров)

amazing — потрясающий, поразительный

branch — филиал, отделение

chain stores — однотипные розничные магазины одной фирмы, сетевые магазины

transactional — деловой, связанный со сделкой

enormous — огромный

trend —тенденция, направление

Questions

I. What kinds of shops are there in Great Britain?

2. Are there the same kinds of shops in Russia?

3. What is the best-known shop in Great Britain? What does it sell?

4. Describe the best-known shop in your city. What does it sell?

5. What are the pros and cons of corner shops?

6. Why do British people prefer shopping complexes outside town?

7. Are there any branches of chain stores from other countries in Russia? What are they?

8. What kind of shops do you prefer?

9. What is your favourite shop?

10. Would you like to do the shopping at Harrods?

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29