The Holy Of Holies

 Chatting with a friend, a former manager of M&S, he amusingly referred to a certain food retailer as 'The Holy of Holies'. Well food  perhaps being one of the new religions, here are the top 10 UK supermarkets  with their advertising slogans featured in italics.

The Holy of Holies

And so, armed with my shopping list and  eco jute  bag, i approached the Outer Court,  past street vendors,  nearly being knocked down by an Ocado vehicle,  with its driver shouting out the window, 'Going the last mile'.

Iceland, the frozen food experts-food you can trust were by the door and as I entered the Outer Court I was met by a wide assortment of customers  busy in the middle aisle and rummaging through crates labelled 'Big on quality, Lidl on price'. Someone at the Aldi check out nearby sweating and smiling with a laden trolley simply said, 'Spend a little, live a lot'.

I decided to press through to the slightly quieter Inner Court to be told in no uncertain terms 'It's what we do-Co-op'  and 'Get the Asda price feeling'. Whilst I was searching for the feeling I was   distracted by a tanoy announcement 'More reasons to shop at Morrisons. All department managers for a huddle in ten'.

Well, maybe I'll discover the 'reasons' next time and continued up the 12 Steps towards the Holy Place. There were staff on hand from Sainsburys taste the difference team on one side where good food costs less, not sure about that, less than what, and saying they were helping people eat better. Meanwhile rival  Tesco's Finest on the other  were confident 'Every little helps'. Well i am sure it does, however, this was all too much, even with the app, and I thought I would  check out the Holy Place.

 As I entered the atmosphere changed, and it wasn't the efficient air-con. I became self-conscious, adjusted my appearance in the window, combed my hair and made doubly sure i had the means to pay. Well the Holy place was anything but ordinary,  well heeled, black shirted staff  meeting my gaze in the food hall with, 'This is not just food-this is M&S food'. I was impressed,  it was nice to be welcomed, until the bill, and i still felt  slightly unfulfilled knowing there was more, yes....the Holy of Holies.

I summoned up the courage to enter this special place, yes that's right, the Holy of Holies, not reserved for just the CEO yearly like a high priest, no but for  one and all and daily too, as though the curtain had been torn in two giving unlimited access. Before me was the finest of fare, every comestible and comfort, a pleasurable experience to behold.

A smartly turned out assistant was immediately to hand and in a politely spoken manner proudly announced the words memorised from the manual, 'We are more than employees we're  owners, partners. I presume you have your members card,  do join me in a complimentary cup of coffee and magazine, I'll tell you more of what this heaven on earth is like.  After all its food to feel good about, quality food, honestly priced. Everyone deserves quality food. Everyone deserves Waitrose'.