Dear Han,

I have just heard that there will be an English language radio station
opening soon in Paris. Presumably this is to provide a service to the 'many
British (who) have gone to live in France'. I wonder what the measurement
policy of this new radio station will be.

Cheers,

Pat Naughtin
Geelong, Australia
-- 

on 2004-05-14 07.33, Han Maenen at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> Many British people travel to the European mainland year after year. Now even
> many British have gone to live in France. What about being confused in French,
> Dutch, German shops etc? Those who live in France and those who camp out have
> to get their food and drink in the shops, and there are no Imperial Tesco's
> there, no acres, no degrees Fahrenheit, no pints of milk and pints of beer and
> no Imperial scales. How can they cope, if they are that much 'confused'?
> Then there are a few extreme types among them, who also claim to be 'confused'
> and then expect mainland Europeans to understand and use their units for their
> benefit (see USMA 29703- a Tale by a Colleague).
> Much of this 'confusion' is deliberate and with purpose anyway.
> 
> Han
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
>> 
>> From:  MightyChimp <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> 
>> To: U.S. Metric Association <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> 
>> Sent: Wednesday, 2004-05-12 5:36
>> 
>> Subject: [USMA:29773] Tesco press  release.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> When Tesco reverted to imperial,  what actually reverted?  What is the actual
>> status of scale conversion in the areas where there was resistance?  Is
>> compliance increasing?   It would be nice if people who live in the  UK could
>> keep us up-to-date on whatis  happening.
>> 
>> Euric  
>> 
>> Imperial weights and measures are to be reintroduced  and highlighted in a
>> move to help confused shoppers.
>> 
>> Tesco will reintroduce price per lbs on product packs,  imperial weights will
>> be enlarged on shelf edge labels and metric will be  dropped from point of
>> sale material.  
>> 
>> Under new Euro rules, metric measurements are meant to  take precedence. But
>> research by Tesco has shown customers still weigh up  their purchases in
>> pounds and ounces. Over 53 per cent of customers find  metric confusing and
>> 76 per cent of customers would like imperial measurements  displayed. Only 8
>> per cent of customers would like metric weight displayed on  its own.
>> 
>> The research also showed that most customers ''think''  in imperial. When
>> asked to guess the weight of a bag of apples, 87 per cent of  customers
>> estimated the weight in imperial, when asked the same question for  Fresh
>> Mince, 86 per cent of customers expressed their answer in imperial.
>> 
>> "It''s time to turn the scales in favour of the  British customer, 90 per
>> cent of our shoppers think in imperial " says Tesco  Marketing Director, Tim
>> Mason, "They tell us when it comes to size, imperial  matters. We''re not
>> anti Europe, but we are pro shopper. Our customers quite  clearly live their
>> lives thinking and working in imperial"
>> 
>> A spate of mis ordering, by Tesco Home shopping  customers pointed up the
>> problem. One customer ordered 3 kg of broccoli rather  than 3 lbs, another
>> ordered 9 kg of potatoes rather than just 9 Ibs. The final  straw came when
>> one customer ordered 2kgs of prawns rather than the 2Ibs she  wanted.
>> 
>> New posters and point of sale labels are being rolled  out to all 650 Tesco
>> stores. These will headline prices in imperial units.  However, to remain
>> legal, all shelve edge labels and labels on products will  carry both metric
>> and imperial unit pricing.
>> 
>> "We are in the business of making life easier for  shoppers," adds Tim Mason,
>> " right now customers want their purchases pointed  up in pounds and ounces."
>> 
>> * Imperial measurements will be along side shelf edge  labels and on
>> products. Point of sale material will be in imperial  only.
> 

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