Sainsbury's, Blackheath - Saturday 27th February

This weekend, I decided to head to a supermarket in the Black Country and see what it's like there. I chose Sainsbury's, Blackheath as I haven't been there in around 4 years and that was when I started training as a teacher. So what is it like now?

The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - yes, in general.
2. Friendly staff - seems okay. Can't really judge this as I had to go through self service tills as not enough manned tills were on duty!
3. Aisle width - wide enough to fit three trolleys on most aisles. Some only around two - this is in particular towards the milk aisle as there was a huge pillar in the middle.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Yes. My friend was looking for Ricola Liquorice Sweets and was excited to find this as they weren't available in the Northfield supermarket of Sainsbury's. There could have been more fruit and vegetables in stock but this was on a Saturday afternoon so it might not have been replenished. Wonky vegetables - there are some in the "Basics" range!
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - A pharmacy is available with a good range of medical items. Specialist food is available but somehow lacking in diversification of goods - just the normal specialist foods you get from any supermarket. A cafe is also available that is situated at the ground floor past the tills. It has a limited clothing section. It does boast a good hot foods, deli, bakery, butcher and fishmongers. The fish in particular had a good variety. You can also exchange money in the travel money section. Finally, it does have a petrol station, with unleaded offering at 99.9p per litre and diesel at 98.9p which is reasonable.
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Yes, with not too many reduced items.
7. Opening Hours - 8am to 10pm Mon to Sat. 10am to 4pm Sun. This requires improvement - not as good as Northfield or Longbridge.
8. Speed of till-processing - Wasn't at a manned till but queues seem long!
9. Self-service tills available - yes, loads available. It was good and reliable.
10. Parking facilities - Yes, open air car park with good amounts of space. 2 hours of parking restriction in place which is adequate enough.
11. Value for money - part of the big four supermarkets, they do have quite a lot of special offers. Brand Match is on offer which compares prices to Asda. There are also some good personalised offers from the Nectar app but didn't get to use them today as I wasn't at a Sainsbury's Local nor was I filling up my car with petrol.
12. Organic produce - available if you want them.
13. Cash machine or cash back -Yes, and cash back is offered.
14. Pedestrian access - yes and step-free. Don't forget to bring a £1 coin for a trolley!

Sainsbury's Blackheath seems to lack a bit of atmosphere but does what it says on the tin by offering a good range of stock. It's good to shop there for a weekly shop.

Rating: 8 out of 10 (-1 for not enough manned tills, -0.5 for lack of diversification of specialist foods, -0.5 for limited clothing)

Courtesy of www.webbgray.co.uk

Asda, Barnes Hill - Saturday 30th January 2016

Having moved to Bartley Green, it's time to visit the supermarket that is closest to me and give a review! I've been to Asda, Barnes Hill before and previously gave it a 4 out of 10. Will it fare better this time?

The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - yes, in general.
2. Friendly staff - could be better! The checkout lady didn't give me a welcome greeting but did mention "Have a good day" at the end.
3. Aisle width - wide enough to fit three trolleys. Though some aisles are congested with lots of customers - it was a Saturday morning after all!
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - A good variety of items are in stock and I got the vast majority of items that I wanted. All the essentials were well stocked (Fruit and veg, meat, milk, fish, etc.) Aisles were well signposted so I didn't have to keep hunting for a particular item. The only thing I didn't get was the massively bargain pens at 30p for ten as that was sold out.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - Opticians are available if you want to get your eyes tested. No pharmacy but there is a good range of medical items. There is a specialist food aisle which features a limited selection of goods from abroad. It also has vegan and vegetarian items too. It also has a petrol station which offers at 99.7p per litre for unleaded, and 97.7p per litre for diesel, the cheapest that I've found in Birmingham so far. The downside is that you can only pay by card only. It also has a cafe should you want lunch. There is also a good clothing section and electricals section. You can also access the "Click and Collect" facilities if you order items from the Asda website.
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Yes in general but the reliability of it is questionable. There is also a reduced items section, but normally they are in a horrible state, especially with the runner beans.
7. Opening Hours - 6am to Midnight Mon to Sat. 10am to 4pm Sun. That sounds good enough to me.
8. Speed of till-processing - Goes at a good pace, but the service is not quite so welcoming.
9. Self-service tills available - yes, loads available.
10. Parking facilities - yes, two floors of parking - one floor sheltered and one floor not sheltered. We went for the sheltered one and you can go through a travelator. No parking restrictions seems to be in place. It is also electric car friendly as you can charge it while you shop!
11. Value for money - part of the big four supermarkets, they do have quite a lot of special offers. Although quite a lot of items are cheap (especially milk), not everything is cheap. You can get a reasonable price for the majority of items. Just don't buy reduced items - it's in a horrible state. And if it is, it's mostly only 30% off - that could be better, but again it's the time of day!
12. Organic produce - available if you want them.
13. Cash machine or cash back -Yes, and cash back is offered.
14. Pedestrian access - yes and step-free.

 Apart from the service from checkout staff, Asda seems to have improved on its availability of its product, and this reflects on the business of the store.

Rating: (-1 for not getting everything I wanted, -1 for the state of reduced items, -1 for service from staff)
 

Courtesy of Anthony Harte

Morrisons, Edgbaston - Saturday 9 January 2016

Manmhk's supermarket reviews are back after a six month break!

I decided to visit Morrisons in Edgbaston to see how it performs following the closure of it's neighbouring rival Tesco, which was situated across the Five Ways roundabout.

The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - Yes, clean in general.
2. Friendly staff - Okay. The checkout lady scanned through items, gave me a basic "Hello" greeting and also asked about the loyalty card.
3. Aisle width - Most aisles wide enough for three trolleys. It was busy (being a Saturday afternoon) at the fruit and vegetables, and the meat and fresh fish section.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Fruit and vegetables section is well stocked but the layout is slightly confusing. There should be better signposts stating where the basic types of fruit and vegetables are. The meat and fish section is clear, with signposts! Other aisles were clear. I got everything that I was looking for, but had to spend more time at the fruit and vegetables section than I wanted to due to the confusing sections.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - Small clothing section, small world foods aisle with a hint of specialist stock from across the world. Good fishmongers, butchers, deli, hot food, salad and a bakery section boasting with an award winning baker. You can also buy Lottery tickets too. Cafe is situated upstairs, but it doesn't have any extra perks such as electricals, and neither a petrol station. Oddly enough, it does have a separate florist, dry cleaners, and a "Rug Carpet" shop.. Vegetarian / vegan stock also available should you want it. There's also a "Halal" section too.
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Yes! All the goods I bought have long sell-by dates for the week. There is also a reduced foods section with not too many goods which shows that stock control is reasonable. Reduced foods going up to one third off.
7. Opening Hours - Requires improvement. 7am to 11pm Mondays to Saturdays, 10am to 4pm Sunday.
8. Speed of till-processing - Self-service tills available, as well as non self-service tills. I went to the "10 items or less" section - poor grammar - and the service is at a good, steady pace.
9. Self-service tills available - Yes, though I didn't use this facility.
10. Parking facilities - 2 hour parking limit at a multi-storey car park. This is okay for a good shop, but then if you fancied having lunch, then the parking limit is bordering on inadequate. However, you can get a long term parking permit - at a cost - for those wanting to work close to Five Ways. Parking spaces are quite plentiful - I found one with no problems at the ground floor, with parking spaces also available upstairs. Travelators and lifts get you down to the supermarket.
11. Value for money - Generally competitive (though slightly more expensive than the other "Big Four" supermarkets). Their improved loyalty card now offers 5 points per £1, with 5000 points equating to a £5 voucher. Oh, that's £5 off per minimum £1000 spend.
12. Organic produce - available if you want them.
13. Cash machine or cash back - Barclays cash machines available outside the superstore and cash back is available should you need it.
14. Pedestrian access - yes and step free.
15. Space ultilisation - Generally good with not too much wastage of space. The fruit and vegetables layout is okay, just needs signposts. Compared to the Tesco in Edgbaston, the layout is better but the supermarket is slightly on the small side.

In my opinion, Morrisons Edgbaston is good, but lacks features on it being great. The lack of a petrol station gives it a slight disadvantage.

 

Photo courtesy of wikirecent.in

Rating: 6.5 out of 10 - (-1 for no petrol station, -1 for unclear posts from fruit and vegetables section, -0.5 for parking limit time, -1 for lack of non-food item features)

Link to supermarket: http://your.morrisons.com/Store-finder/Store-Details/?recordid=545

Tesco, Edgbaston - Saturday 11th July 2015

Following news that Tesco in Edgbaston (Five Ways) is closing, I want to do a re-review to see how Tesco Edgbaston will fare now.

Tesco Edgbaston is based in Five Ways and has opened since the 1970s. Its rival is Morrisons Edgbaston which is pretty much opposite to it. It is due to close in mid-August due to now renewing its lease. So, how will it do now that the store is closing soon? And what will its rating be?

The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - Yes, clean in general.
2. Friendly staff - Quite friendly.The checkout lady offered to pack up and gave a good greeting.
3. Aisle width - Most aisles wide enough for three trolleys. However, some aisles are slightly narrower (notably non-foods and the small clothing section) where two trolleys can be passed through.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Better than before, now to a good. The essentials such as fruit, veg, meat, milk, eggs were stocked well. World foods offered a good variety of Chinese goods and other international goods. Very impressed that it offered brunches of spinach, ung choi, choi sum and pak choi with it being reasonably priced. Fish could be better - not enough variety compared to the Morrisons opposite.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - Pharmacy, small clothing section (I do mean small), specialist world foods (good with three aisles) and good section on organic and quorn goods available. Halal butcher, deli, bakery, fishmonger also available. Finally, there's a Costa cafe and a small narrow petrol station. Petrol is priced very reasonably - unleaded petrol is 114.9p per litre, just 0.2p behind the cheapest one I've seen which is 114.7p at Asda, Barnes Hill.
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Yes! All the goods I bought have long sell-by dates for the week. There is also a reduced foods section with not too many goods which shows that stock control is reasonable. Reduced goods offered at around a 25% discount during late morning.
7. Opening Hours - Requires improvement. 6am to Midnight Monday to Saturday. 10am to 4pm Sundays. Bordering on inadequate from next Monday - opening hours changed to 6am to 10pm Monday to Saturday. But then it is closing.
8. Speed of till-processing - Self-service tills available on one side of Tesco (weird layout), and non self-service tills (around 14 in total) on the car parking side. It is quite quick and good service.
9. Self-service tills available - Yes, though I didn't use this facility.
10. Parking facilities - 3 hour parking limit at a multi-storey car park. Good amount of parking time available. What is disappointing is the narrow parking spaces, but it was easy to find one as lots probably defected to Morrisons or the Tesco in Spring Hill.
11. Value for money - Generally competitive with it being part of the "Big Four" supermarkets. Their loyalty card offers the Fuel Save option and it has a petrol station (albeit being narrow). It also has somes goods cheaper than the Chinese supermarket, such as the Vitasoy.
12. Organic produce - available if you want them.
13. Cash machine or cash back - Cash machines available inside the superstore and cash back is available should you need it.
14. Pedestrian access - yes and step free.
15. Space ultilisation - Weird layout of two old office blocks stuck together. Still not a fan of groceries being in the middle of the supermarket. However, they have done the best they can out of this. The concerning bit though was that in the non-foods section, it was boiling hot. It was air conditioned where the foods are. Though I am concerned that with the reduced foods section, it does stink.

In my opinion, Tesco Edgbaston has improved slightly but it can never really match Spring Hill. Which is probably why they decided to have one in Spring Hill. Tesco Edgbaston is a very quiet superstore and it's a shame (even though I'm not a fan of it) that it's closing down. UoB students will miss out from this.

 

Photo courtesy of the Local Data Company

Rating: 5.5 out of 10 (-0.5 for small clothing section, -0.5 for narrow petrol station, -0.5 for narrow parking spaces, -0.5 for lack of variety of fish, -1 for reduced foods aisle that stink, -0.5 for temperatures not being even enough, -1 for opening hours)

Waitrose, Harborne - Sunday 5th July 2015

Time for another supermarket review. This time, I decided to head to a "posher" supermarket.

Waitrose Harborne is a medium sized supermarket which is based in a very busy High Street. How will it do?

The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - Yes, clean.
2. Friendly staff -Yes. Checkout staff doing the usual promos such as "Have you got a Waitrose card?" Maybe if it's meant to be a posh supermarket, they should really bag the items for us?
3. Aisle width - Narrower than usual. You can't really fit three trolleys, but two is definitely possible.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Good for a medium sized store. There were quite a few offers that I was impressed. The Bottle Green cordials were on promo, which I was pleased! The variety of fish could be improved - too many fillet cuts and not enough whole fish. The meat section is too small. The fruit and veg section is impressive with many different varieties. Milk was disappointing... Not enough 4 pint bottles available but they are charged at the same prices as Sainsbury's. Prices were probably not as dear as I thought it would be.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - World foods - one long aisle and a good variety. Obviously not as good as some of the Tesco Extras but a good range available for foods from different nationalities. Other extras include deli, butcher, bakery (where you can order cakes). Oh, and free tea/coffee and newspaper if you have a Waitrose card. No cafe or petrol station or opticians or mobile shop, etc. Good variety of eggs, milk, fruit juices, and cordials!
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Yes, good long sell-by dates. Reduced items occupy quite a bit and they're not generous in offering discounts - 20% at most.
7. Opening Hours - Requires improvement. 8am to 9pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm Saturday, 10am to 4pm Sunday
8. Speed of till-processing - A dozen or so tills. Quick service for a posh supermarket.
9. Self-service tills available -No, they prefer good quality customer service.
10. Parking facilities - Small car park, often congested. Only offering 1 and a half hour parking but it is a medium sized supermaket!
11. Value for money - Surprisingly competitive against the "Big Four" supermarkets on quite a lot of items. However, watch out - some items are over priced such as broccoli, meat or fish.
12. Organic produce - available with an impressive section.
13. Cash machine or cash back - Cash machines available and cash back is available should you need it.
14. Pedestrian access - yes and step free
15. Space ultilisation - For a medium sized supermarket, it's used well.

In my opinion, Waitrose is okay - not great, not bad. I wouldn't go there for a usual shop as quite a few items are overpriced. The quality of stock looks good - which explains why they are more expensive than other supermarkets.



Photo courtesy of the Local Data Company
Rating: 6 out of 10 (-1 for not enough milk in stock, -1 for lack of fish variety, -0.5 for amount of meat in stock, -0.5 for narrower than usual aisles, -0.5 for parking facilities, -0.5 for items being overpriced)

Tesco, Spring Hill - Saturday 6th June 2015

Thanks all for waiting patiently for my next supermarket review. Now that we're back in school for the final seven weeks, I'm back in Birmingham to do more reviews!

Tesco Spring Hill is based in Hockley and quite near the Jewellery Quarter. It's a large supermarket, but doesn't quite fit the Extra category. How would it fare on a Saturday lunchtime?

The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - Yes, clean.
2. Friendly staff - quite friendly. The checkout lady was okay but asked "Have you got a Clubcard?" twice even though I said yes the first time. The fishmonger was friendly and gutted my rainbow trout very efficiently!
3. Aisle width - generally wide for three trolleys in all sections. However, when stock is put out, they put the stock trolleys in the middle meaning that I have to wait for other customers to get past.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Generally good. There was a good variety of stock available. Fishmonger was good - offering different varieties of fish - I bought the rainbow trout on promotion and it was fresh! World foods section was brilliant. I went to the Oriental section and they have refreshed it, offering many essentials which you can find in a Chinese supermarket. The 6-pack Vitasoy Soy Drink is cheaper than any of the Chinese supermarkets in Birmingham which is impressive. I had to buy that as it's one of my favourites! The frozen world foods section could be improved - many of the dim sums which were available before were not available! Oh dear... Vegan / vegetarian foods were plentiful with different varieties of milk and quorn foods section. Deli and hot foods section as well as a halal butcher. But no non-Halal butcher - cannot get the good quality spare ribs - guess I need to go to Cradley Heath for that. Eggs - lots of varieties available.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - World foods / deli / hot food / pharmacy / phone shop and quite a big non-Foods section though the Clothing section was a little small. Cafe was available with fish and chips available on request. Though looking at the chips as I went past and the food they served to the customer buying the food didn't look that appetising - overpriced in my opinion. There's also a Brand Outlet - like a Pound store. Not that I needed anything there. Finally, there's also mini shops available at the ground floor opened by different entrepreneurs - including a hairdressers / nail varnish. There was a Caribbean takeaway but it wasn't open today. However, there were two taster sections scattered around Tesco. Library also available next to the supermarket. Petrol station also available with unleaded petrol sold at 114.9p per litre, compared favourably with Sainsbury's Northfield, though not as cheap as Asda Barnes Hill, which is 0.2p cheaper. However, Tesco have the Fuel Save scheme running.
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Yes! All the goods I bought have long sell-by dates for the week. There is also a reduced foods section with lots available, and some rotting. Hmmm.. not convincing that can be sold off.
7. Opening Hours - Very good. 6am Monday to 10pm Saturday. 11am to 5pm Sunday.
8. Speed of till-processing - Quick with lots of tills available, and self-service tills available.
9. Self-service tills available - Yes, though I didn't use this facility.
10. Parking facilities - 3 hour parking limit at a covered area in the ground floor. That is pretty generous and also easy to find a parking space.
11. Value for money - Generally competitive with it being part of the "Big Four" supermarkets. Their loyalty card offers the Fuel Save option and it has a petrol station! So that's good. It also has goods cheaper than the Chinese supermarket - trying to out-price them? The downside is - grapes are expensive - £2.50 a punnet?!?! That's more expensive than a greengrocers in Harborne and I thought £1.99 a punnet was expensive. I resorted to Market Value instead at £1.25 a punnet which is much more reasonable.
12. Organic produce - available if you want them.
13. Cash machine or cash back - Cash machines available and cash back is available should you need it.
14. Pedestrian access - yes and step free. From the car park, you will need to travel up the travelator.
15. Space ultilisation - Yes, it's used well.

In my opinion, Tesco Spring Hill is very good with many facilities available. Almost in my opinion the perfect supermarket, though it needs to offer more men's clothing. That's probably why it's not an Extra. But considering that it's a normal superstore, it's definitely very good based on that.



Photo courtesy of www.birmingham.gov.uk

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 (-0.5 for lack of men's clothing, -0.5 for lack of variety of Frozen World Foods - maybe I'm just too picky, -0.5 for stock trolleys in the middle of the aisles - is that really convenient for customers?)

Tesco, Quinton - Sunday 17th May 2015

Okay, I might be busy marking exams and planning for the week ahead, but here's a supermarket review, requested by Andy M.

Tesco Quinton is a medium sized supermarket situated at Quinton, with only corner shops being close to it. How would it fare on a Sunday lunchtime?

The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - Yes, fine.
2. Friendly staff - generally okay. They gave me a welcome and goodbye greeting and offered me bags (but not to pack!). Not that I needed them to anyway but would be nice to hear them offering.
3. Aisle width - generally wide for three trolleys in all sections
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Generally okay on the essentials. Fishmongers available but a lack of variety of fish which was disappointing - this might explain the quietness of that area, well and that of the deli and hot food section. World foods okay but limited due to size. A request from Kel on vegetarian / vegan stock - good variety of alternative milks (coconut, soya, almond) and quorn items. Eggs - good variety! Blue, barn, free range and caged eggs available. Didn't notice duck or quail eggs though. I was trying to look for many fillings for jacket fillings but couldn't find egg mayonnaise. I resorted to coleslaw instead.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - Fishmonger, deli, hot food available but not busy and lacking in variety. No pharmacy, opticians, cafe or petrol station. It does boast excellent recycling facilities including ink cartridges and small electrical items. Specialist food reduced to one aisle. Limited non-foods section as it's not an Extra.
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Yes! All the goods I bought have long sell-by dates for the week. There is also a reduced foods section where there are a variety of goods available but not too many which might indicate it being a busy store, or ordering quantities to the right amount?
7. Opening Hours - Requires improvement. 8am to 10pm Mondays to Saturdays, 10am to 4pm Sundays.
8. Speed of till-processing - Quick with lots of tills available, and self-service tills available.
9. Self-service tills available - Yes, though I didn't use this facility.
10. Parking facilities - No parking limit - that's awesome! Also easy to find a good parking space.
11. Value for money - Generally competitive with it being part of the "Big Four" supermarkets. Their loyalty card offers the Fuel Save option though I'm puzzled how you can use it if it doesn't have a petrol station? You'll need to head further away....
12. Organic produce - available if you want them.
13. Cash machine or cash back - Cash machines available and cash back is available should you need it.
14. Pedestrian access - yes and step free.
15. Space ultilisation - Considering the size, it's used effectively and not much empty spaces.

Supermarket is generally okay considering the size but it's lacking in facilities.




Photo courtesy of www.claddingfabs.co.uk

Rating: 7 out of 10 (-1 for a severe lack of variety of fish, -0.5 for no petrol station, -1 for not having everything I was looking for [egg mayonnaise], -0.5 for till service)