Sainsbury's, Longbridge, Birmingham - 3rd February 2014

A new supermarket that has been opened since September 2013, I decided to pay another visit to Sainsbury's in Longbridge. It's in direct competition with Morrisons in Rubery which is close to where I work.

So, what is it like? The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - yes, in general.
2. Friendly staff - they are okay. They kindly offered to pack but I decided that I wanted to pack.
3. Aisle width - very wide and you can fit at least 3 trolleys side by side per aisle.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Almost! Large range of fresh fruit/veg/meat but the variety of fish is lacking. You can also buy hot food and there's a pizza counter. There's also clothes and electrical items as well. It also has clotted cream at £1.95 which is quite expensive. Nevertheless, if you want to buy something for Churchcentral Forward, clotted cream is available!
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - No petrol station, but it does boast a cafe, and learning facilities for primary school aged children to revise on their English and maths but at a fee.
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Yes. It also has quite a lot of reduced items (nearly out of date). I managed to buy two coley fillets for £1.50 from the original price of £3.49.
7. Opening Hours - 7am to 10pm Mon to Sat. 11am to 5pm Sun. Okay opening hours but Sainsbury's does not operate 24 hours. The later opening hours on Sunday will be welcome to some people.
8. Speed of till-processing - fast and efficient.
9. Self-service tills available - yes, though as the manned tills were not busy, it's better to head there.
10. Parking facilities - yes, with 452 parking spaces (according to the website), half of which is sheltered. 3 hours of free parking is allowed. Although there are parking restrictions, it is far less strict than when it was first open.
11. Value for money - part of the big four supermarkets, they do have quite a lot of special offers. Obviously, some items are more expensive in Sainsbury's than in other supermarkets so you need to shop around!
12. Organic produce - available if you want them.
13. Cash machine or cash back - 2 Sainsbury's Bank cash machines are available and they do offer cash back.
14. Pedestrian access - yes and step-free from opposite Bournville College. The other entrance is from the car park and going up on the travelator.

  Overall, the supermarket is quite good. It's nice, clean and it definitely has a better atmosphere than when it first opened. It's still quiet but I went there on a Monday evening. It'll be different in the weekends. My housemate also works there and this is probably one of the better Sainsbury's in Birmingham.

Rating: 7 out of 10