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)

Morrisons, Small Heath - Saturday 9th May 2015

My housemate Alice and I decided to head to the east of Birmingham and head towards Small Heath where it features Birmingham City Football club, and a Morrisons supermarket. We decided to check out and see after seeing mixed reviews from the Internet.

So, what is the supermarket like? The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - Generally okay.
2. Friendly staff - generally fine. They happily answered my question on how much the oriental spinach costs, and the checkout man was very friendly and offering a variety of services (including promotions and packing bags)
3. Aisle width - generally wide for three trolleys but some aisles were too narrow especially towards the non-food section.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Mostly - it was disappointing from the newspapers section where the full variety wasn't available, notably the Guardian. Also, the world foods section could improve a little more, and the fishmongers need more of a variety of fish - that's compared to the Morrisons in Five Ways. Concerned about the eggs section. Could have more of a variety (just free range and caged eggs available). However, what was more concerning is that Morrisons claim that all their own brand eggs are free range, yet caged eggs are available too! Hmmmm.... Also, the labelling of aisles could be better. The chicken sign above part of the aisle was stocking pork, with the chicken being in a different aisle! Fail there.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - Petrol station is available at 113.9p per litre for unleaded, but it's certainly not the cheapest around in Birmingham. A good varierty of specialist foods is available but is lacking a bit in Far Eastern variety. A pharmacy is also available, along with a clothing section, specifically targeted for children. Carpet cleaning service is also available. Butchers, deli, hot food, salad bar, pizza counter and fishmonger is also available. The fishmonger section is lacking variety in fish. Finally, you can have your lunch/dinner there by going to the cafe.
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 not too many items which probably indicates that it is a busy store.
7. Opening Hours - Requires improvement. 8am to 10pm Mondays to Saturdays, 10am to 4pm Sundays.
8. Speed of till-processing - Generally fine considering it's a Saturday afternoon (1pm to 2pm). Checkout man was friendly.
9. Self-service tills available - Yes, though I didn't use this facility.
10. Parking facilities - Generous in offering three hours free parking. 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 offered points to me, which means that the items are not the cheapest compared to the "Big Four" and Aldi and Lidl.
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 - Good mainly on the foods section. The fruit and veg aisles are interesting with the middle aisles being diagonal. I quite like the layout though I feel the non foods aisles could be wider.

Overall, Alice and I came to the conclusion that the supermarket is good.

Photo courtesy of panthernewsletter1.wordpress.com

Rating: 7 out of 10 (-0.5 for slightly expensive petrol, -0.5 for variety of specialist stock, -0.5 for incorrect labelling (chicken above shelf which stocks pork), -0.5 for claiming all Morrisons own brand eggs are free range where there is a section at the bottom offering caged eggs which are also Morrisons own brand, -0.5 for not all aisles being consistently wide, -0.5 for lack of variety of fish)

Aldi, Northfield - Saturday 25th April 2015

After having an awesome Men's Breakfast at Canvas in Selly Oak, my friend Ian and I decided to head to Aldi in Northfield to see what it's like.

Recommended by the Wheelers from church, Aldi is a German "no frills" supermarket celebrating its 25th anniversary of opening in the UK. It is one of the newer supermarkets in Northfield, and has been opening for around 5 years.

So, what is the supermarket like? The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - Generally okay.
2. Friendly staff - yes, they gave a hello and thank you greeting to me. Nothing else much to say though as Aldi's aim is to serve customers quickly.
3. Aisle width - variable. If it wasn't for the annoying "reduced" items clutter due to lack of space, the aisles are wide enough to fit at least two big trolleys.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Mostly. I was annoyed with the fact that there wasn't any 4 pint milk bottles available during Saturday lunchtime! Also, there are also some goods not available due to its size. However, what makes it unique is the centre aisle with lots of random and mostly useful stock available.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - It's a no frills supermarket but it does have a lot of random and useful stock at the centre aisles. I was also impressed that it has now improved its fruit and vegetable and meat stock. Ginger, garlic and other "not so seasonal" fruit and vegetables are available. There is also a lot of seasonal stock available and impressed with the amount of British goods available despite being a German owned supermarket. You can get most of the stock there. Fish is lacking in variety though. You're better off heading to the "Big Four" supermarkets for this.
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Yes! All the goods I bought have long sell-by dates for the week. There are no use by dates for fruit and vegetables but it's obvious that they're fresh as it's restocked every day.
7. Opening Hours - Impressive for a no frills supermarket. 8am to 10pm Mondays to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday.
8. Speed of till-processing - three out of five manned tills in service so there was a bit of waiting time at the tills. Saying that service is quick and there was only a five minute wait.
9. Self-service tills available - No, not at a no frills supermarket.
10. Parking facilities -The lack of parking spaces meant that there was a queue of around six cars. I had to wait for around five minutes for a parking spot. Parking restrictions are okay, allowing you to shop for one and a half hours. You do need to be careful there though as you need to enter your car registration number after doing your shopping, otherwise you will face a hefty fine.
11. Value for money - As a no frills supermarket, a lot of stock is cheaper than the "Big Four" supermarkets. They are the leading price cutter whilst maintaining good stock quality.
12. Organic produce - available if you want them.
13. Cash machine or cash back - No, you will need to head along the Northfield High Street to get cash out. However, you can pay your goods by debit and credit card now which is impressive. Though you cannot use your American Express card.
14. Pedestrian access - yes and step free.
15. Space ultilisation - requires improvement. The store needs to enlarge slightly so that the goods are not cluttered around. Saying that, this will reduce parking spaces which would lower business takings. Also, it needs to increase the number of trolleys available as none were available when I entered in. A BIG minus point there!

Overall, Ian and I came to the judgement that the supermarket is good but has lots of areas it can improve on.

Photo courtesy of The Local Data Company

Rating: 6 out of 10 (-1 for lack of parking space, -1 for non availability of 4 pint milk bottles, -1 for lack of trolleys, and -1 for space utlisation and aisle widths)

Korea Foods, Selly Oak - Saturday 18th April 2015

 Last weekend, I decided to visit Korea Foods, also known as Seoul Plaza 6, an Oriental supermarket, in Selly Oak. It is supposed to offer competitions to the bigger Chinese supermarkets, that being the two Day in Supermarkets in the city centre, and the Wing Yip in Nechells.

Korea Foods comes from a former convenience store that was closed for a couple of years and reopened five years ago. Back then, I heard positive reviews from many students about this store, including myself.

So, how would it fare this time with my "supermarket critic" hat on?


The "revised" criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - Could be better. The store aisles were cluttered with boxes with stock yet to be put out and meant that it could have been better. There is a Korean takeaway inside the superstore, and the staff appear to be hygienic as they do wear gloves when serving food.
2. Friendly staff - Sort of. No formal greeting of "Hello" in the counter but they do pack bags for me so that's a plus.
3. Aisle width - unfortunately due to the size (and it being a former convenience store), the aisles are narrow. It is a struggle to fit two narrow trolleys side by side and often you do need to say "Excuse me" to get through. Also, the queuing system is a bit of a shambles as it can block an entire aisle! That's if it's busy, which wasn't for a Saturday afternoon, which was shocking. But then, the students are on holidays. However, you could argue that as most international students shop there, then that's not a good sign.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Inconsistent. You cannot buy "Shrimp flavoured noodles" by Sau Tao. Nor can you buy dairy products. However, there is a generally good selection of other items.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - Specialist Oriental stock plus a Korean takeaway,
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Variable - can be awesome to absolutely shocking. Most of the canned goods and packaged goods have long sell-by dates. However, if you want to buy fresh eggs, look somewhere else. Not only the eggs are expensive, the expiry date was on the day - 16th April! I find that's an insult especially if you want to buy fresh goods. Also, it seems that there is a lack of stock auditing. One pack of "Fresh Chinese fishcakes" was just dumped in the freezer with an expiry date of "14th April" so the staff don't really seem to care about checking stock. Shocking if you ask me. Fortunately, the fresh fishcakes that were on sales had a reasonable expiry date.
7. Opening Hours - As it's the size of a convenience store, the opening hours are good. It opens from 9am to 9pm every day. Very convenient for the students.
8. Speed of till-processing - two manned tills available. Could be faster, and could be a lot more cheerful.
9. Self-service tills available - No.
10. Parking facilities - Not a lot. There's three or four spaces outside the store, otherwise you will need to park at one of the side streets in Selly Oak.
11. Value for money - Terrible. Most stock is more expensive than Day in Supermarket and Wing Yip. Not impressed that it has shorter sell-by dates and the stock being more expensive.
12. Organic produce - not as far as I am aware of.
13. Cash machine or cash back - Two cash machines available outside Korea Foods. Cash back not available and you do need to purchase a minimum of £5 when using a credit or debit card (sorry no American Express)
14. Pedestrian access - Good. No step meaning that it's good for disabled access.
15. Space Utilisation - Generally space is well used with no wastage of space.

Overall, I'm disappointed with Korea Foods. It has gone downhill since when I was a student. Prices are expensive, goods could be fresher, and staff could be friendlier. I feel that the Korean takeaway is their saving grace. If you want fully stocked Oriental goods, head either to Day in Supermarket or Wing Yip

Rating: 5 out of 10 (-2 for fresh goods, -0.5 for parking, -1 for friendly staff, -1 for value for money, -0.5 for aisle width)

Photo courtesy of Korea Foods (www.koreafoods.co.uk)

Day in Supermarket - Wrottesley Street - 28th March 2015

It's the weekend, and it's time to head to another supermarket. My parents provided me with company this time and we decided to head to Chinatown to buy lots of stuff!

We decided to head to the Day in Supermarket situated at Wrottesley Street in Birmingham. This is situated opposite the "Big Wok" Chinese buffet.

I did a review on this supermarket around this time last year and gave it a 7 out of 10. How will it fare this time? 

The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - Clean, with items stocked well.
2. Friendly staff - Yes, friendly. They are trilingual (English, Cantonese and Mandarin) and gave good greetings. My parents and I spoke to them in Cantonese. There were some customers who spoke to them in English and staff were very friendly to them and gave good advice on what items to buy. Staff also packed bags for us which was very kind of them!
3. Aisle width - unfortunately due to size, it's narrow and it meant that two small trolleys was a struggle. The supermarket size is also smaller than the busier Arcadian branch. You need to be very patient and often need to be saying "Excuse me" all the time to get through the aisles.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Mostly - great for specialist Oriental stock, not so good on products such as dairy products.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - Nothing extra - just specialist food available.
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Variable (basically the same as the Day in Supermarket at the Arcadian). Stocks not on special offer have long sell-by dates. However,  if they are on special offer, be wary that products are close to their sell-by dates. These include noodles and sauces. In addition, they have an "Out of Date" stock section. Not very appealing to me....
7. Opening Hours - 9am to 6pm Mondays to Saturdays. 10am to 6pm Sunday. Long opening hours on a Sunday as it's not a big supermarket, more of the size of a convenience store. Quite restrictive opening hours in my opinion.
8. Speed of till-processing - two manned tills available. Fast, efficient, friendly and they pack bags for you. What more can you ask for?
9. Self-service tills available - no, why need them?
10. Parking facilities - unfortunately due to its location, based right at the city centre, there's no free parking. The nearest is the Chinatown car park opposite which offers reasonable parking prices.
11. Value for money - Generally okay, they do provide reasonable prices and around a third to a half of the products price match or are cheaper than Wing Yip in Nechells. However, if you want to compare like for like prices for specialist Oriental products compared to the Big Four Supermarkets, then Day in Supermarket wins hands down. Especially on products such as the Chinese vegetables (pak choi, choi sum, ung choi etc.), tofu, soy sauce and noodles.
12. Organic produce - not as far as I am aware of.
13. Cash machine or cash back - No cash machine available. You need to go to the other end of the Arcadian to find cash machines. That is a five minute walk away and crossing roads! You could pay by card, but it requires a £5 minimum purchase!
14. Pedestrian access - Requires improvement - one side with steps and one side with a ramp, allowing disabled access. The only let down at the end of the ramp - there is a step, so that could be improved. One to avoid for disabled customers - better go to the Arcadian instead.

Overall, the Day in Supermarket at Wrottesley Street has a more chilled out but friendlier atmosphere than the Arcadian. We generally go to this branch than the Arcadian purely for its customer service as the products they stock are the same! Well, obviously they should be as it's the same branch. I still find it a little puzzling how these two supermarkets are only five minutes walk away from each other. They are better off opening some branches around Birmingham. Maybe offer a rivalry to Korea Foods in Selly Oak?

Photo courtesy of The Local Data Company

Rating: 7 out of 10 (-0.5 for lack of some essential stock (dairy products as an example), -0.5 for parking facilities, -1 for special offers and out of stock section (not offering long sell by dates), -0.5 for opening hours, -0.5 for minimum purchase for use of credit/debit cards

At least the Day in Supermarket has retained its rating of 7 out of 10 for me

Day in Supermarket - Arcadian Centre - 23rd March 2015

After going out on a training course at the Radisson Blu Hotel, I decided to head to a Chinese supermarket at the city centre of Birmingham.

Day in Supermarket is a local Chinese supermarket in Birmingham that serves to the Birmingham community and beyond. It's one of the well known supermarkets in Birmingham with Wing Yip as its main rival.

There are two branches and I headed to the busier one at the Arcadian.

So, what is the supermarket like? The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - Generally clean with items stocked well.
2. Friendly staff - Generally yes and are trilingual - they can speak English, Cantonese and Mandarin. I spoke to them in Cantonese. Could do a bit better with greeting customers but they do pack bags for you without asking!
3. Aisle width - narrow I'm afraid. The trolleys are a lot smaller than ones find in the more traditional British supermarkets. Two small trolleys side by side are a struggle! It definitely reminds me of Hong Kong supermarkets.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Mostly. It's great to find Oriental products and what you want to find is pretty much in stock. If you're looking for dairy products as an example, best head to a British supermarket.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - Apart from specialist Oriental products, there's no extra perks.
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Variable. Stocks not on special offer have long sell-by dates. However,  if they are on special offer, be wary that products are close to their sell-by dates. These include noodles and sauces. In addition, they have an "Out of Date" stock section. Not very appealing to me....
7. Opening Hours - Reasonable but could do better. 9am to 6pm Mondays to Saturdays and 10am to 6pm Sundays. Very good opening hours on Sunday as it's more the size of a convenience store.
8. Speed of till-processing - four manned tills available. Fast, efficient and they pack bags for you without asking. Could be more friendly.
9. Self-service tills available - No, why need them?
10. Parking facilities - sorry, no parking available. Best bet is to go for one of the car parks in the city centre.
11. Value for money - Generally okay, they do provide reasonable prices and around a third to a half of the products price match or are cheaper than Wing Yip in Nechells. However, if you want to compare like for like prices for specialist Oriental products compared to the Big Four Supermarkets, then Day in Supermarket wins hands down.
12. Organic produce - er... they don't specifically state so... I'm guessing no.
13. Cash machine or cash back - No cash machine available. You need to go to the other end of the Arcadian to find cash machines. You could pay by card, but it requires a £5 minimum purchase!
14. Pedestrian access - yes and step free.

Overall, the Day in Supermarket in the Arcadian Centre is a good medium sized supermarket with many products available. It's very compact for its size and they offer free calendars towards the end of the year.

Photo courtesy of The Local Data Company

Rating: 6.5 out of 10 (-0.5 for lack of some essential stock (dairy products as an example), -0.5 for greeting, -0.5 for parking facilities, -1 for special offers and out of stock section (not offering long sell by dates), -0.5 for opening hours, -0.5 for minimum purchase for use of credit/debit cards

Tesco Extra, Cradley Heath - 21st March 2015

A lovely day outside in Birmingham and decided that it's a good time to go shopping. My housemate Alice and I decided that we would go to the Black Country and review another Tesco Extra, but this time in Cradley Heath. This is a place that is familiar to me as I began my first teaching placemat in that part of the area.

So, what is the supermarket like? The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - A supermarket built in 2007 and recently refurbished with two floors. It certainly looks clean with new signs and the supermarket looks bright, especially with the sunshine!
2. Friendly staff - yes, they had a welcome greeting and were treated to having my shopping being packed by the Scouts from Halesowen.
3. Aisle width - quite wide and can fit at least two trolleys side by side. The clothes section could be a little wider but as that's not as busy, that might justify the narrower aisles.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Mostly. I was concerned about the lack of world foods, but that might be because of the area. A bigger area of concern is the lack of variety of eggs!
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - A large petrol station is available offering unleaded petrol at 109.9p per litre which compares favourably to nearby supermarkets in Birmingham and the Black Country. A pharmacy is also available but no opticians. There's a large clothing section and electricals too. However, it lacks a big enough section for world foods - just two aisles, and the specialist stock just consisted of East Asian and Polish foods. There's also a section which offers Community Space and a Costa cafe is available. If you were looking to dine there for lunch, you will need to go elsewhere. Finally, there's a good fishmongers, butcher, deli and hot foods section.
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Yes. There is a section of reduced goods which offers good reduction of around 40% off. I didn't need to buy any reduced goods. All the goods I bought offered good sell by dates.
7. Opening Hours - Very good. Opens from 6am on Monday to midnight on Saturday and maintaining a 24 hour store. Sundays are open 10am to 4pm.
8. Speed of till-processing - all manned tills in service and a lot of self-service tills and scan as you shop tills. Didn't have to wait to long on a manned till - around three minutes.
9. Self-service tills available - yes, but decided to go for the manned tills.
10. Parking facilities - yes with a large car park with two floors. The first section is the overhead parking and you can go down one level for the covered car park. Despite peak time shopping (Saturday at 12:30pm), there was a good number of parking spaces available. What's more, it's free parking with a three hour restriction. However, the entry and exit to the supermarket could be better. It can accumulate quite a bit of traffic - would traffic lights or a roundabout solve this? It might do, but could potentially cause more traffic as there is another roundabout quite close by.
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 Tesco than in other supermarkets so you need to shop around!
12. Organic produce - available if you want them.
13. Cash machine or cash back - Tesco Bank cash machines are available outside. Tesco also offers cash back when you shop.
14. Pedestrian access - yes and are step free. Lots of zebra crossings too which makes it safe.

Overall, Alice and I came to an agreement that the supermarket has a good atmosphere and the layout looks good. It's bright as well but the EBI's will be to have a bigger world foods section and a better variety of eggs.


Also, this supermarket reminds me a lot of the Tesco from my hometown with most features being very similar.

Photo courtesy of The Local Data Company

Rating: 7.5 out of 10 (-1 for lack of world foods, -0.5 for entry and exit to the store, -0.5 for lack of variety of eggs, -0.5 for a lack of facilities to have lunch / dinner at the supermarket)

Tesco Extra, West Bromwich - 14th March 2015

This time, I decided to go into the Black Country to do my weekly shop and head to a supermarket that was recommended by one of my housemates. Tesco Extra in West Bromwich is a new supermarket (built 2 years ago) and is situated at the town centre. It is part of the New Square which also consisted of various other shops such as Primark, JD Sports, Next, Bank, etc.

So, is the supermarket as good as it sounds? The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - yes and the layout looks new and modern with an atmosphere!
2. Friendly staff - customer services were amazing as they helped me with a free parking slip. Checkout staff - hmmmm... no. No "Hello" or "Good afternoon" greeting or a goodbye. This member just scanned the items and was just solely on concentrating on getting the receipt and wanted to me to get out of the checkout. Not impressed. More concentrated on talking to the ones behind me who turned out to have more of a cultural custom than me. So, a major minus point.
3. Aisle width - wide and you can fit at least two trolleys in each aisle. I shopped there at around 2:30pm and it was pretty busy!
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - Well stocked goods and am impressed with the variety of goods available.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - There is a petrol station (big) which offers unleaded petrol at 107.9p per litre which matches the price at Sainsbury's Northfield so it's pretty cheap. It boasts a cafe which looks new and modern. Other additions include an opticians, a Tesco direct (catalogue) order point, a mobile phone / technical help desk, clothing (for men, women and kids), but lacks a pharmacy. There are four aisles dedicated to world foods ranging from Irish, American, Filipino, Afro-Caribbean, Asian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese goods available. I was impressed by this and bought some specialist goods at reasonable prices. And want to buy some cream teas? - yes, clotted cream is available!
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Mostly. There is a section of reduced items with some reduced by half. However, I didn't need to buy any reduced goods. Tesco are playing a game to fool people by putting the goods that have shorter sell-by dates on easy reach, but with long sell-by dates right at the bottom, which meant I needed to kneel down to get bread with a long sell by date. There's an impressive range of oriental fresh produce - ung choi (Chinese spinach), pak choi and mooli!
7. Opening Hours- Truly exceptional. Opens from midnight on Monday to midnight on Saturday and maintaining a 24 hour store. Sundays are open 10am to 4pm.
8. Speed of till-processing - all manned tills in service (18) and a lot of self-service tills. Didn't have to wait to long on a manned till - around three minutes.
9. Self-service tills available - yes, but decided to go for the manned tills.
10. Parking facilities - yes with a large car park divided into clear zones. You do need to be careful when shopping there as you need a free parking voucher, something that the checkout staff didn't offer, which was not polite, which meant I needed to head to customer services, who were friendly! 2 hours free parking available as long as you spend £5 or more. Another thing which lets down is that you do need to drive around the car park and literally HUNT for parking space as not a lot is available, but it is peak time on Saturday. Also, redeeming a free parking voucher is naff. Wait for 10 minutes, and the process itself takes like three minutes to get the right car and redeem the voucher. They NEED MORE parking meters so that the process is faster!
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 Tesco than in other supermarkets so you need to shop around!
12. Organic produce - available if you want them.
13. Cash machine or cash back - Tesco Bank cash machines are available outside. Tesco also offers cash back when you shop.
14. Pedestrian access - yes and are step free.

Overall, I was generally impressed with the layout of the store and the huge variety of goods available. Staff are friendly (minus the checkout staff). And you have the chance to meet one of your lovely tutees despite being 15 miles away! And yes, it was a little awkward.

The supermarket does face stiff competition with Morrisons and the market stalls not being far away (around half a mile away) but it seems to be very busy with a good atmosphere.

Photo courtesy of www.expressandstar.com

Rating: 7 out of 10 (-1 for checkout, -1 for their unwise strategy of putting long sell-by fresh produce at the bottom, notably bread, -1 for parking facilities)