Asda, Barnes Hill, Birmingham - 26th February 2015

Here's my second supermarket review of 2015. This time, it's a re-visit to Asda in Barnes Hill. Last time, I gave it a 4 out of 10. Will it improve? The criteria is as follows.

1. Clean - yes, in general.
2. Friendly staff - yes they were generally friendly.
3. Aisle width - wide enough to fit three trolleys.
4. Everything I was looking for was in stock - All the items that I wanted were in stock. Fruit and veg were well stocked, as well the essentials. Clotted cream is available at £1.98 per pack.
5. Extras: pharmacy/opticians/specialist food/petrol station - You can continue to get your eyes tested at the opticians though I would probably go for a specialist opticians instead. There is a fishmonger, butcher, deli, and stock looks good. There is specialist food but not as much as Morrisons. There is a petrol station available though you can only pay by card. It's not the cheapest out of the ones I've visited so far (at 106.7p per litre). Sainsbury's Northfield is cheaper at 105.9p per litre so Asda's claim of being the cheapest in fuel is in doubt. A cafe is also available too. Clothes and quite a few electrical goods are available for all the family too.
6. Fresh produce with long sell-by dates - Yes, with quite a lot of reduced items. You can get four donuts for 20p but as I had enough desserts, I didn't buy them. They do look good. Also, lots of bread reduced. Other items such as fish were reduced too. I also bought a fresh mackerel and it was delicious! Nice and fresh.
7. Opening Hours -No longer 24 hours. 6am to midnight - Monday to Friday. 6am to 10pm - Saturday. 10am to 4pm - Sunday.
8. Speed of till-processing - fast when I got served. Staff were nice and friendly. However, there was a customer using gift cards to pay and that took ages to wait so I wasn't impressed with the amount of time waiting. The cashier did apologise and I was willing to forgive.
9. Self-service tills available - yes, loads available. A mixture of basket and conveyor belt ones for trolleys.
10. Parking facilities - yes, two floors of parking - one floor sheltered and one floor not sheltered. I went for the open floor parking. No parking restrictions which was nice.
11. Value for money - part of the big four supermarkets, they do have quite a lot of special offers. Milk is very cheap at 89p for a 2 litre bottle. Quite a few items on promotion and you can buy nice cheap pens for stationery - 28p for 10 pens.
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.

Overall, I find the Barnes Hill supermarket to be a lot better than last year. Items are well stocked and the supermarket does appear to be busier than last year which gives it a better atmosphere. Apart from the long wait at the tills, I am more satisfied.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Photo: Courtesy of Anthony Harte from birminghamupdates.com