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)