I love Asda and this is my second favourite Asda store in our area. I kind of prefer the Portrack Lane branch, but that's mainly because it's easier to park (I'll come back to the subject of parking later).
This is a really big shop in the heart of Thornaby Town Centre. The store was refurbished about a year ago and now it has a nice new cafe area, along with a really good clothing section (much bigger than it was before) and nice new fitting rooms.
This branch is all on one floor, but sells just about everything you could possibly need - magazines, clothing, CDs, DVDs, games, food, groceries, laundry and cleaning products, etc., etc., etc. It also has a pharmacy, and dedicated counters for deli and pizza etc. The pizza is my favourite! They will make up a pizza to your own specification, so we always get half and half, which is really yummy and (of course) really good value.
I have always found the staff here really helpful and friendly, they always seem really keen to help, and happy in their work.
One of the things I particularly love(d) about this branch of Asda, was shopping there on market day. Because it's not one of those out of town stores, you can have a wander around the market and the other town centre shops, then go and do the big weekly shop in Asda. All in all, it made for a very pleasant morning. However, Thornaby itself is undergoing a massive regeneration at the moment (2008), so what used to be the town centre car park (see, I told you I'd come back to the subject of parking!) is now a building site. You have to walk much further to get to the handful of market stalls who still bother to turn up, and it's all a bit of a disappointment. However, I hope that once the regeneration is complete it will all be sparkly and new and lovely again!
Because of the regeneration and the resulting closure of the town centre car park, I have been forced to use Asda's dedicated underground car park (yes, still more about parking!). On the plus side, it's well-lit, and there are lifts and walkways direct to the shop. On the downside, the actual parking spaces are tiny! You have to squeeze your car into the space, and each space has a big concrete post next to it (and judging from the paint scrapings on them all, it looks like a lot of other people have problems with this, too). read more