Tesco opened an express branch here a couple of years ago, and it brought about a flurry of concern. Would it ruin business for the butcher (W. Taylor), the chemist (Dean & Smedley) and - amusingly - the other two convenience stores we already had, Co-Op and Premier? The answer, generally, is no. This branch stocks anything you might need for an average day, but it doesn't have extensive ranges in anything. I visit several times a week, and it's my first port of call here if I need things in a pinch - peanut butter, writing paper and fruit, for instance - but if I wanted anything less simple, like Eccles cakes, specialist casserole mix or hair dye, it's unlikely I'd find it.
That's not to say it's overly simplistic. You can get no less than six types of peanut butter (Whole Earth organic smooth, organic chunky, non-organic smooth & non-organic chunky, Tesco own-brand smooth, Sun-Pat smooth), two brands of Rooibos tea, various packages of fruit and nuts, most magazines, most chocolates and several flavours of Ben and Jerry's and Haagen-Dazs. You can buy sushi, tights, two kinds of caffeine pill and a selection of kitschy bright cleaning cloths and sponges. I've bought Starbucks instant coffee packets, Elnett hairspray, blueberries, Tabasco and an iTunes card in one go here.
There's a smallish bakery on the premises, and I can't fault shopping to the smell of cinnamon swirls.
There are two self-service checkouts and two tills; personally, I like using self-service as it's quicker, but putting weighed items can be a pain - and you don't want to try and remove an item as you'll be waiting around for a while for a member of staff to approve you.
Other notables? There are a couple of noticeboards for selling or buying, and for advertising dog walkers and the like.
It's nicer than shopping in the Co-Op, which has serious odour problems in the air conditioning system, and the Premier, which is uncomfortably quiet.
I feel like rating Tesco 4* would be something of a sacrilege, a misuse of the rating system, so I've put it as a 3*. Nothing spectacular, but definitely useful, and nice to have around. read more
