Tesco Extra in Walkden, is the largest Tesco store in England by floor space, with 17,230 square metres (185,500 sq ft) of floor space. It is located within Walkden Town Centre (formerly known as the Ellesmere Centre) on Bolton Road, it takes up pretty much the whole of one side of the shopping centre, the entrance does feel pretty weird as you have to go up the travelators within the shopping centre, and then turn to get into the store.
It isn't the most modern of Tesco stores, I do prefer other locations in that regard, they didn't even have the newer "Scan as You Shop" scanners, they did have the older style devices, which still work as fine but aren't as good as the new ones. Strangely, they have the newer-style checkout machines for these handhelds scanners which don't accept cash.
As you'd expect from such a large store, the product range was very good in most areas, most items you'd expect to find from a Tesco are stocked here, although I do prefer the selection of brands especially at Sainsbury's, this store is still good, I did find the fruit and vegetable section to be pretty poor, although it was a large area of the store, many crates were just empty and I couldn't find what I was looking for, which is generally in good stock at other Tesco stores.
I do think the store could have been organised better too, for example, some of the aisle numbers did not state what is along that aisle, but some did, which makes no sense to me. Did they start running low on ink part-way through?
The staff seemed friendly and helpful, however, it was almost impossible to find a staff member on the shop floor, they all seemed to be at the front of the store and the checkout area.
I do find parking to be pretty awkward here, as it is located in a shopping centre, although they do have their own dedicated parking area, it does involve going through the shopping centre again which can be a pretty annoying walk with a trolley full of shopping.
They didn't seem to have a deli in operation, many of the counters didn't seem to be manned, and the section which was left for people to purchase seemed half-attempted, compared to a smaller Tesco store, such as the one in Burnley, it is so much worse.
4* - A very large store, the product range in many areas is good, I would for sure visit this Tesco location again but for ease of access, facilities and overall store appearance, it isn't the best Tesco store. read more