Metropol

I noticed during a visit to my local Tesco today that the convert-a-till is seemingly making a comeback, with three standard belted checkouts being made into "assisted self-checkout" tills. They were all card only, presumably as they're not self-service tills at their heart.

Is this something they've been doing elsewhere prior to this?

bilky asko wrote: Wed 05 Nov, 2025 15.26 Is this something they've been doing elsewhere prior to this?

Yes I've seen those conversions at the Catford and Lewisham superstores.

To their credit, at least Tesco still have staffed checkouts while my nearest Sainsburys will only open them up if there's a demand.

Martin Phillp wrote: Fri 07 Nov, 2025 01.05

bilky asko wrote: Wed 05 Nov, 2025 15.26 Is this something they've been doing elsewhere prior to this?

Yes I've seen those conversions at the Catford and Lewisham superstores.

To their credit, at least Tesco still have staffed checkouts while my nearest Sainsburys will only open them up if there's a demand.

To their credit? That seems much smarter of Sainsburys to be honest…

I might be going entirely mad, but are Express stores/little supermarket branches closing for works much more often than they used to? Within the past few years I’ve noticed quite a few stores (mainly Tesco) being unexpectedly closed for refurbishment or some sort of works. It feels like that didn’t use to really happen, or if it did, that the length of the closure was much shorter than it is now?

Over the past few years, the stores by me have seen closure for conversion from Metro to Express format, weird little updates where all they seemed to do was put a black security cage around the checkout/cigarette kiosk, and then other refurbs that have varied from a bit of paint and new exterior signage to ripping out all the shelving and putting new stuff in. The approach to some of these works has been quite piecemeal; for example my nearest Express was closed a year or so ago so they could put the cage around the checkouts, and is now closed again for two to three weeks whilst they carry out a more significant refurb.

Maybe it’s just a case that a lot of the store estate in my area was quite old and scheduled refurbs have all happened around the same time, but it feels an odd coincidence if so!

All of the nearest Express stores to me are now caged at the counter. I thought it might just be a London thing because of the higher risk of theft, but it appears to be a national rollout.

One of the Tesco Extras near me now has their spirits in a glass cabinet where you need to press a button and wait a few seconds for it to open, is it like this anywhere else? I'm guessing they must have had booze stolen and this, somehow, is meant to help prevent it.

james2001 wrote: Wed 12 Nov, 2025 18.29 One of the Tesco Extras near me now has their spirits in a glass cabinet where you need to press a button and wait a few seconds for it to open, is it like this anywhere else? I'm guessing they must have had booze stolen and this, somehow, is meant to help prevent it.

I've seen that in various supermarkets - though oddly was in a Morrisons recently where the spirits were in a cabinet with a sign saying that it was unlocked, no need to find a member of staff.

You have to press the button to get to the spirits in the Trowbridge Tesco in Wiltshire. I think the pause until the door opens is while the CCTV turns to that aisle and focusses on you.

AmazonFresh (still clinging on for now?) have doors on their alcohol sections too, but I think that's so they can do their age verification.

thegeek wrote: Fri 14 Nov, 2025 16.45 AmazonFresh (still clinging on for now?) have doors on their alcohol sections too, but I think that's so they can do their age verification.

I went into the Canary Wharf branch last week, intending to impress a friend with it before their demise.

Except they have torn out one of the entrance gates, hastily installed some self-checkout terminals, and now it's a dumb store with incongruous signage that anyone can enter.

Some fantastic footage here uploaded today by the BBC Archive:



It's funny how those shots of Boots and H. Samuel could have been filmed yesterday, really shows how little has changed in 55 years, and how dated their shops look today.