Metropol

I wouldn't go that far, but Boots do seem to have a odd mix of store fit outs these days.

I've seen a couple which have a major refit in a modern style, a couple which have received some new interior signage with a lick of paint, but most seem to be in the older 2000s style. The very largest stores have huge banks of self checkouts, but smaller stores often have long queues at poorly staffed standard checkouts.

There also seem to be a few which are 1990s fit out or perhaps even earlier - see Sheffield The Moor as an example. It's not been very well adapted for today's requirements - there are holders for gift cards stapled on the wall behind the tills, temporary looking click and collect roll cages, and it all looks very worse for wear.

It's a shame as I think the latest store fit out looks pretty good and these oldest stores really do look out of place now.

The programme to update the exterior signage on Boots stores (which started in 2019) seems to have crashed to a grinding halt at some point, with many stores still lumbered with the old lozenge logo flanked by 'pharmacy' and 'beauty' in VAG font.

It always annoys me when companies leave a rebrand project unfinished like that. To give credit to Morrisons, they blitzed their entire estate with the latest logo on the exterior signage in quite a short timescale.

Must say I've seen something I've never seen before, until the past few weeks and that's hire trolleys at both Waitrose and Sainsbury's.

The blue trolleys at Sainsbury's looked a bit out of place though mind.

Curious where the things go when they're not on hire mind. Had a little Google and they're their for Christmas supposedly. Ironic because one of Sainsbury's never has little trolleys...

Zimba wrote: Sat 13 Dec, 2025 20.35 Must say I've seen something I've never seen before, until the past few weeks and that's hire trolleys at both Waitrose and Sainsbury's.

They've always done it, but until last year Wanzl branded them the same as the 'normal' ones so it was less obvious which were hired.

They used to have a little mark near the wheels and it was always an absolute bugger trying to find the last 2 or 3 when it came time to hand them back. A differently marked handle bar makes it infinitely easier.

The new Tesco campaign looks suspiciously like the old Tesco Value packaging

Yeah, they're using the 'Value' branding for promotions now. Tesco Value products themselves aren't coming back

Have they slimmed down the number of fake brands since they were first introduced? It feels like 'Grower's Harvest' is on a fairly wide range of groceries.

fair play to them though - while I did like the simplicity of the Tesco Value brand, the fake brands do feel slightly less basic, even though the product is probably exactly the same.

thegeek wrote: Mon 12 Jan, 2026 12.45 Have they slimmed down the number of fake brands since they were first introduced? It feels like 'Grower's Harvest' is on a fairly wide range of groceries.

fair play to them though - while I did like the simplicity of the Tesco Value brand, the fake brands do feel slightly less basic, even though the product is probably exactly the same.

Pretty sure it's the same as it's been since Everyday Value was broken up - Growers Harvest, Stockwell, Creamfields, Eastmans, H.W. Nevills all seem to be going strong, as is Tesco Essentials in health and beauty. Which brands are you thinking of? The only one I can think of which I haven't seen so much is the 'basics' GM lines.

JS dropped all their fake brands in favour of Stamford Street. Perhaps it's some of those you're thinking of? Or perhaps the earlier "brand at Tesco" brands which existed for a while alongside Everyday Value which were dropped a few years before?

Incidentally Stamford Street dishwasher tablets are the cheapest I can find and also work just as well as anything else.

I imagine a lot of people don't know that T E Stockwell is the "Tes" in Tesco, a tea company that Jack Cohen (the "Co"in Tesco) bought out in the 1920s, so it's technically not a made up brand unlike the others.

james2001 wrote: Mon 12 Jan, 2026 22.19 I imagine a lot of people don't know that T E Stockwell is the "Tes" in Tesco, a tea company that Jack Cohen (the "Co"in Tesco) bought out in the 1920s, so it's technically not a made up brand unlike the others.

H W Nevill's was once a real bakery too, so also not "made up" by your criteria (although all brands are made up at some point, surely?).

WillPS wrote: Mon 12 Jan, 2026 18.51 JS dropped all their fake brands in favour of Stamford Street. Perhaps it's some of those you're thinking of? Or perhaps the earlier "brand at Tesco" brands which existed for a while alongside Everyday Value which were dropped a few years before?

I think you're probably right there. I maybe just noticed it after we started getting Grower's Harvest orange juice, and it struck me as a bit odd that it's in the same sub-brand as microwavable rice packets.