Metropol

Are you ready to go shopping?

Step inside a very special supermarket...

...the only supermarket in the world* with aisles, stock, checkouts - just no customers.

http://goo.gl/maps/l0UXh - the (heavily reconfigured) MFI is an Aldi, opened Spring 2010. The adjacent Bensons for Beds unit was marketed for let until about this time last year, when I guess Aldi decided to use it themselves.

* - untrue.

I note that Cadbury's seem to have new shelf-ready packaging for their Dairy Milk branded chocolate bars (inc. Fruit and Nut, Whole Nut and whatever else they sell), which is kinda spring loaded so it pushes the bars to the front of the box whenever one is removed. However, in my local store it appears people are rather indecisive and want to put a bar back occasionally, but the boxes are so strongly sprung no-once can easily get the bars back in again.

Therefore broken chocolate bars are now littered all over the adjoining shelves. I find this all rather annoying, and struggled to find an unbroken bar tonight

scottishtv wrote:I note that Cadbury's seem to have new shelf-ready packaging for their Dairy Milk branded chocolate bars (inc. Fruit and Nut, Whole Nut and whatever else they sell), which is kinda spring loaded so it pushes the bars to the front of the box whenever one is removed. However, in my local store it appears people are rather indecisive and want to put a bar back occasionally, but the boxes are so strongly sprung no-once can easily get the bars back in again.

Therefore broken chocolate bars are now littered all over the adjoining shelves. I find this all rather annoying, and struggled to find an unbroken bar tonight

I did notice some nice new 'dump bin' style containers for individual bars of chocolate do go in when I was out and about today. They looked quite nice, with close-up shots of a Dairy Milk adorning the sides - but with Twirls inside, which didn't make much sense. But oh well.

So I work about right next to Tesco Tooley Street which is a concept store (which basically means they refurbish it in some way every three months).

The latest additions are a "Harris and Hoole" coffee shop, which utilises some of the previously dead space on the upper level, and a "Euphorium" bakery. It looks like (unlike Tesco's previous brands bullshit which was a pack of lies, and fooled nobody except for me who in a fit of delirium decided that 'Cocopia' chocolates were the best things ever) these are genuine brands. Or were once genuine brands. Or something.

The coffee place is absolutely packed (or maybe that's just an illusion by how small it is) - but I have no idea why. I would feel cheated. I mean it's one thing to pay £3 for a coffee in starbucks but doing so in a bloody Tesco is another thing altogether.

The Euphorium bakery on the other hand is interesting. It appears extremely upmarket and has little interactive displays (such as "bread of the day") but the prices don't seem too out of this world. It has little dessert things too that Tesco has definitely never done before. The quality of the bread seemed ok-to-good (not great), and I can't decide if that's because it's a genuine step up from Tesco, or Tesco's bread has been improving for ages and I just haven't touched it because I can't forget the days when it tasted horrid.

There are a load of touch-screen computers plonked around the store which let you browse the Tesco website, too.

There are now about 25 self checkout tills and two normal tills. This is good. You can go in at peak times with 30 people queuing ahead of you and only wait a couple of minutes.

Tooley Street is where they launch all their concepts - the bakery is a real, independent artisan brand that Tesco "let" space to, I believe (they have it in the Extra in Kensington too) - but Harris + Hoole is a 49%-Tesco-owned subsidiary. The Guardian are outraged.

Of course. Because a coffee shop controlled by an Australian company and 49% owned by a FTSE100 company is worse than a coffee shop 100% owned by a FTSE100 company, or - you know - a NASDAQ-100 company which paid no UK corporation tax for several years despite selling millions of cups of coffee in the UK at ~£3/cup.

How terrible for everyone.

So obv there are now essentially two tesco internal styles, the new Tooley St style one and the classic big writing on coloured walls type.

So do these stores have different names? And is different POS created for both styles of store? If so what are the names?

Metros have three subdivisions - I was only reading about this in the internal newspaper yesterday. IIRC they're Classic, High Street and Community. Tooley and Kensington are considered 'classic'.

Had a look around Kensington and indeed Tooley St recently, both remarkable stores (for Tesco).

www.groceryinsight.com/blog

SirKen wrote:Had a look around Kensington and indeed Tooley St recently, both remarkable stores (for Tesco).

http://www.groceryinsight.com/blog

Kensington High St is a lovely store. The two levels are quite odd for such a small branch (only seen it before in Liverpool One) but it does mean the top floor is amazing.

The thing that seems to let it all down though, and I think you've mentioned this on your blog a few times, is the legacy POS that is simply not fit for purpose anymore.

I have to say I'm surprised more stores haven't gone down the eSEL route like Morrisons Local. Surely the savings on all the endless sheets of paper and toner and manhours are worth the initial costs?

Pete wrote:

SirKen wrote:Had a look around Kensington and indeed Tooley St recently, both remarkable stores (for Tesco).

http://www.groceryinsight.com/blog

Kensington High St is a lovely store. The two levels are quite odd for such a small branch (only seen it before in Liverpool One) but it does mean the top floor is amazing.

The thing that seems to let it all down though, and I think you've mentioned this on your blog a few times, is the legacy POS that is simply not fit for purpose anymore.

I have to say I'm surprised more stores haven't gone down the eSEL route like Morrisons Local. Surely the savings on all the endless sheets of paper and toner and manhours are worth the initial costs?

M Local haven't standardised on eSEL. The recently opened Sheffield/Abbeydale Road branch has the standard paper tickets.