The Tesco & other non-Morrisons supermarket thread

[SirKen]

Just for fun, in case anyone doesn't remember it (it had a very brief lifespan), the original Clubcard logo (acknowledgement: Logopedia):

It lives on though- thanks to an appearance in Blackadder Back and Forth, even though it was made 4 years after they stopped using that logo, and Tesco were actually one of the sponsors of the film (presumably why it got plugged there in the first place, but you'd think they'd have used a new card!).

And, again, on a similar note, can anyone else remember Tesco carrier bags still having the old logo on until the back end of 1997? And it wasn't even the case that they'd stockpiled a load of ones with the old logo on, as they also had the "Charity of the Year 1996/97" and Clubcard adverts on with the new logo.

Oh, and Tesco Worksop is brilliant (until the new one gets built): https://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=53.315229 ... 9,,0,13.34

Is the Worksop museum still open? It's got to be worth a visit.

In terms of the LED PoS, just tweeted that up and it wouldn't surprise me if it's being thought about, I imagine it would go to areas that are PoS heavy - yoghurts seem a prime candidate given the spend / endorsements and plethora of multibuys....

[SirKen]

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.

You should try the coffee - it's really nice, and I'm a big Starbucks fan but I'd go to Harris and Hoole over them any day of the week!

There is one in my village (it was the first one to launch, actually) and it's a big unit on the High St which is always packed.

Tesco are close to launching LED shelf edge labels - I'm not just talking about the dodgy LED price displays that Morrisons/Sainsbury's tried out, but actually the whole length of the shelf edge, with full colour HD displays. I've seen a concept video that looks absolutely stunning, and it recreates the look of the standard shelf-edge labels, along with promotions and even playing TV adverts of some of the products - even recipe ideas for the products on the shelf.

Borrowed this Jay, it's going around Twitter now so we'll see if they say it's imminent, makes perfect sense for me.

[james2001]

Is the Worksop museum still open? It's got to be worth a visit.

Yes it is, I was in there only last month!

[thegeek]

I popped up to my local Tesco this afternoon and found a bit of excitement in the in-store bakery:

(click to embiggen)



these loaves were from a local bakery rather than the ISB


The Hackney Marsh Cake - with "marshmellows", according to the sign.

It's a new concept, in collaboration with Euphorium. There's some details at British Baker. They have a twitter, and a Facebook showing off some of their nice looking cakes and branding.

[Andrew Wood]

Must try that PLU on Back Office when I'm next in...

[Critique]

Sometime last year there was a discussion about the quality of the training of Co-op staff, and whilst generally they're quite good around here, I have had one particularly *interesting* encounter.

I was being served by a trainee, who was on their own, and gave them a scratchcard to process (I don't normally buy them, because I always win a lifechanging amount of £2, as evidenced here). They then proceeded to drop it into the top of the machine like a ticket multiple times, to no avail (you scan the big barcode at the bottom for scratchcards). They then called for a supervisor, who didn't turn up.

It somehow got to the point in the awkward silence that I ended up explaining how to process it (I've worked in a convenience store before and vaguely remember the process), including explaining the weird combination of numbers you have to key in if the card doesn't scan (which it didn't) - I was then asked what to do with the scratchcard now it'd been redeemed, so I told her to keep it but ultimately I had no idea what their procedure was.

All for £2 - and I didn't even get paid for my time teaching.

[Pete]

What are the views regarding Tesco's new "love every mouthful" campaign? I think its a great move away from the very bland adverts they've had since ditching the old Prunella Scales ones years ago.

Certainly in my local branch its impossible to escape from it with practically every bit of POS being replaced with the LEM branding. There is bunting everywhere and I am impressed that its not just the same three flags repeated but different on nearly every flag throughout the fruit and veg asile.

[Philip]

It's certainly a lot different to the Tesco of old. The adverts are a lot more upbeat but they're not as consistent (from a pres enthusiast point of view, a lot of different aspect ratios!). I notice they've started using single colour versions of the logo, probably since it's now thought that a blue and red logo is a bit corporate - which was also probably one of the reasons for ditching the Tesco Value branding.

[Andrew]

My local Tesco is currently going through what they are saying is it's 10 year refit, basically seems to so far involve moving the fruit & veg to the front, new healthcare fittings, a new pharmacy counter, wooden panelling either side of the main doors, wooden trolley parks outside etc. There is also going to be self scanning equipment.

Regardless of that I was down London way the other day and came across a Tesco Extra that had one of those 'Bakery Project' areas, with the bread laid out on a floured heavy wooden table, little handwritten signs next to the various breads etc, looked quite good. The stock seemed to be different than what you usually get in a Tesco bakery.

There was also one of those coffee shops and a Giraffe restaurant. I don't know what was there before as I've never been there before. There was also a Click & Collect grocery 'drive through' in the middle of the car park.

[Andrew Wood]

It's the summer dip when traditionally the number of orders for home shopping falls for a few weeks as the main holidays get underway.

[Pete]

My local Tesco is currently going through what they are saying is it's 10 year refit, basically seems to so far involve moving the fruit & veg to the front, new healthcare fittings, a new pharmacy counter, wooden panelling either side of the main doors, wooden trolley parks outside etc. There is also going to be self scanning equipment.

Self scanning as in Waitrose / Safeway style or normal self-scan tills?

Interesting that the new refits involve moving the fruit and veg to the front whereas previous refits have involved moving it from the front into the middle of the store so that all the non-food can be at the start of the store.


BTW - any reason that Tesco replace their self-scan tills far more frequently than others? In five years my local has had four old basket style ones, then had two "conveyor at the end" ones installed, then removed and replaced with another two normals, then the whole lot just got ripped out and replaced with 12 brand new smaller units in a more sensible layout.

Do other Tescos replace them this often or is my theory that Dundee gets used for testing due to having NCR & the call centre here correct?