In my role as a BzzAgent, to receive all the fabulous freebies I do receive I have to give my honest opinion on a number of products and brands, and this time its all about Tesco in Watford....
People who know me know that I have issues with Tesco in general, since I left there as a part time check out chick in 1993, things have visibly gone downhill and my allegiances now lie with the lovely Waitrose, but i'm old enough now to know that grudges can't be held forever, and vouchers will get me in anywhere, so I returned to Watford Tesco yesterday.... and boy was I surprised!
I have to admit it looks amazing. Giraffe out the front looks fab, very clean and new looking (i'll report back in 6 months) and the staff were ever so friendly in there too.
Going in to store was like being in a weird foreign department store on holiday. Every part has its own unique look, the fast food bit, the Euphorium bakery, clothes etc. it was quite impressive.
Obviously I headed straight for the bakery as I had a voucher for a free cake AND a free pastry and I wanted to get that in my shopping bag before I forgot (as if I would). Free taster of bread as I was walking around and a lovely smell, although not as strong as other supermarket bakery departments AND (to get the bad things out the way first) they didn't stock wheat free bread with the others. I was told I had to walk to the other end of the store for that. So I went to choose my cake and there was a decent although not endless choice to choose from. I opted, with the help from the cashier, for a strawberry and blueberry tart. It was very tasty, can't really fault it. For my pastry I went for the biggest - pecan and maple croissant type thing. It was good. very full of filling but a little burnt and a little too crispy for my liking (definitely had to get the hoover out afterwards) but impressed that Tesco haven't been stingy with their fillings, again, the Skeptic in me will go back in a few months a compare again.
The F&F clothes bit was ok, looks well laid out but they didn't have a lot of stock at all, its much smaller than it used to be and I couldn't even find a pair of tracksuit bottoms for Molly to take to school. I wouldn't go to Watford to get clothes now, I would stick with Staines. Lots of homeware options in store too and less and less room for food!
The thing I found strangest was the MASSIVE healthcare/healthfood bit towards the back. it looks like a Holland & Barratt but why? do we really consume that much supplements/Grains/protein powders etc? I guess Tesco must have done their research so maybe its just me!
Staff were all a little friendlier than in the past.... see above comment re it being new still. But i self checked out and so had minimal contact with staff.
They still don't man the mother and baby (I know i'm politically incorrect but so what) parking, which is a massive pain in the backside and their prices in general seem higher than I've got used to paying.
So the big question - would I go back there.... If i was passing and fancied a cake or a meal at Giraffe, but its too wishy washy for food and home stuff to have a big enough choice and the food section is just normal so I'd rather go to Asda or Waitrose... unless there were more vouchers, better parking for mums and bubs and more clothes options to entice me back .
Not bad though Tesco, you are slowly redeeming yourself in my book!
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