Has anyone been to the new cafe in sainsburys (savacentre)?
hubby was very disappointed that the americano coffee has jumped from being 99p a decent size cup, to 1.25 a cup that is not even full.
has anyone else experienced higher prices since they have "done up the cafe"?
My sister went in there and asked for a Mocha and the two women behind the counter spent 30 mins looking for the right button, that was after they'd picked themselves off the floor laughing at the name.
just to express my views on the new improved sainsburys... i think the layout is ridiculous, as a mainly 'grocery' store it's silly that the main things u see instore are clothes and household goods, it's fantastic for choice -don't get me wrong but trying to do your weekly shopping takes 50x times longer than before, i dont think they've yet decided on a fixed place for the vegetables and fruits, so u have to becamer slightly hunter-gatherer -ish trying to find what uve come in for... as for the new cafe, how many tables do they think they can wait in the middle of service, when it takes the girls half an hour to press a button for a poorly conceived idea of a cappucino, and with two tills for well over 30 tables? ah ha ha!!! i dunno what these guys were taking while drawing the plans for the new superstore but there's nothing super about it...
yes i've had a bad day so i;m being slightly bitchy... only slightly, go in there and ull see!
It's vast. When I went in last the shelves were fairly well stocked considering it was late on a Sunday. But its just too darn big. I don't care for clothes etc, but to compete with the likes of Tesco they have to include them.
Sainbury's food is generally of a higher standard than Tesco, Asda or Somerfield (they have bigger budgets for ingredients and treat suppliers better) and overall I much prefer them s a supermarket. It's a shame that this store seems to be lacking in some areas.
I'm not sure why anyone would want to have a coffee in there anyway, there are some great places to have a coffee in the high street. Perhaps they have changed the supplier of some coffees etc so they are more expensive (is it Fairtrade, If not it bloody well should be!).
I assume the current bad layout is only because they haven't finished the 'upgrade' and are having to move things about so they can work on different areas.
I think people would only have coffee there while waiting for someone else to do the shopping - can't think of another reason.
I also prefer Sainsburys to Tesco, and definitely Somerfield, for all the reasons mentioned above. Plus I think their food labelling is better.
I see why they have to stock all the clothes, homewares etc but can I just say that I bought some wonderful new pillows in the Linen Cupboard on the high street at the weekend and had a wonderful service from them. They have a brilliant range. It really is a fantastic shop which should be supported and I'm glad I didn't go to Sainsbury's for my pillows.
lizzie wrote:
I also prefer Sainsburys to Tesco, and definitely Somerfield, for all the reasons mentioned above. Plus I think their food labelling is better.
Hmm, I design a lot of Tesco Packaging so I'd disagree
i agree with Digital FX
Despite the ongoing work, the store is brighter and more open, with lots of new stock. For those who just want a small amount of groceries, then why not use your High Street shops?
The most pleasing thing for me was seeing nearly all the tills staffed and there being queues of no more than 2 people on my most recent visit.
I agree that the service in the cafe is incredibly slow and it is a bit hit and miss with the coffee. However, it is a nice space so hopefully when the staff are more familiar with the machines etc everything will speed up. I have had a sandwich and a coffee in there on a couple of occasions and maybe one time I might be able to enjoy them together!!!
It is good to see that they are nearly at the end of the refurbishment though and it is already looking MUCH better. I totally agree with the poster who mentioned how good it was seeing all of the checkouts open. I hope the wider aisles will be staying once everything is in its allocated space. It always frustrated me in the old Savacentre how narrow the aisles were which lead to no end of trolley rage!
We were trying to shop locally during the refit - greengrocers, Somerfield, Lidl and pound shops (for cleaning equipment). We lasted a couple of months until the rest of the family started missing the usual brands and familiar cereals!
We returned to Sainsburys 2 weeks ago and when we were offered a map I knew we would be there longer than our usual shop. Finally making it to the finishing line, I noticed that the only tills free were the self-service ones. It's a two man job and luckily there was a helpful (and patient) assistant there to help us! Only I forgot to get school vouchers, so it means a trek back to Customer Service.....
Reading the Planning Apps in today's News Shopper it looks like they're planning a 24hr service. (An ammendment to their 1994 approval.)
I know I"m going to get crucified for saying this but I like the new Sainsbury's. To me it IS local if you think Lidl and Somerfield are 'local' shops, both of which are national retailers, one of which is international.
It's a huge store but the aisles are wider, it's well laid out, Sainbury's offer a lot of Fairtrade products and the fruit and veg is (at last) well stocked.
Sainsbury's are much nicer to deal with as a company than other supermarkets and the products are generally of higher quality. They aren't perfect.
The packaging is better and more informative (the colour wheel and traffic light system is good news for the health conscious). They use a lot of FSC board and recyclable cartons and are into packaging reduction.
As for the argument that they are taking traffic away from the high street, the high street must react. It's a free market. Just look at the two shops that have opened up recently: Regal doors that looks like the sign was painted by a primary school kids with a 6cm ruler and the discount bed shop that can even be bothered with a sign. The real culprits for the state of the high street are the retailers who cant be bothered. Some shops have no signs at all. This drags the whole high street down. You wont get rid of Sainsbury's, complaining about it wont change anything.
What needs to change is the high street, what they sell and how they sell it. I think a lot of the shops need professional help from business advisors, the council and some sort of rate cap to ensure that good businesses stay and to encourage and nurture new sustainable business ventures.
This is what our town centre manager should be doing.
I think the new Savacentre refit is really good. I love their TU clothing range and their homeware section is now brilliant. I agree the store looks much brighter and I like the new layout. But I agree that it can take longer to get around it to do your weekly shop! People moan about Sainsbury's, but people have busy lives and not everyone has the luxury of time and to be able to get everything in one place is a must! I also understand the need for 24 hour opening for some people.
I always use the local MFC 3 shop for daily bits and bobs, also Lidl and Somerfield. The trouble with the latter two stores is lack of Customer Care skills. Its not unusual for the till staff in Lidl to be talking on a mobile phone whilst serving you and Somerfield staff are so "miserable" and unhelpful it puts me off doing a "big" shop there. There are some good shops in the high st and I agree the the Linen Shop is a treasure. Also the DIY shop on Kirkdale is fab. In fact I have decided to always try there first rather than homebase for any DIY needs as they are so helpful and always have what you need!
Lee, it might be worth setting up a new thread with the points you make. I have mentioned some of what you have said elsewhere as have you and it just gets buried.
Have you thought about contacting the town centre manager directly - I have in the past. I don't know what good it did, but five months later the Dolphin opened followed by Blue Mountain - although I know many of us don't want Sydenham high street to turn into an imitation East Dulwich but I just sent her my observations about how that high street had improved.
The professional advice on signage and shop front design is key - should be standard I think. I have mentioned this before too, guidance or rules which must be followed, - the disadvantages of ugly shutters etc....most of the high street it is a conservation area after all!!
Hi Polly, good point, I will set up the new thread.
I have written to the town centre manager twice and have yet to receive a response. She must be incredibly busy making the high street better, so expect some big improvements very soon (sic).
