Asda

Ahhh, good old ASDA in Bootle — you’ve got to love an emporium where you can buy everything your heart could possibly desire, be it a copy of the latest hit paperback or the kitchen sink. Situated right across the road from The Strand (yet, for some reason, hidden back a bit which makes it impossible to find if you don’t really know where you’re going), this is the number one supermarket serving the whole of L20 and beyond.
Most times I’ve been here, I’ve always managed to find what I wanted, and have even been known to hum along to ASDA fm whilst perusing the aisles. I’m particularly impressed by its wide range of real ales, especially those from local brewery Cains.
If I have one gripe with ASDA Bootle, it’s this. For some reason, I appear to be cursed whenever I walk in there. Either they refuse to serve me booze because of my childish features (meaning I have to schlep all the way home, fetch my passport and then wave it around in some poor cashier’s face whilst shouting ‘I TOLD YOU I WAS TWENTY SEVEN!’) or their machines just flat out refuse to take my card. Perhaps it’s their way of telling me something — like that I should stop reading a chapter of Twilight secretly whenever I’m in there — but either way, it’s pretty bloody annoying.
It might not be Waitrose, but it serves the purpose it was built for — namely supplying tasty food and tasty booze to the people of Bootle. Thanks for that Mr. ASDA!

The newest store in the area and the dubbed the most ‘eco-​store’ in the country, this new Asda opened in October 2008. The timber-​framed store boasts a host of sustainable features, including, recycled bricks, a recycled aluminium roof, rainwater harvesting and natural lighting. From the outside, you can immediately see the different appearance from all the other Asda stores in the country. What also makes this store slightyl different to many is that it is right in the heart of Bootle’s shopping area, a stone’s throw away from the Strand Shopping centre, making it accessible to customers on foot and public transport as well as those in the car. This brings large scale supermarket shopping to a deprived area for the first time, and it clear when you look at the customers.
The store isnt huge but stocks a good range including clothing, electricals, toiletries, and has a delicatessan counter. There is plenty of parking, and its never over — busy, and its accessibilty and size meaning that you can just pop in for a pint of milk without having to trawl the aisles for two hours.