Tesco Express

This Tesco Express store is close to the corner of a street in Manchester, that is opposite the Arndale and very close to TEA42 and The Co-​operative.
This store has a few steps to go in, however wheelchair users have a lift to help them access the store, one of ones where you have to hold the button, the security guard makes sure you get in okay, and gets both doors to help you,
This is a smaller store but still nice as a local store, I went in this store to get a box of biscuits/​chocolates for a friend but not as a Christmas present. I was delighted to find some Quality Street’s for £2. I couldn’t find a gift bag that wasn’t Christmassy so I had to go around many stores in the Manchester Arndale, to find it and it was hard work!
This store stocks a small range of cheese and things like that, an acceptable amount but they do not stock every meal and cheese that the big Tesco stores would stock. They had a nice range of drinks and meals on the go though, as expected from a small, local branch of TESCO like this.
The staff could of been friendlier, I asked him a question and he was part-​way through answering it but went on just to serve a new customer.
I was looking for washing powder and I didn’t see any really apart from a couple that were overpriced for the amount however they did have DAZ reduced from £6.30 to £4, right at the tills, not a great location for it as it wasn’t with the others, but it shows you, they will be some offers at the till for something you are thinking, I can’t get it from here.
This store only gets 2 stars because of the following reasons:
— It is only a small store and is in a bad location for a local store as they is no free parking, and it is only somewhere you will go while you are in Manchester, and they is a TESCO store on Market Street, which is bigger and in a better location.
— They have little selection on most major products so you will have to make a compromise
— It is a hassle for Wheelchair users, Prams and the disabled because of the lift, you really do have to press hard for a while, to get up the few steps.

Why all the negativity for Tesco Express? It’s not doing anything particularly wrong apart from being a bland, mainstream supermarket that’s there just to tempt lazy office workers into buying a ready meal on the way home instead of actually cooking something.
This one is housed in quite a nice building as well actually, so it’s not a shining, white blot on the Church Street’s character. Almost a Northern Quarter Tesco Express, if you will.
Maybe not.

Remember the nursery rhyme about the count sat in his counting house counting all his money?
That’s what runs through my mind every time I hear about Tesco opening a new Metro or Express throughout the country. Allegedly, the company now have over 60 branches within a 15 mile radius of Manchester city centre and yet, they still decided to open another earlier this year in the city’s independent area; the Northern Quarter.
Having lived in the area myself for a couple of years, I know it was difficult to get everyday essentials like bin bags, toilet rolls and washing up liquid without a long walk. Personally, I’d still rather go for a long walk than put money in Tesco’s pocket though. It’s not just that they’re prepared to stamp out independent retailers and farmers across the world in exchange for profit and market place domination, it’s that their fresh vegetables, salad and bread don’t taste that good either.