Sometimes You Get What You Pay For. (Asda)

Member Name: mattygroves10

Product:	Asda
Date:	22/07/05 (2437 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, big . . . very, very big

Disadvantages: Grim, very, very grim . Terrible parking . Distinctly average fresh foods . Grim.

Our main shop is at Sainsbury's. We have one near us, we have the loyalty card (Nectar), and we do our weekly shop there. So why I am writing about Asda?

I worked near Asda in Park Royal, the armpit of London. Needless to say, that is therefore the branch about which I am writing. I'm not obsessed - I will NOT visit every Asda in the country to contrast and compare for an opinion! So there.

Anyway, I get my lunch from Asda. I get bits and pieces, both for home and for the office from Asda. Now, I could do my weekly shop at Asda on my way home from work. But I won't. After all, it IS, as a rule, cheaper than Sainsbury's (I have read somewhere that it averages 11% cheaper than the other national supermarkets). But I won't do a big shop there. Not ever. Why, you ask? Ah...now THAT'S the op.

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Disclaimer
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I am writing about Asda the store and the shopping 'experience'. So you're not going to find out from this essay the complete history of shopping, supermarkets, Asda, Park Royal, and those little blue crystals you get in washing powder. I don't know how many employees Asda has throughout the UK, and frankly, I don't care. Just so long as one with at least half a dozen brain cells is serving me when I'm visiting Asda Park Royal. Which can be a problem...

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The Basics - the building
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Asda Park Royal has recently rebuilt itself - it has been taken over by Wall Mart (which you no doubt already knew), and has physically rebuilt itself. OK, it had some help from some burly workmen, but you know what I mean.

Asda Park Royal is now officially a superstore and it is be open 24 hours. It's big. It's very big. The building has a warehouse feel - that sort of pre-fab look with exposed metal struts, bare lighting (though it is quite bright), a big, open entrance way...that kind of thing.

There are LOADS of aisles (but I haven't counted - sorry), lots of checkouts (although not all are manned at any given time) - it's generally very, very big.

As you go in, you have the big, open area - the entrance is, unusually, smack bang in the centre of the building (well, centre front - stop being so picky!). Immediately in front of you is the produce; the sandwiches, café, checkouts and cigarette kiosk are to the right. To your left are aisles. To your right and front are aisles. There are lots of aisles.

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The Basics - parking
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One word - nightmare. Although the car park is HUGE, it's clearly not big enough. Remember, Park Royal is industrial estate city, so there are a lot of workers popping in for shopping, sandwiches, drugs (prescription, I mean), to use the bank next door and what-have-you. So you may find yourself parking in Outer Mongolia.

The one GOOD thing, for those of you with orange (now blue) badges - the car park is rigorously patrolled - it's not that non-badge holders would get a ticket for parking in the disabled bays, you simply can't. There are men in natty fluorescent jackets ensuring you don't - telling you where you can park.

Having said all that, there will be a tadge more parking available when they tear down the old Asda building. But for now, it's a real pain.

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The Basics - the goods
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They sell all the usual stuff you'd expect these days from a supermarket. Food, of course. They have their own clothing line (George of Asda) - I've not bought any clothes from Asda. They sell electronics, kitchen gadgets, CDs, DVDs, videos, books - whatever happened to food stores?! Anyway, the entertainment stuff (CDs, DVDs etc) they stock are generally heavily discounted - they only stock those titles they CAN discount. C'mon, you want everything, go to HMV or Borders or whatever.

There is a jewellery shop, and a chemist, and a dry cleaners and a café - amongst other little mini-shops within Asda. You could, if you so wished, buy almost everything you ever wanted from Asda without ever having to visit a high street.

Regarding food, Asda sells the main national brands, as well as its own brand (segmented into sub-brands - the value, the Good-For-You etc etc). It sells fresh(ish) produce, and it has a meat counter, a cheese/deli counter, a pizza counter, and recently, a fish counter. There is also the section from which to get sandwiches, which is the one I use the most. They have a wine and booze section - which is fairly well stocked.

Whether or not Asda is 11% cheaper, I cannot say. But for common, store cupboard items, it is indeed a bit cheaper than Sainsbury's. Toiletries in particular can be a lot cheaper - for the underarm deodorant I reviewed a while ago, Sainsbury's were flogging the aerosol at £1.98, whilst Asda were doing it for £1.74.

Sandwiches are also generally cheaper - but since they rebuilt the shop, prices have, perhaps predictably, risen, although the quality of the baguettes have also risen slightly. Before the re-build, I could get a chicken mayonnaise baguette for £1.28 - now they are £1.98 - although they are bigger. They are OK, but this is no Italian deli. Edible is the word, rather than yummy. You can get a cheese sandwich for just under a pound. Sandwiches at Sainsbury's are around double that.

So...Asda is cheap, well stocked, and big. So why don't I shop there?

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The Problems
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Hmmm...I will grant some of the issues I will mention may be a function of the shop's location. Park Royal is hardly the most salubrious area of London (and if any of you live here...apologies and condolences). I will even grant that some of these issues may result from my own...ok, got to say it...snobbery. Intellectual snobbery. But there you go.

++PARKING ++ I've already mentioned the parking - I won't beat that dead horse anymore.

++QUALITY++ Obviously, the quality of the name-brand, packaged goods is identical to everywhere else. It's the fresh stuff that suffers. As I mentioned, the sandwiches are OK - but I've had better even from Sainsbury's. The produce often looks tired, and not as fresh as it might be. Their salads are bland (even the 'premium' brand - Asda's posh selection) and unexciting. Oh, sometimes they LOOK nice, but taste invariably lets you down.

++STAFF++ Now this is the real problem. Oh, they are friendly. And there are usually lots of them (they even have 'greeters' - that American invention. Someone standing at the entrance handing you a basket and saying 'good afternoon' or whatever to you'. But there are two problems here - lots of the staff aren't doing anything, just standing around, and many of the staff who are working seem to be...struggling. With thinking.

Now, I am in now way implying that supermarket staff are, as a rule, stupid. It's just this particular Asda seems to employ North West London's stupid people. Yes, there ARE competent people at Asda. But they are hard to find.

Let me give you an example of both syndromes. I used to smoke. I smoked quite a lot. So off I went to the cigarette kiosk at Asda. There was a long queue, since you get your newspapers, sweets, sandwiches and what-have-you at the kiosk. Behind the kiosk were three people. Two were just standing around looking blank. One was serving. Now, there are two tills. One was being used, one is not. It seemed that the person serving was a tad clueless - whether new, brainless or both, I cannot say. Let's just say that every item I bought seemed to cause a problem to this poor, hapless employee. I had a baguette and a small package of sushi (both of which had the prices marked on them and had barcodes), and asked for 100 cigarettes. First, we couldn't find the cigarettes. Then, the sushi wouldn't ring up. Blank looks all around - panic ensues. Finally, I give up on the sushi...you get the picture. The two employees who were not serving just stood around themselves looking blank.

++CROWDS++ OK, OK, I admit, this isn't really Asda's fault. It's to do with the area, and, indeed, the fact it's a supermarket - the only one in the immediate area. But it's always packed. And I've never heard so many bored, frustrated children, nor have I seen so many pairs of leggings, in my life. My snobbery emerges - please forgive me - it's temporary. Asda brings it out in me.

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So, Matty, what do you REALLY think
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Hello? Haven't you been listening? I go to Asda at lunchtime because there is no real alternative in Park Royal.

I agree that for many items it is cheaper (although alcohol doesn't seem any cheaper, for some reason). I agree that since the re-build, it's big. I agree that they've nearly always had what I wanted to buy.

But I'll still shop at my local Sainsbury's. I pay a little more, but remain sane. And, let's face it, therapy can be expensive.

Cheers!

Summary: Asda Park Royal. Big but very, very grim.