| Product: |
Booths Supermarkets |
| Date: |
19.06.01 (869 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Friendly and helpful staff, Well-designed store, Excellent car park
Disadvantages: Some aspects of the operation are amateur., Some of the ranges are limited
Do you remember gasometers? Are you old enough? Well, if you’re not they were where all the gas was stored on its way to the users, before we got North Sea gas. The gasometers were large, round cylinders, usually three, which collapsed into each other as the gas was used, and moved up again as more was pumped in. You could watch them move, if you wanted, but it was, in those days, the equivalent of watching paint dry, or grass grow. They were always on the edge of town, because they had, well, a bit of a niff about them. Ilkley had the gasometers on the north side of the town, and when they became redundant the site was an eyesore for years.
A few years ago the signs went up on the site “A new supermarket for E H Booth and Co”. “Who?” we all said. We knew about Tesco, the “big” supermarket and Kwik-Save, the little one in the railway station, but we’d never heard of Booth’s. “They’re from Preston” someone said. “PRESTON!” we said “but that’s Lancashire!” The Wars of the Roses are grinding to a halt, and in another few hundred years will be over, but for the moment there is still suspicion and the odd skirmish.
We all got our vouchers through the door when the supermarket opened, so we all went along. Lovely car park; bags of space, but you’re never actually very far from the door. The place looks quite good too. It has a rounded front, sort of like a gasometer, if you know what I mean. There’s a café. I’ve never been in, being the sort who prefers to get the shopping in and get home, but people who’ve used it speak highly of it. The local posties all seem to use it as a meeting place after their rounds are finished; you’ll see lines of red bikes chained up outside. It’s a lot larger than the usual supermarket café too, and the tables aren’t crammed together.
The first visit wasn
217;t what you’d call a success. It all seemed a bit amateur. For instance there was an aisle with a sign up saying “Eggs and Baking Ingredients”, but I couldn’t find the eggs. “I’m sorry”, I said to a young man “I must be going blind. I can’t spot the eggs”. “No” he said, “you won’t. We’ve put them somewhere else”. The jury retired, and we decided we’d stick with Tesco, but would probably go back when they reduced everything to close the place down. That was about five years ago. It’s still there.
I’d been finding Tesco increasingly infuriating. The car park is a nightmare, not least because it’s handily placed for the station and commuters tend to use it for purposes other than shopping trips. That isn’t Tesco’s fault, but the attitude of the staff is. They should have a sign up at the checkout saying “Forgotten Something? Then Run and Get It!” but it doesn’t read quite like that. I dashed in one day and said to a young man on the Fruit and Veg who looked in serious need of employment “Fresh Herbs?” “Nope” he said “doesn’t ring any bells.” I can’t repeat my view about the fish counter on a family site. I wrote to Tesco and told them why they were putting me off, and asked if they really wanted me to go to Booth’s. I got a “chocolate fireguard” letter in response, and there was no improvement – so I went to Booths.
The Fruit and Veg in Booth’s is one of its strong points. The staff are regulars, and get to know the customers. Our dogs eat a lot of fruit and veg, and I’ll often be told if there’s something in that they think I’ll find useful, or a bargain. There’s usually a good selection of organic produce, and it’s quite strong on local produce, well, Lancastrian produce,
but it’s none the worse for that! (Apologies to any Lancastrians who are taking offence. I don’t mean it really!) The restocking seems to be continuous and I can’t recollect ever going in there and thinking that the stuff looked picked-over. There’s plenty of space, too. Most fruit and veg departments seem to form a bottle neck as you go in, and you’re in a bad mood before you’re through it, but I’ve never had that feeling.
Space is something you’ll notice throughout the store. You’ve got room to turn a trolley at the end of aisles, and the aisles themselves are wide. I don’t doubt that they could have reduced the width of the aisles and increased the range of stock they carry, but they’ve done it the nice way. There are no bright lights – in fact it’s all rather subdued, and certainly no music. It’s a comfortable place to be.
There isn’t a fresh fish counter, but the pre-packed range is good and I’ve been very satisfied with it. I buy my meat and bacon from an independent butcher because he’s the best there is, but friends who’ve bought from Booth’s say that it’s all good value. One of the brilliant things about the store is the cheese and deli counter, and it’s brilliant because of Andrew. Andrew used to have a specialist cheese shop in the centre of Ilkley, but now works for Booth’s. He doesn’t have the same range of cheeses that he had in his own shop, but he still has the knowledge. He knows what you’re going to like – or not like. He’s very helpful, but then all the staff are helpful.
If you look round any supermarket you see quite a few women with a frozen chicken welded to their armpit, and clutching six assorted items to their breasts. They’re looking round distractedly for the male – who has taken the trolley because he thinks he’d like a moto
ring magazine. In Booth’s the staff will ask if you’d like a trolley or a basket. If you can’t find something, they will find it for you – willingly. If it isn’t on the shelves they go and get it – quickly, and then apologise for having kept you waiting. I’ve never encountered a surly checkout operator – they’re friendly, and they remember you and most importantly I’ve never had more than one person in front of me in the queue.
So far as the range of goods on offer is concerned there are some strange anomalies. There is a wonderful range of “better” biscuits (you know, the ones that look homemade) but the budget range is quite narrow. The Tea and Coffee aisle is paradise, extending to such things as cafetierres – I picked up a splendid large cafetierre a few weeks ago for £9.99, but you’ll be lucky if you find the large size of washing powder tablets that you were looking for. There’s an extensive range of yogurts, but very few fruit juices. I’m sure there’s a reason for it, but sometimes I wonder.
My final stop is always the Wine Department, where I must confess that I’m better known than I ought to be! If I’d written this opinion a month ago, I would have raved about it, but now I have a couple of reservations. The range of wine on offer is superb – perhaps not as extensive as Tesco’s, but not far short. It’s strong in my particular favourites, the Australians, and New Zealands, and the staff are reasonably knowledgeable. If you buy six bottles of wines that are not otherwise on special offer, you get a 5% discount. If you spend £150 you get a larger discount, but this isn’t done automatically at the till. You have to go the man in charge, and he gives you a docket to take to the checkout. Previously I’d only thought this to be slightly annoying, but there is another side to it. The manage
r of the department had been raving to my husband about an Australian wine that they’d got in, although they hadn’t got it on show. It was Penfold Grange, Australia’s premier red wine. The husband had a birthday coming up and at the same time a little sign went up “20% off all Penfold Reds”. It would still be a wild extravagance, but I knew he’d be over the moon, so I waited, and made a special trip in on my own. I told the manager what I wanted, and then asked for the discount. “Oh, no” he said “we couldn’t possibly give it on this wine”. “But” I said “it’s Penfold, and it’s red, therefore you are offering it at 20% discount”. “No” he said “we’ve had a letter from Head Office to say that we’re on no account to give the 20% discount on this wine”. I argued, but he wouldn’t be budged, and I didn’t buy – as a matter of principle. A couple of weeks later we went in and decided to buy half a dozen bottles of a wine that we like, and took six of the eight bottles that were on the shelf. A voice came from behind us “If you want a lot of one particular wine could you let us know in advance” – and he reeled off the phone number. “ If you take all those from the shelves we’ll have a gap all weekend”. Husband is now moving the remaining two bottles forward and trying to, well, spread them out, and make them look more. I’m biting my tongue and NOT saying that I thought that taking bottles from the shelves was what they would want customers to do.
It was back to that feeling that it was a bit amateur again. I’m sure it will change, but whether we’re talking gasometers or Wars of the Roses timescale I’m not certain. I’ll stick with it, though. I went into Tesco this morning – well, the car park is handily placed for the dentist (go
t a crown from dooyoo last week, had a chocolate to celebrate, and lost a crown!) I fought my way round, and it was no cheaper than Booth’s. I mentally apologised for being unfaithful as I drove past the old gasometer site!.
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