the ease of all night tesco (Tesco)

Member Name: kris26uk

Product:	Tesco
Date:	19/06/02 (1295 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great opening hours!!

Disadvantages: shelves sometimes need restocking

I'm lucky enough to live near a large Tesco Extra store. The store in Pitsea is huge and was the biggest in the country but I'm not sure if it still is. Tesco Extra stores bring supermarket shopping to a new level, and can often make for an interesting trip out (or am I just sad to think that!)

~~~ Open 24 Hours ~~~
Yes the Extra store is open 24 hours as are some other Tesco stores. The only exception to the 24 hour opening is Saturday/Sunday, when because of the Sunday trading laws they are not allowed to open past certain times. How good is 24 hour shopping? Well that’s a strange question really, I'm not sure that many people could answer it. I think from the stores point of view its not that expensive really as they always have people filling shelves overnight, so they just need to put a few extra staff on for tills. I've been there once at 2am, I was on my way home from work and had to pop in for some food, I was completely out so this was emergency shopping. I noticed that there were a fair few people wandering around but not with trolleys, they all had hand baskets with one or two items in. It seems that late night shopping is really for the people who have run out of milk and bread.

~~~ Post Office ~~~
This store contains a full sized Post Office, which is unbelievably handy. This Post Office is open until 10pm weekdays and between 10am and 4pm on Sunday. Now the Post Office in town doesn't offer anything like those opening hours, and you need to pay to park in town if you need to use it. The Post Office at Tesco is just like a real one in terms of queues, unless you go at the right time. Generally after about 8pm the queues are at a minimum, of course they have fewer counters open but you still get quick service.

~~~ Dump Your Children! ~~~
I don't mean to sound cruel here, but I hate children running round the supermarket like it’s a playground, here you get a little less of t
hat. There is a "crèche/play area" provided. For a small fee (don't ask me how much, I don't have children so I've not looked!) you can leave your kids in the supervised play area. This has a big ball pond and lots of those big soft cubes and stuff, its very like the play areas you find in some pubs. The only problem seems to be getting the kids to leave when you have finished shopping.

~~~ Pharmacy ~~~
Now the pharmacy in Tesco is the best idea ever. My local chemist closes long before the doctors surgery does, and of course doesn't open on Sunday. People no longer have to hunt around to find which chemist opens for a few hours on Sunday morning, to fill that emergency prescription. Tesco's is open the same hours as the store on a Sunday. I don't think its open 24 hours when the store is, but I could be wrong about that. To be honest I've never checked the opening hours, as its always been open when I needed it. Unfortunately it does get very busy at times, so you could be in for a long wait which is no problem if you need some shopping.

~~~ Photos ~~~
This Tesco has a photo processing area. You can get a 1 hour service here which is good as you generally spend an hour doing your shopping. The photo area is right near the front door of the store, perfectly place for you to leave your film as you enter. I have had pictures processed here and the service was excellent, I didn't use the 1 hour as they were disposable cameras which have to be sent off. The pictures I got back were clear and I thought the price was very good too especially as I chose a large print size.

~~~ Electrical/Homeware ~~~
The Extra store contains a large electrical department which sells a good range of electric appliances. There is also a large home ware section which contains items for the bathroom, soft furnishings and a good sized cookware section. There are often great price reductions to be found in
this area.

~~~ Toys/Games ~~~
There is a nice section for children's toys and board games for all ages. Again these are reasonably priced and there are often bargain markdowns to be had. The range of board games is excellent and every Christmas I buy a new game from here and they are often on special offer.

~~~ Clothing ~~~
This store has a good range of clothing on offer. There is a huge section for babies/children and a large section of men's and women's clothes. There are again often great bargains to be found, I have bought many baby clothes for my friends in here when they have been on buy one get one free offers. The clothes are fashionable, good quality and reasonably priced.

~~~ Bargains ~~~
As you may be aware Tesco stores often get items in at bargain prices. There is always a big selection of such items in the Extra stores. As you come in the main entrance there is a large section which contains seasonal bargains. Currently there are garden tools, diy power tools, barbeques and a whole load of children's toys. This section is always worth a browse but the impulse buys can really bump up your bill!

Further into the store you find the next bargain section. This section is usually packed with electrical goods and in the summer garden furniture. I have made a few impulse purchases from here. Three years ago I bought a 28" Nicam television with teletext for £299, they now often get these in even cheaper than that. I have also bought a video recorder and a hi-fi from here and last year I got a computer. The computer was a really great buy as elsewhere I would have paid about £400 more for a similar specification.

~~~ Groceries ~~~
Being a larger store they do stock a bigger range of groceries than a normal Tesco. All of the different sections seem huge on your first visit and it does take a while to get round. The prices are the same as any other Tesco but its worth shopp
ing here for the variety.

The wines & spirits section is especially good. Oh they also regularly have wines on a tasting booth which makes a nice treat at the end of your shopping!

My tip for grocery shopping is never go at about 8pm on a Friday night. I've made this mistake twice now and found the shelves are virtually empty. There are a lot of staff filling the shelves ready for Saturday but when you ask them to go and look for a missing item "out back" they can never find it. Both times I shopped at this time I found myself having to visit another supermarket on Saturday as I still needed half of my shopping.

~~~ Café ~~~
Well the restaurant in this store is more of a café. There is a large selection of hot and cold food, including pizzas, meals, salads and sandwiches which you can purchase to eat in the café. When you buy a drink (hot or cold) you are given only an empty cup which you fill yourself in the seating area. There are unlimited refills on all of these drinks with plenty of tea and coffee to choose from and a soft drinks machine containing about 5 different drinks. Whilst you are eating you can put your trolley in a free trolley locker next to the seating area. One tip though, the cakes on the food counter are more expensive than those in the bakery which is close by, get a cake from the bakery and pay for it with your food and drink and you save a little money, they mark the container with a PAID sticker for you.

~~~ Those Little Extras ~~~
There are a couple of little extras in this store which help enhance your shopping experience. Inside the store there are three "oasis" points. Each of these has a water cooler and you can help yourself to a drink whilst you shop. The best (and funniest the first time you see it!) extra is the help you get when you've forgotten an item. We've all done it haven't we, stood at the checkout as your shopping was going through and reme
mbered that crucial item of shopping that we have forgotten. Often in the supermarket you will go without rather than wait for an assistant to go and get this item, you won't go without here. Just tell the cashier and she will ring the bell for someone to come and help. The assistant who goes to get your missing item is always back very quickly, even though it’s a large store and the item may be a long distance away. How do they get back so quickly? They are on roller-skates! Yes in this store there are always a couple of trained assistants on roller-skates to help get those crucial missing items. One of them is a fairly old guy too!

~~~ The Bottom Line ~~~
The Extra store is a great shopping experience. I used to do all my shopping here but those impulse buys were getting out of hand so now I only visit once a month. The range is fantastic here and its well worth a visit for a different Tesco experience.

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