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Sunday 22 November 2009

Tesco, I hate you — and you need to know why

22 March 2008

Ross Clark says the decline and fall of retail empires begins when customer sentiment suddenly turns negative

So why, then, do I still believe I have detected a ‘sell’ signal which could just possibly mark the high noon of the Tesco empire before its long, slow, miserable decline? Admittedly, it’s a bit of a personal ‘sell’ signal: I have suddenly developed a deep and irrational loathing for Tesco. Not only will I not set foot in the place, I wouldn’t care if the nearest alternative supermarket was in Penzance: I would still rather drive there than go to Tesco.

This matters because I am far from a natural Tesco-hater. I have happily shopped there for many years, and was even once a Clubcard-holder. I have spent much of the past decade defending the company in the public prints against anti-globalisers, militant farmers, eco-warriors and what have you. But still I won’t go there. In fact there is virtually nothing the wretched store could do to get me through its doors again.

Frankly, I don’t suppose this will cause much of a quake in Tesco’s boardroom. I suspect they will figure they can just about do without the £100 or so my wife and I spend on groceries every week. But that isn’t the point. The point is that this is how retail empires collapse: with silent, barely detectable changes in sentiment among their customers. My loathing of Tesco is all the more poignant because there is no obvious reason for it. I haven’t found an earwig in a double-chocolate muffin; I haven’t been clamped in one of its car parks. I haven’t even been short-changed: in fact, on what turned out to be one of my final visits I was long-changed, and to my regret ever since I gave the money back.

No, my aversion is much more subtle than that. Suddenly I can’t stand that ghastly blue and red logo, which reminds me of the Co-op in the 1970s. Like the Daily Mail, I hate the way every tree for half a mile around any Tesco store is strewn with fragments of its plastic bags. I hate the smell of its in-store bakery. I can’t stand its speckled orange flooring, and the way all its stores now have to be cheap imitations of Norman Foster’s terminal at Stansted airport. Funnily enough, none of these things bothered me at all until about six months ago, when I decamped to Waitrose — or Sainsbury when it happens to be handier.

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peter z

March 19th, 2008 9:19pm Report this comment

In your pseudo anti-Walmart, eco-fascist,leftist tirade you forgot to say why exactly you don't like Tesco.

M Carroll

March 23rd, 2008 11:25am Report this comment

Just wait til you get the bill from Waitrose? youll be back!!!

C Powell

March 23rd, 2008 8:04pm Report this comment

Forget Waitrose: "quality food, stupidly priced" should be its motto. Go to Morrisons: good value and no pretensions.

Max Kaye

March 23rd, 2008 8:25pm Report this comment

Why are you celebrating your irrationalism?

DJT

March 24th, 2008 9:43am Report this comment

My local tescos are frequently have shelves that are half empty and generally have huge queues snaking back into the aisles while tills remain unmanned (and 17 year olds in ill-fitting tesco uniforms stand around and chat loudly about their friday night exploits). There is often a mysterious lack of baskets. Worst of all they are dirty. There is a layer a grime under the produce that shows that the chiller cabinets haven't been washed in months. In short the whole experience is like shopping at Sainsbury's in the mid 1990s (except for the dirt, which to S's credit they didn't have so much of). Yes, Sainsbury's in the 1990s when it was the biggest, most popular supermarket...and then people got tired of the unstocked shelves, arbitary removal of products, store rearrangements etc etc and deserted en masses (mostly to Tescos)... Sometimes history repeats itself and if Tescos doesn't wake up and get the basics right they will follow S's (now recovering I believe). The good news is that even with its apparently monolithic status, it seems that consumer choice will still either force it to raise its game or allow others to steal its market share.

David Kay

March 24th, 2008 4:04pm Report this comment

Ross - you neglect to realise that all you are doing is expressing choice. Don't worry about Tesco ( or abuse them) because they will sort themselves out - or not. That's capitalism - and it works ( unless you are a banker!) Now let's read something interesting from you

Fivish

March 25th, 2008 1:01pm Report this comment

Tesco is a capitalist success story that the Lefties cant bear to recognise!

louisa michenstin

October 15th, 2008 5:20pm Report this comment

me + my friends absolutley HATE tesco's! we think all tesco's should be banned. they are disturbing and ruining the lovely little neighbourhoods we once knew. please do something about this!!! >:(

lisabeth rosemen

October 15th, 2008 5:21pm Report this comment

i am sitting in customer services at school and everybody sitting in this room hate tescos! do something now!!!:@:@:@

lisabeth rosemen

October 15th, 2008 5:22pm Report this comment

i am sitting in customer services at school and everybody sitting in this room hate tescos! do something now!!!:@:@:@

Mr Reasonable

November 7th, 2008 7:11pm Report this comment

The problem with Tesco is they just don't know when to stop. In New Barnet they have a Tesco express already but theyhave just gone to planning enquiry on a second Express 600 metres away. In addition they are about to submit a planning application for a giant tesco superstore across the road. Three Tescos in 600 metres is just ridiculous but they don't seem to care about the local community amenities they are going to destroy including the post office NHS Dentist and 100 year old pub. They are too big and are abusing their power.

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