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

My sudden aversion to Tesco reminds me of my disgust a few years ago — long before Jeremy Paxman joined the fray with his rant about pants — that Marks & Spencer had tried to make itself fashionable, at the expense of the usual, frumpy clothes which I went there to buy. Rather than just walking out I should of course have put my disgust to work by borrowing a million pounds and shorting the shares, which rapidly sank. The lesson is that it is easy to think you are alone in your sudden changes in feelings for a shop, but the chances are that if you are feeling something, then others are too.

Though I wouldn’t expect this to impress Frank Luntz, the US pollster employed by Newsnight, I decided to set up a makeshift focus group by emailing a dozen friends in Cambridge, one of England’s premier Tesco towns, to see if anyone shared my feelings. I can’t say that everyone in my admittedly narrow, middle-class sample was on a Tesco boycott, but one remarkable finding did emerge: women aren’t going to Tesco any more. They are sending their husbands out to shop, and the husbands go to Tesco only because it is the nearest store. To pick out a couple of typical responses: ‘I can’t stand the place — I send Simon on his bike’; ‘I go willingly, but Sophie thinks it’s like the American mall from a zombie movie.’

I don’t expect that my observations will be taken seriously on the brokers’ desks, but I’m convinced enough that I would sell every Tesco share I owned — if only I owned some. When the last few Tesco superstores are sold off to a chain of cheap and cheerful bowling alleys around the year 2030, just remember that you read about the decline of Tesco here first.

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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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