Sainsbury’s

staff are rude rude rude!

Not a massively exciting review, but just to say that this is a fairly handy Sainsbury’s. Location wise it’s perfect to grab something in town, with the main bus routes right near by, and even a city cab taxi rank within two seconds from the door. The self serve system is the main way to purchase your goods, being as there are only a handful of assistant-​managed check outs, but it’s usually managed under a tight régime of staff assembling customers to the next free self-​serve point.
Pretty much most of everything is available — I’ve not been stuck for what I needed, as far as I can remember. Staff are usually really friendly and it’s worth mentioning that there’s a cash point at the lower entrance if you’re in need near by. Of course, there’s the market within walking distance if you wish to save yourself a few pennies, but the opening times here are such that when the market is closed it’s the next best option.

I know what you’re thinking — why review a supermarket that is exactly like all the other Sainsbury’s all over the country and very similar to other supermarkets in Leeds town centre. Well I’ll tell you why as it is for one main reason. It is the only supermarket I have found in town that has a ‘free from’ section. Admittedly, it is small, situated on the end of an aisle but if you can find what you want it is cheaper than the health food shops cashing in on the gluten and dairy intolerant. And I have done my own mini-​market research on this! It sells gluten free oats, gluten free flour, pretty much everything free vegetable stock, biscuits, cakes and chocolate covered rice cakes (dairy free, obviously). Being intolerant to everything is such a pain that this little section of Sainsbury’s in the middle of town is a haven!

I was actually really giddy when Sainsbury’s appeared smack bang in the centre. I’m not really a supermarket snob, but sometimes, Sainsbury’s just produces stuff that really hits the spot and tastes just lovely. It’s a rarity when you prefer the home brand stuff to the actual branded products. And for me the Sainsbury’s brand seems to do this rather nicely, especially the Taste the Difference range… can anyone say quad chocolate cookies? yum!
The central location makes it nice and easy for those folk out there who don’t and can’t drive to access all their groceries and get on to public transport route home, without too much hassle.
Technically it’s a supermarket, but to me it’s more the size of a large Sainsbury’s Local. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of good olé Sainsbury’s merch going on in there. There’s even a coffee baked pastries section, along with the cigarette and newspaper kiosk, fresh meats and breads/​bakery, crisps, chocolate, food in jars aisles too. But my new favourite novelty has to be the self serving tills. They still excite me. But aside from being super fun, they’re incredibly practical, as the queues often get quite large in here, but they don’t last too long due to the many self checkouts.
The only thing I can find fault with this Sainsbury’s is that the staff always seem harrassed, and maybe they are, but suck it up dudes, put a smile on your face, they always look shocked or put out when you ask them where something is, and there’s a look of ‘how am I supposed to know’ about their chops. Aside from that little blip, it’s grand.

This brand new mini Sainsburys is actually pretty good. It helps that it’s all squeaky clean and shiny but I found the staff very helpful and there were loads of the self scan terminals (miles more than in Morrison’s in the Merrion Centre) so paying for your shopping was a doddle. The raneg is pretty good — if you have a large family shop to do you might struggle to find everything but for a city centre supermarket it’s excellent. And it isn’t Tesco which is a good thing (I’m anti those guys!)