Comment: Tesco UK boss Chris Bush on Watford Extra - 'The age of the cookie-cutter supermarket is over'

You may have heard Philip [Clarke] talk about how the role of Tesco’s stores, especially our larger stores, is going to be different in the digital age. The internet has changed what customers are looking for from the stores they visit. Now that it’s easy for them to get anything they need delivered to their door, it’s essential that our larger stores are exciting, relevant and convenient destinations.

Not just places to shop, but places to spend time with family and friends and enjoy a coffee or meal. This week we’ve put this into practice with the launch of our newly revamped Tesco Extra in Watford. It’s one of our largest stores and has an array of exciting new features, many of which are appearing in a Tesco store for the first time. As you can imagine, over the years I’ve spent a lot of time in many different stores and I think Watford has undergone one of the biggest transformations I’ve ever seen. The team have worked incredibly hard to create an exciting destination that our customers want to spend time in.

The whole store is built around our Food First philosophy, and all through the store we’ve looked at how we can bring excitement and theatre into the weekly shop. The fresh fruit and veg area and fresh food counters, which has a real food hall feel to it, are particular favourites of mine.  We also have the first branch of Giraffe in one of our stores since we acquired the business in March, along with artisan coffee from Harris & Hoole, cakes and pastries from London’s brilliant Euphorium Bakery and a brand new Food to Go concession. 

But it’s not just about the food offer. Watford is also the first time that we’ve showcased our new approach to general merchandise. As we said in April, we’re building our new offer around categories which are most closely related to the weekly food shop - homeware, stationery, toys and games, party goods, clothing, household goods and health and beauty - and pulling back from categories like consumer electronics.

The general merchandise area has more of a department store look and feel, with products presented very differently so that customers can enjoy more of a leisurely shopping experience.  This is a major transformation in our approach, and one that is moving us towards a sustainable, profitable and compelling range of general merchandise, in categories that are much less affected by the internet.  

Clothing continues to be a strong performer for us and we’ve worked hard to improve our offer. At Watford you can see much better ranges, improved quality and a stronger store environment. So when customers visit our F&F fashion concession, they don’t feel like they’re in a supermarket, but in a leading high street fashion retailer – which ultimately is what F&F should be compared against. Our collections are looking great and getting rave reviews from the fashion press – Watford will create the right environment to showcase them in.

Services such as a Nail Bar, Pharmacy and Opticians will play a part too, and because we want our store to be at the very heart of the community, the store will have a community room which local groups can book and use free of charge. It’s all part of rethinking the use of our physical space and our role to play a part in the areas where we operate. 

Not all our Extra stores will have all the features we’re introducing in Watford, and there will be other exciting new initiatives which we will showcase elsewhere. That’s important, because what we’re saying is that every store is different, and serves a different local community with different tastes and needs. The age of the cookie-cutter supermarket is over.

And Watford is only one store - I’m sure there are refinements that we’ll need to make. But I’m really excited by what we’ve created in Watford, and the early signs are that our customers are too. It points the way to the future of the store – it’s Tesco for the digital age. 

Chris Bush is UK managing director for Tesco. This article originally appeared on Tesco’s Talking Shop blog