You can tell you’re in central London from the packs of chorizo Iberico, the perimeter chiller devoted to sauces and ingredients for pasta and pizza, as well as the Italian deli-style arrangement of the dry ambient goods next to this.
And the place is full to bursting on the first day of trading as hungry curiosity seekers snap up a lunchtime snack and maybe something for the evening.
Welcome to Little Waitrose on Tottenham Court Road, which opened on Thursday last week and follows the high-profile launch of the format in London’s upscale Brompton Road. This branch looks to be trading from an altogether busier location and really does live up to the promise of the name above the door. A little like Asda with its recently unveiled high street format, this looks and feels a lot like a standard Waitrose, but smaller. The difference is in the tone of voice with phrases such as ‘Get your greens’, ‘From the cheese board’ and ‘Meals made easy for you’, strategically placed above the relevant category.
Shopping this space is actually something of a voyage of discovery as the layout is not fresh fruit and veg followed by straight aisles, but involves more of a wander. This is not a problem, however, and the arrangement of category clusters has appeal. Checking out proved simple – six (manned) tills and six self-serve terminals – and the replenishment operation was taking place without inconvenience to shoppers, despite being busy. There is nothing remarkable about this store, but it is certainly a pleasure to visit and will find favour among the Tottenham Court Road lunchtime crowd.
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