Tesco? Boring? Wrong adjective

In a week in which Tesco will provide a few clues about what it is doing to pep up its UK operation (among other things), the national newspapers continue to dwell on the retailer’s perceived shortcomings. Apart from the fact that the grocer may have a few too many hypermarkets and should focus more on its in-town portfolio, the major accusation is that the stores are ‘boring’ or ‘unloved’.

Talk to a design consultant about food retail interiors that avoid this and a number of wholly predictable words are trotted out: ‘fresh’, ‘warm’, ‘inclusive’, ‘local’ and ‘welcoming’, will almost certainly be among them, or at least one or two of these. And of course, a good food retail interior should be all of these and a fair few more besides. But if all of this is in place, does it mean that the total experience is in any way interesting?

In truth, shopping a UK supermarket with your car parked outside remains a Great British non-experience, with very few exceptions. This is the ultimate distress purchase – undertaken because it is necessary. It’s certainly the case that some food retail environments are less boring than others – but the best that can really be hoped for is that you get what you need quickly and without undue stress.

There are exceptions, Whole Foods in the US or maybe Albert Heijn in the Netherlands succeed in making food look good in environments that are appealing. You may linger in interiors of this kind as you choose between a galia and a canteloupe, but this is about novelty and it’s worth asking whether you would dwell quite as long if this were your regular destination food shop.

Possibly not – but the real objection in all of this is the sense of being processed. At many Tesco stores, it is not the boredom that matters (this can be almost a given), it’s the sense that shoppers are nothing more than the final piece in a conveyor belt that starts with food coming in at one end of the store and ends as the shopper emerges at the other. And this perhaps is what Tesco might do well to consider. Nobody likes being taken for granted, but this is the response to many Tesco interiors. In fairness, things are in hand to improve matters – the small Hertford store is much better and is definitely ‘warmer’ and more ‘welcoming’, but it will be interesting to hear how quickly things will change overall.