Tonight, for the first time, I set foot inside the giant Tesco on Park Road in Toxteth.
I was there to help my mum with the Christmas food shopping. She had picked up too much for one trolley and called me to request an extra pair of hands.
“I’m by the fruit & veg section,” she advised, “but I’ll come to the main entrance and meet you.”
“No need,” I jauntily assured her, “I’ll find you no problem.”
I was on familiar territory, I thought. I use the Tesco Superstore in Liverpool city centre all the time. It’s just around the corner from work and is therefore great to dash into on my lunch hour to pick up items. Now I was about to set foot in a Tesco Extra, but surely the difference can’t be that great… right?
My breezy confidence quickly evaporated when I walked into the building.
It was massive, and seemed to possess a TARDIS-like “bigger on the inside” quality.
I walked around the harshly lit shop for a good few minutes. I dodged harrassed-looking mothers with screaming kids, lonely twentysomethings picking up frozen meals for one and shifty-looking scallies trying their best to evade the security guards. There were signs screaming “3 for 2” and “Special Offer”. What there wasn’t any sign of was the fruit and veg aisle. I was lost. Lost in a supermarket.
I’m lucky mother’s sense of direction is better than mine (at least when it comes to groceries) otherwise I would probably still be there now, bewildered and confused in the confectionery aisle.
I’m not sure about Tesco and their ongoing plans for world domination, but their Park Road store is very nice. They have an entire aisle just for different types of frozen chips!