Forum Topic

Tesco's New Broadway Centre Bakery

What do people think of it?It's been franchised out, and even the basic bread rolls are now nearly double the price of the old Tesco bakery, 70p instead of 40p!The bread's very good, but that's outrageous, and they don't do the basic things I used to buy there like apple turnovers and eccles cakes, which were my favourite!:-(

Dave Hawley ● 4265d44 Comments

Well earlier today I was told that the Eccles cakes in the Ealing Tesco bakery had mysteriously fallen in price today from £2.50 to £1.80 overnight!Perhaps my little rant yesterday did have some effect.As they had none left when I eventually looked this evening, obviously it worked!

Dave Hawley ● 4217d

Crikey!That's even more expensive than the organic bread and cake stall on the West Ealing farmer's market (and they're not worth the price asked for them either)!

Tony Colliver ● 4217d

I've just Tesco have suspended a few more top executives today - Tescpos are going thru a sticky time at the mo.We tend to shop at M&S and Waitrose and selected independent shops in West Ealing.

Gerry Tan ● 4218d

I gave up on the shopping centre Tesco two to three years ago. It keeps moving its products around so that I can never find what I need. The product range in Ealing is incomplete and varies from one week to another. Pricing displayed is not always right. If  there is a mistake on the pricing or on an offer you have to go to the so-called Customer (dis)Service desk to fix  it once you have gone through the cashier. There a queue guarantees you have to wait. The entrance/exit on one side of the store is now closed so that you have no convenient exit to The Grove area (no doubt to save on costs). Bad place. Bad run. Overpriced.

Neil F. Weber ● 4218d

This could explain why Tesco's is in trouble. It is simple of course if you offer higher value products to nmore affluent customers you have a potentialy higher margin. However, there are only so many of these customers to go around and so if you "cherry pick" your customers and every one else does the same you go bust.

Neil F. Weber ● 4218d

I just went to the Tesco bakery today and was delighted to see Eccles cakes on offer for the first time, one of my favourites.Well, I was delighted until I saw the price - £2.50 EACH!You used to be able to get two for a pound from the old bakery.I bought one just to try it, but it had better be the best Eccles cake in the world for that price, and it isn't even particularly big.I did spend a long time complaining to the bakery staff who were there, and just got the usual "we don't set the prices" line, and one of them said they couldn't be compared with the old bakery as they are really into the art of baking not just mass-producing heated up pre-made items.All well and good, and some of their fancier offerings might justify a high price tag, but an Eccles cake?!

Dave Hawley ● 4218d

Breaking news this morning re Tesco's trading figures.  They're not having a good time at Tescos. It appears that profit situation seems to be short by millions of £s. $ senior executives have been suspended and an enquiry set up. Sad really.

Gerry Tan ● 4240d

My wife has defected to Sainsbury's for bread.

Graham Weeks ● 4246d

The date's off!  :-)

Nigel Brooks ● 4249d

'that's asparagus (or the morning after asparagus).'Morning after? It takes about half an hour in me.

Susan Kelly ● 4249d

Pleased to find today that there is now a small selection of 40p rolls in the Tesco bakery, I think there has been words!Also, it looks as if the Morrisons in the old Arcadia Centre is still going ahead. There is a licensing notice now in the window for Morrisons dated only a week or so ago.

Dave Hawley ● 4249d

Nothing in the newsletter about Morrisons abandoning their plans for Ealing Broadway, will check the Gazette tomorrow.I would have thought it would be mentioned as if true it will leave a major hole in the new development.Mind you I remember a similar dispute (over parking) almost scuppering the Tesco opening in the Broadway Centre years ago, after Morrisons pulled out of there, which left us without a supermarket in the Centre for months.That was resolved, so I hope this will be too if there really is a problem.

Dave Hawley ● 4258d

I believe that both celery and asparagus are good for the system and nourishing - I'm partial the both, indeed I'm keen on all vegetables.

Gerry Tan ● 4258d

Raw celery is one of the few things I cannot eat.Just the smell of it is enough to put me off!

Dave Hawley ● 4258d

No, that's asparagus (or the morning after asparagus).

Nigel Brooks ● 4258d

Celery is the devil's own vegetable!

Susan Kelly ● 4258d

Yes Nigel, I'll go with your selection too; but I do love slightly salted Normandy butter!

Gerry Tan ● 4258d

No butter needed on good fresh bread, just a good dry Cheddar (none of the plastic wrapped rubbish) an Egremont Russet and a glass of  Black Dragon cider (or a decent cup of 'builders').

Nigel Brooks ● 4259d

I love a simple meal of good crusty bread with slightly salted butter, a tangy cheese, a few sticks of celery and a cup of tea - nothing better imo.

Gerry Tan ● 4259d

The bread looked good when I went in this week. Didn't buy any as I had plenty at home, otherwise I would have been very tempted by the split rolls. Lovely smell of baking as you come in the door too.

Susan Kelly ● 4259d

Not surprised that Lidl producce and sell reasonable bread - the Germans have a tradition of knowing good bread.  Lidl(formerly Schwarz Trehund AG) have nearly 10,000 stores in 28 countries(mainly Germany).  Must try Lidl in West Ealing.

Gerry Tan ● 4259d

I went to West Ealing today. I haven't been for years. I popped into the new Lidl to check it out. Nice selection of bread. I bought some rolls and they were delicious

David P Archer ● 4259d

In what used to be the Arcadia Centre on the Broadway.

Dave Hawley ● 4260d

I hope that's not true, first I've heard of it!I assumed the signs were no longer there simply because the hoardings that they were posted on had been removed.

Dave Hawley ● 4260d

"...Morrisons opening over the road..."Over which road please?  I other words, where?

Gerry Tan ● 4260d

I heard that Morrisons will no longer opening in the Broadway. If you look all the signage, it has been removed.I was told (not sure how factually correct it is) that the owner of that centre wanted Morrisons to be accountable for the maintenance of all the site - they disagreed and have pulled out.

Nadia Shaw ● 4260d

The bakery at Morrisons in Acton is very good

David P Archer ● 4260d

I think they said it would be open by Christmas, but not much before, which seemed a long time to me, but looking now the hoardings have come down and seeing how much work there is obviously still to do on the interior of the "new" building, that does seem likely! They seemed to have been concentrating (quite rightly) on getting the McDonalds and TK Maxx into a presentable shape before seriously starting on the Morrisons area.

Dave Hawley ● 4260d

You say Morrison's are opening over the road. Is there any sign of this actually happening, because they've had that 'coming soon' sign up for months?

Susan Kelly ● 4260d

I think this bakery is commercial suicide. They`ve devoted so much uneccesary floor space to it, and with Morrisons opening over the road its a shot in the foot!

Tom Clifford ● 4260d

Tesco's bread is rather ordinary imo. A really good bread shop is very rare - the nearest to a good'ish bread shop in Ealing is Parker's in Northfield Ave imo.

Gerry Tan ● 4261d

Lol Nigel that reminds me of the time I wanted a piece of pork rolled in the osterley store, and ended up giving the staff a lesson in rolling meat

Tracey Mehdizadeh ● 4264d

Got it in one!The 'in store' bakeries mainly simply take bulk deliveries of pre-measured chilled dough and 'program' the ovens to suit. Proper bakers they are not.Don't even get me started on Tesco's supposed butchers and fishmongers who only know the difference between a scallop and a shark because of the bloody barcode one vacuum pack!

Nigel Brooks ● 4264d

The fact that Parkers in Northfields Avenue still has queues just like in the 60s and 70s says it all.Want good bread? Go to a proper bakers.

Anthony Waller ● 4264d

I've been buying my crusty rolls from the polish deli on northfields near the cheese shop, twice the size and 3 for a pound.

Tracey Mehdizadeh ● 4265d

By comparison. Sainsbury's in store bakery crusty rolls are 65p - FOR SIX!Just compared my 'big shop' for tomorrow and Waitrose are £9.50 cheaper on a £96 basket of goods then Tesco - says it all.

Nigel Brooks ● 4265d

Not only did the rolls used to be 40p, but you could get 4 for a pound. If almost trebling the price of a basic foodstuff is Tesco's idea of competing with Lidl on price, then they have got seriously confused.

Susan Kelly ● 4265d

I 'voted with my feet' from Tesco's quite some time ago.Higher prices coupled with (very) poor service do nothing to attract me.

Nigel Brooks ● 4265d

Thanks, that's very interesting Brian.It doesn't surprise me to hear that they are actually owned by Tesco, although there is no obvious mention of that on their website, perhaps not surprisingly!I suppose it's an attempt to go "up-market" with their fresh bread and pastries as far as Tesco are concerned, as is giving the stores a makeover to make them look a bit less 1980s.Nearly doubling the prices is a bit counter-productive I would have thought though!

Dave Hawley ● 4265d

Tesco instigated the Euphorium concept and trialled it in  one or two stores.  It is not franchised, they own it. They have built new factories to produce their products and in the process, made many skilled bakers in their supermarkets redundant.  This is a turnaround from the 70's, when they decided to create 'in-store bakeries' in the hope that they could out-do the few remaining small bakers on the high street.They call it 'artisan bakery'.  The fashionable 'Artisan' means hand made by skilled workmen.  Well, well, just like many of the small bakeries they shut down before.  Only now there is less opposition and they think they can charge what they like or what they can get by pretending to be 'artisans'.  You will have to judge for yourself whether this new concept is value for money compared to the quality and service your local small businesses give.

Brian Davis ● 4265d

I was looking forward to the new bakery at the Hoover building. What a disappointment. Not much choice and higher prices. Morrisons are much better.  Same happened when Cafe Nero took over the cafe. No wonder Tesco is struggling to keep their customers

David P Archer ● 4265d

Changed at the Hoover building also, looks pretty but costs more.

Fred Hunt ● 4265d

Not impressed.  Certainly overpriced and they have stopped selling the cheese twists (my favourite).

Alastair McDonald ● 4265d

If it's 70p for a mass produced bread roll I hope it sinks faster than a stale, well, bread roll.The artisan hand-made large sourdough rolls from Gail's bakery (no Gerry, there isn't one in Ealing before you ask :-) ) are only 50p each and are wonderful.

Nigel Brooks ● 4265d