Tesco trips-up in Crouch End

Tesco has undoubtedly suffered from unusually stiff competition in North London's Crouch End as a result of the excellent Budgens that stocks just the sort of things the locals enjoy amp;ldquo; a high proportion of locally sourced and high quality goods often not widely available.

By Glynn Davis, City editor

It can't therefore have been good news for Tesco (or Budgens) that Waitrose last week announced it to open its first London-based convenience store a matter of a few doors down from both these operators in a former Woolworths unit.

On the back of this news Tesco's position in the area weakened even further as the local paper revealed that the store had thrown a registered blind man out because his guide dog was not welcome in the shop.

Although Tesco has since apologised and stated that it is not company policy, it will not have gone down well with local shoppers. Needless to say, as the competition for these customers gains pace in the run-up to the Waitrose opening then Tesco will get its act together on the PR front – no doubt helped by blanket mail-outs of money-off vouchers. But will it be good enough for the area's discerning shoppers who hold some values above price.

glynnd@theretailbulletin.com