Maidstone Sainsburys has lost it. It re-opened today after a refit and after kicking Starbucks out. (Sad to see Starbucks go, not because I like the company, but becasue I know quite a lot of the staff in that branch and they have been solidly supporting the Fairtrade campaign in Maidstone for the past 4 years.)
Walking into the new look store, you are greeted by the obligatory tobacco counter, but this has be repositioned to be far more prominent and the word tobacco above the counter is in yer face. They seem to have expanded the number of junk food isles - I counted 6 all next to each other. Once you have finally got past them, in the far corner is a single isle with cooking ingredients. On the wall by the tills they proudly proclaim: "We've Dumped The Junk". No you bloody well haven't!
Last year they got rid of the pedestrian entrance by the bus station / main part of the town. This has made it harder to use the shop without a car and I'm sure they will have seen a fall in sales to older people.
Fortunately a Co-op is opening in town. It is much smaller and doesn't yet have enough for us but let's hope it gets better.
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