Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s was established as a partnership in 1869 when John James Sainsbury and his wife Mary Ann opened a store at 173 Drury Lane in Holborn, London. He started as a retailer of fresh foods and later expanded into packaged groceries such as tea and sugar. His trading philosophy, as stated on a sign outside his first shop in Islington, was,“Quality perfect, prices lower”.
What would he think today?
Well this store is my local Sainsbury’s and stocks everything else that you can’t find in the local Tesco

Amazing place. Fresh fish, fresh beef, fresh chicken liver, fresh green vegetables in flowerpots (I love those).
Many different wines from big selection of countries (European /​South American /​Australian /​etc).
Nice bakery and good selection of cheese from many countries. Basically you got there almost anything you need for dinner/​cooking — for any event-​occasion.

A huge Sainsburys quite close to Victoria station. I don’t shop here often but I imagine they have what most people would want.
Although, i should note that one time I came here looking for batteries and they were sold out. That was very disappointing.

As is probably the case for most Britons, Sainsbury’s is the go-​to corner store for all of your life needs. But I guess for some of these places, they are a step above corner store while not quite being a full-​blown grocer.
We stopped by this specific location a number of times walking between our hotel and Victoria Station. It makes for a quick grab on the way out in town or if on your way back in the evening. We got bottled water, heated lunches and fruit to name just a few of the items we picked up regularly. In addition, as my girlfriend doesn’t have Blue Moon in her country, we were quite happy to find it here.
The check out lines get long fast but they move fast too. If you’re a foreigner (read: American) and paying with card, you will be better off going to the manned cashier (till) lines because you will be required to sign a copy of the receipt. This has something to do with our credit cards not being issued with a chip in them that saves personal information.

Near plenty of hotels and has a lot of options for those without a kitchen. Great selection! Clean store — and even found some great deals on FIFA souvenirs in store.

this was right by our hotel and just perfect for us. I loved the hello kitty bubble bath I found here, yes seriously I had to buy it once I saw it.
I only wish we found this place sooner so we could have gotten more from here!

Saisbury’s cheese stand is very good, especially the Basic Mild Cheddar. I can finish a full pack myself. Seriosly good place with lots of young people working behind the counters.

Regular Sainsbury’s shop — aisles well stocked, clean. Only staff is not the nicest, but lady behind the fish counter was very polite.
They need to install more self check out machines, last time had to wait 10 mins to scan my only 2 items.
On a positive note, though, Victoria is just around the corner… if that’s a plus.

Best pizzas in Victoria. The bloke at the counter is no very cheerfull, but he knows his job. Place your order before you go shopping in the market, it will take them 30 – 45 minutes to cook.

Very affordable high quality groceries. Love this market.

Ooooooo-​we! I just slipped and fell into poshville. (I landed softly, thanks.)
This is not your average Sainsbury’s. In fact, this Sainsbury’s makes all the other Sainsbury’s look like run down shabby council estates compared to a gilded mansion flat. So one star detracted off the bat for the fact that they reflect this upscale attitude with silly hats and different uniforms. You’re a Sainsbury’s… please try to keep some perspective.
That aside, daaaaaaaaang this is nice! It certainly puts the «market» in supermarket, with specialty stalls, staff, and sections for cheese, fish, meat and fresh made to order treats like salads, pies, olives and sandwiches.
The urban/​industrial feel is thematically applied throughout the store with concrete floors, industrial lighting, metal shelving units in a vast relatively raw space… seriously. A Sainsbury’s.
The four-​star vote for me was the fact that their are actually non-​food items here as well like cooking utensils, A4 printing paper, books, coffee mugs, home furnishings, batteries, beauty supplies… dare I say this is far closer to a grocery store from home where I don’t have to go 5 different places to cross everything off my shopping list?
I dare.
And I double dare to like it.

This is a great sized Sainsburys in Pimlico, 5 minutes from Victoria, 5 minutes from Pimlico tube.
Has fresh seafood, cheese, bakery, deli, and a good choice of homewares, but not so big that you can’t find your way around the supermarket.
We happily shopped here for years

I never go in here even for a paper without spending at least £15 and 45 minutes. Sainsbury’s deluxe for those who are accustomed to better things (I’m talking about Waitrose of course). I understand this place caused a huge bourgeois furore when it was opened because it totally decimated an actual market nearby — but I can’t say I care. did the market stock organic icing sugar and angostura bitters I ask you?

on vacay and looking for affordable sh! t in london. SAINSBURY!
chicken masala for buck fitty lbs! can’t beat that with a baseball bat.
orange juice with all that pulp! only dos lbs.
normal folks living around here might frown upon eating 3 meals here, but if you’re from overseas and looking for a cheap bite,
i sainsbury’s

I was so happy to know that my local grocery shop was the «market» version of Sainsbury’s, but in all honesty I’d rather have a regular version of this store. It does have those lovely stalls that sell cheese, poultry and meat. But the rest of the store is so under stocked it’s a total downer. I went the other day to get coriander, the most usual ingredient in food, and they didn’t have any! And this is one example of how every time I go I always count on not finding what I need. There is a lack of variety and now I think I rather take the long way to Vauxhall and get all my shopping there.

A great selection of stuff — I couldn’t believe the ‘market’ concept when I first went in there
But I find it really hard to navigate the store — for example fresh bread and sliced bread are on completely different aisles and stock cubes are near the freezer sectionwhat’s that about?
The entrance is really crowded as well — I think the whole place needs a re-​jig and it would litterally be the perfect supermarket — the fish counter has an amazing range as well.

This is certainly not the average Sainsbury’s, the concept of this store is having the best and most fresh ingredients, like a market. As such this Sainsbury’s features many counters selling meat, fish, etc. It is also quite large for a central London shop. The layout can at times be difficult, and when I first shopped there it was a bit of a nightmare trying to find things, and sometimes it still is! Nevertheless I still enjoy shopping here, and primarily because they make really good take away pizzas that are cooked fresh in a big oven near the entrance.

This store is the one Sainsbury’s uses to set the low bar for benchmarking store layout for every other shop in the chain. Sadly this means that it takes the accolade for being the worst laid out retail space anywhere in the country. I’ve only had the displeasure of using it for 3 months, but I am convinced it has reliably been collecting this accolade for at least the past 3 years.
How can a store layout be done so so badly? The key concept is based around the 80 – 20 rule, which this store seems to follow meticulously. Namely, place 80% of a certain food category in a place one would normally expect to find it. But then place the other 20% somewhere completely unpredictable. Shoppers then spend the majority of their time milling around the store in a vain effort to locate an item which has actually been placed on some shelf largely at random.
Let’s take a few examples. Salad vegetables are near the other vegetables. Except tomatoes. These are a good 20m walk and are between the apples and the bananas.
Meat is generally near the front of the store. Except sausages. These are next to the milk about half way in.
Cheese is a coin tossing exercise. Depending on the day of the week, it’s either right at the front, or next to the milk.
My suggestion is to use the Tesco on Warwick Way. It’s much smaller, but at least things there make sense