‘Relaxed’ Waitrose store is Birmingham’s best supermarket

England’s second-largest city isn’t renowned for its beauty, but no one would deny its dynamism. Urban, lively and constantly changing, Birmingham is also one of the most diverse cities in Europe, with huge influence from South Asian, Caribbean, African and Middle Eastern communities. That diversity really shows up in its food and drink scene, particularly its famed curry houses, street food and in its increasingly numerous Michelin guide restaurants.

These cultural layers also make themselves known in the city’s thriving music, art and festival scene, much of it powered by a notably young population. Partly thanks to its five major universities, Birmingham has a median age of just 34, compared with 40 for England as a whole. Most locals are employed in the service sector, which has taken over from manufacturing as the city’s key employer, although the latter remains culturally and economically important.

Despite Birmingham’s youthful, future-facing feel, inequality is sharp. Affluent suburbs and regenerated areas sit side by side with some of the most deprived wards in England. This plays out in figures from CACI, which shows the city under-indexing among the three most affluent demographics and over-indexing in the three least affluent. Broken down further, CACI says “Birmingham over-indexes most dramatically for Urban Diversity (22.9% vs a national average of 3.3%) – young families and students in ethnically diverse urban centres with low disposable income and high unemployment.”

The desirable, village-like suburb of Harborne, with its thriving food scene and top schools, could barely provide a greater juxtaposition. Its local Waitrose took the win this week with 86 points, trouncing the opposition on availability, despite its 15,998 sq ft dimensions making it comfortably the smallest store in this week’s shop.

Waitrose excelled on customer service and features, with our shopper praising all staff she interacted with as “extremely friendly, helpful and efficient”. One even went the extra mile by comping some shower gel given confusion over shower cream vs gel. Our shopper was also pleased that she “didn’t feel rushed” at the checkouts, “really appreciated” being able to enjoy a free hot drink whilst shopping and praised the “relaxed experience” overall.

“I find it difficult to fault the store, but it would be beneficial if some items were slightly cheaper,” she said. “However, I wouldn’t want that to impact the wonderful service received in store.”

Closer to the city centre, in the Small Heath neighbourhood and just seconds from Birmingham City’s football stadium, Morrisons on Coventry Road took second place with 73 points. Our shopper described the 42,495 sq ft store as “modern and well kept” with “plenty of room” and a “big selection of items”.

He was particularly pleased with the helpfulness of the staff and “enjoyed looking at the selection of plants” but found some of the overhead signage “out of date”, which made parts of the shop “confusing”.

Just over five miles’ drive northwest, the 47,029 sq ft Asda in Smethwick came third with 66 points. Our shopper found the store “looks quite tired” and requires “some refurbishment as the layout is not great”. This meant “things were so difficult to find in store” and our shopper “had to walk around a number of times to find items”.

On the upside, “the customer service experience was fantastic” thanks to staff who “really went out of their way to help me find items” and even “went to the stock room to check”. Our shopper was also pleased to find “the self-checkouts were mostly open and available, cutting down on queuing time”.

Another store in a notable suburb, this time Selly Oak in southwest Birmingham, about five miles from the city centre, Sainsbury’s took fourth place with 62 points. Located on a shopping park, the store was “easy to navigate” with clear signage and aisles that were free from obstructions. Our shopper did require help to locate items, because “it was taking long time for me to find them on my own”. The quality of the assistance varied, though, with one staff member “very helpful”, but another “who said they were coming back to assist me but never came back”.

Last place this week went to Tesco on Aston Lane, close to home of the city’s other giant football club, Aston Villa. The 47,452 sq ft store posted this week’s worst performance on availability, and despite it being our shopper’s nearest Tesco store, she only visits “if I have to”, as “the range is limited and the toilets are always very dirty”.

Indeed, “the strong smell of urine in the toilets” was our shopper’s abiding memory of the store, though she also praised the staff, who were “easy to locate” and “all helpful”.