Tesco impact on Spital Hill shops

Story: Lisa Swift and Sagaal Ahmed

Over 4 months since the opening of Tesco, the Messenger went to Spital Hill to see what impact the massive store is having on smaller shops.

To look at, Spital Hill is not suffering at all. Very few of the shops are empty, with several new businesses establishing themselves in recent months, ranging from new take-aways to clothing shops. The greatest fear is for the grocery stores, so we focused our attention on these.

SR Raja has been serving Burngreave since 1976 and is on Tesco’s doorstep. The owner told us:

“Tesco is a big problem for us. All our customers have gone there. We can’t beat Tesco, they have everything cheap, like bread, milk and rice. What can we do? They sell it cheaper than we can get it at wholesale. We were told they wouldn’t sell the things we sell, but they do – all the Asian food.”

SR Raja still has an impressive range of specialist hair products, including a large selection of hair extensions and accessories.

“They don’t sell these kinds of hair products, not yet. But we are struggling. The Council should cut our business rates or I won’t be able to afford to pay people’s wages.”

Emin’s, formerly Ozmen’s, has been in place for 3 years. Owner Sadik Emin was confident Tesco wouldn’t bring his business down.

“It’s OK; we’ve lost some customers but we will be OK. We sell 90% Turkish food, that’s why people come here. Sometimes Tesco has offers, like cheaper alcohol, but it’s only for a few days and then ours is cheaper again. And we are open 24 hours, we are very busy at night. We get fresh veg every few days, which is cheaper.”

“I think Tesco have made a mistake, building their store there. It’s not a cheap place really. I’m going to beat Tesco!”

Further up the Hill at Ellesmere Green, we spoke to Peace Valley News owner Ali Saleh, who has been there for 13 years.

“It’s not really affected us. When we compare prices, we are cheaper. We are just going to carry on. Our customers are loyal and we have better customer service. Tesco can’t do that; they just want your money.”

“They said a Tesco would be good for the area but they didn’t employ enough local people.”