Image: James Allan
A Hackney resident has changed the face of his local Tesco store with a blog calling it “the worst place on Earth”.
Mice setting off the storm alarm and consistently empty shelves at Haggerston’s Tesco Express inspired neighbour James Allan to start his The Very Worst Tesco blog last week, and it quickly went viral.
A Tesco spokesman said: “We are aware of the blog and agree that this store has not met our high standards.
“We are working with the store to make sure we offer the best possible service for our customers.”
Mr Allan said that Tesco’s reaction has been “entirely constructive,” as they were “focused purely on making changes as quickly as possible.
“Things changed immediately, as in later that same day. People have been sending in images of stacked shelves, clear aisles and happy faces. That is the most awesome bit of the whole thing – it actually worked.
“I’m glad people find it funny though, that is the most important bit. It is a first world problem and getting angry about it is just plain silly. I would hate to think people thought I was genuinely that riled by a few empty shelves.”
The 30-year-old, who has lived in Hackney for 10 years, set up the blog in the early hours of a weekday morning, venting his frustrations when he was unable to sleep due to the storm alarm.
“I thought I’d be constructive with my sleeplessness,” he said.
Mr Allan went on to detail more of his grievances with the store, such as the “unbelievably bad milk smell in summer.”
A typical post reads: “As usual, Tesco have [sic] kindly taken the liberty of deciding [that] my diet hunger strike starts today.”
The blog went viral after it was picked up by BuzzFeed.
