TAKE A TOWN


April/May 2026 housewareslive.net


Dunelm, Meadowside Retail Park, Lamarsh Road, Oxford


This store is located on a retail park, where its neighbours include two other national retailers, Halfords and Hobbycraft. I had just moved into my new build house and was looking to buy a new saucepan package. Inside the store, I headed to the mezzanine level and was delighted to see saucepans well merchandised – and there were loads of them too. I started to browse the cookware sets. The first set was the Scoville Ultra Lift 4+1


cookware set, priced with 20% off at £48. The box indicated that the set consists of a 16cm milk pan, 18cm and 20cm saucepans with lids, a 24cm frying pan and a free 20cm frying pan. The second set was from Tefal (Titanium Force),


priced at £60. The box indicated that it was a five- piece set, which was suitable for all hob types, excluding induction. After five minutes of browsing, and with no sign of an approach, I left the store.


John Lewis + Partners, Westgate Shopping Centre, Queen Street, Oxford


Located in the Westgate Shopping Centre, this 120,000sq ft store was launched as the anchor tenant for the redeveloped centre; it opened on Friday, October 24, 2017. I was looking to buy a Nespresso coffee machine.


Inside the store, the appliances are located on the upper ground level. On display were five original Nespresso machines,


plus the stunning Sage Creatista Plus, priced at £329. There were no members of staff in the department. There was a spring promotion running on some


of the Nespresso machines, which offered a free Aeroccino milk frother when customers purchased 100 coffee pods. The Nespresso CitiZ (EN167.B), priced at £149,


was part of the Aeroccino promotion. The price ticket indicated that the Citiz has a one-litre capacity and comes with a two-year guarantee. The price ticket also mentioned Protect+, where cover would cost £10 for two years. On the Nespresso Vertuo side, I liked the look of


the Vertuo Pop Barista Bundle (ENV90.B), which was priced at £199.


Sales skills: 0/5


Store presentation: 5/5


Total score: 5/10


Summary: I was unable to assess the sales skills in this store. The displays looked very good, but housewares need to be explained, so there is more work to do here.


Sales skills: 0/5


Store presentation: 4/5


Total score: 4/10


Summary:I was unable to assess the sales skills at this store. The display was untidy, with price tickets missing.


Next, Westgate Shopping Centre, Queen Street, Oxford


This store is located next to Primark and adjacent to Superdrug, on the upper floor of the Westgate Shopping Centre. I was continuing looking at things for my new home, and in this store, I was looking to buy a dinner set. Inside the store, I headed to the home department, which is located on the back wall of the store. There was an impressive dozen 12-piece dinner


sets boxed ready to go, with some samples of the plates on display. The dinner sets ranged in price from £45-£70,


but some boxes were unpriced. After looking at some of the sample, I thought


the Otis range, priced at £60 looked ideal. With no information on the box, I did some post-visit research online and found that the Otis range consisted of four 26cm diameter dinner plates, four 21.5cm diameter side plates and four bowls. There were no staff in the home department, so after five minutes of browsing, I left the store.


Sales skills: 0/5


Store presentation: 4/5


Total score: 4/10


Summary: I was unable to assess the sales skills in this store. The store was well presented, but I’ve knocked a point off for unpriced products.


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