AS soon as I pulled up outside the UK’s biggest B&M I knew I was in for a treat.
The huge structure stretches the full length of the retail park’s car park and is quite a sight to see.
BNPSThe biggest B&M in the UK is in Bournemouth[/caption]
BNPSThe store has aisles upon aisles of products[/caption]
BNPSB&M Bournemouth completed 500,000 customer transactions last year[/caption]
Standing outside and looking up at the giant building I was excited to have a look inside.
The shop, which was crowned “the best B&M” in the country in 2022 by the chain, is in the Mallard Road Retail Park, Bournemouth.
It spans a whopping 79,000sq ft which is even bigger than a standard football pitch of 64,000 sq ft and over triple the size of the average B&M which is 22,000sq ft.
The shop employs 90 staff, which is a lot more than the 30 that the average shop has.
Store manager Anup Patel prides himself on his store being a “one stop shop” for quite literally everything.
Now, any B&M fan knows that the shops do tend to have a little bit of everything and at bargain prices too.
But, the Bournemouth superstore truly does take this to another level.
What’s it like inside?
The shop is the only one in the entire country to stock every single line that B&M has – a huge 19,000 – all in one place.
So while you may find a selection of lines in one shop and different selections in another, you could get them all in the Bournemouth store.
Smaller shops don’t have the capacity to carry every single line which means you could be disappointed if you go in looking for something in particular.
But not in Bournemouth, anything you might have seen people talk about on social media from B&M – they sell it all and definitely seem to have a lot of stock too.
The building, a listed former bus depot, spans two floors and also has a garden centre added on too.
Only 221 B&M stores have garden centres so it’s pretty rare.
The inside feels like you’re inside a super-sized supermarket, with aisles upon aisles of anything you could need.
It’s bright and gleaming, with white aisles and ceilings, and rows of windows on each side.
It has a calm atmosphere, much like a supermarket, with the chatter of customers and the beeping of checkouts filling the store.
Compared to other B&Ms it was pretty grand, every aisle and shelf was fully stocked, something that can be quite rare in the smaller shops.
You can definitely tell which shoppers haven’t been to the shop before because each is excitedly scanning the aisles and pointing to the ranges they haven’t seen.
The regulars seem to know exactly what to look for and have no problem navigating their way around the numerous aisles.
I definitely did get a little lost at some points.
One thing that caught my eye instantly was the full shelves of air fryers lining the household appliance aisle, a popular find amongst B&M shoppers and can be quite rare in smaller shops.
It was relatively quiet when I visited at midday but Anup assured me that it does get pretty busy on weekends and after 5pm.
You don’t feel like you’re in a busy discount store which can be the case in some shops, all the products are organised and neatly placed on shelves.
How does it compare to smaller shops?
Any B&M shopper knows that one of the drawbacks of the stores is that you will almost certainly leave with a dozen more items than what you went in for.
Well, that would certainly be the case in this shop.
The prices don’t differ from the usual B&M bargains you’ll find in other stores but there’s just much more on offer.
As I walked around I was surprised to see just how many different ranges are available that I hadn’t spotted in other B&Ms, from food and household appliances to clothing and wallpaper.
There were two things in particular that were most impressive compared to the smaller shops I’ve been to.
One was a large fresh food fridge, which had various items including steaks, milk, sandwiches, and bacon.
The other was an extensive selection of booze, which I’m told is a bit rare in B&M shops due to licensing restrictions.
But not in Bournemouth, it has a huge range of wine, beer, cider, Prosecco and canned cocktails – all for very reasonable prices too.
Of B&M’s 706 stores, 647 have fridge sections, while 543 are able to sell booze – but both sections in Bournemouth are considerably bigger than those in smaller stores.
There was also a small-ish sale section down one of the aisles which appeared to mainly be stocked with old-Christmas stock and kitchen supplies like bowl sets for as little as £1.
The space in between aisles definitely makes the shop feel more like a supermarket, making for a more enjoyable shopping experience.
Parents will be keen to know that the shop also has a huge toy range on offer as well with all your kids’ favourite brands from Lego to Barbie.
Upstairs is a huge homeware selection with a variety of furniture including wardrobes, desks, gaming chairs and tables.
The homeware offering is arguably the biggest in the whole shop, with the entire upper floor dedicated to it as well as at least two aisles on the ground floor.
Anup said that he likes that customers could come to his store and kit out their entire house and garden all in one place.
And I can certainly imagine that’s the case, inside customers can find various garden furnishings and decorative pieces, while outside they can pick up plants, paving slabs and pretty much anything you’d find in a full-size garden centre.
Not only is the Bournemouth B&M the biggest one in the country, it is also the most visited with 500,000 customer transactions last year.
When it opened back in December 2020, shoppers were so excited to have a peak inside there were two-hour queues from the door.
While some eager customers earlier this year even travelled four hours from Manchester just to check it out for themselves.
B&M first opened in 1978 with a store in Blackpool and has since expanded to France too with 115 stores.
Most recently earlier this year, the chain announced plans to close one of its stores in Kilmarnock following the opening a bigger shop in the area.
A large number of B&M stores can be found in big retail parks across the country, but they can also be found in high street shopping areas too.
The chain has already opened two new shops this year and told The Sun it has “lots of exciting plans” which will be announced in due course.
BNPSThe store spans a whopping 79,000 sq ft and is over triple the size of the average B&M[/caption]
BNPSB&M Bournemouth also has a huge garden centre added on[/caption]
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