Bugger, missed some pretty good surf today as once again I was chained to a roller/bit of sandpaper/hammer for the best part of 12 hours. The only respite was a brief sojourn to the Falmouth branch of Trago Mills.
I cant quite decide whether I love or hate the place – Trago that is. Its got a lot going for it. You can buy almost anything you could want from kitchens to carpet to light bulbs to sweets to shoes and all at very reasonable, dare I say it, rock bottom prices.
The problem is the quiet desperation of every staff member. I suspect they are joyful people most of the time but are transformed by a Trago staff manual that demands that all staff must routinely ignore customers by pretending they are doing something important. This ‘something important’ can be anything from shouting across the shop floor about the crapness of their own senior and middle management or just opening one of their work desks to gaze at a cupboard door festooned with soft pornography that they have lovingly sellotaped to it.
The overall atmosphere is not unlike stepping back in time to when all pubs were dark, had sticky carpet and a ‘Big D’ peanut dispenser that upon selling the last pack revealed a naked lady. There is an added political dimension as the owner is a diehard UKIP supporter so most of the inside walls, and occasionally the outside walls, feature some anti-Europe propaganda.
After it was off to Rick Steins newly opened chippy. Polite staff, clean airy surroundings and beautiful food. Its just a shame that they don’t sell vinyl matt magnolia in 10L tubs.
Come on Rick, sort it out.
So yeah, basically the prices do keep you going to Trago but its kind of like a guilty pleasure as well. A ‘can’t live with them, can’t live without them’ type thing perhaps?
