Sainsbury's in Cheadle, Greater Manchester had a full basket this week and a glowing report from our shopper.
"It seemed the staff had been injected with the 'customer is king' ethos and I'm not complaining," he reported.
The checkout supervisor helped him to unload his shopping trolley while the till assistant was warm and friendly. Two floor staff helped to search for products and were very helpful, both asking if they could offer any further assistance.
The area outside Asda in Longsight, Manchester was untidy and littered with papers, packaging and loose trolleys. Most staff were helpful but others were uncertain and inefficient in responding to queries about products stocked.
Tesco in Westhill, Aberdeenshire had some gaps on the shelves, although not for the items on this week's The Grocer 33 list. The car park was difficult to access and the store could have been tidier.
Staff at Morrisons in Bridgwater were helpful and there were no items out-of-stock. However the store felt cramped around the checkouts because of bulky kitchen appliances on some of the gondola ends.
Waitrose in Beaconsfield charged twice for the £4.76 Andrex toilet paper. Our shopper realised when she got home and on the phone was promised a refund. Some stock trolleys caused congestion even though the store was not very busy.
Winner: Julie Smith, store manager, Sainsbury's, Cheadle
How do you compete against your nearest rival? The Tesco down the road is a much bigger store and has a wider offer especially in general merchandise. What we've always been great at in Cheadle is great food so we concentrate on product quality and making sure we've got the availability. Another area where we can make a difference is how we serve our customers.
A checkout assistant was very rude to our shopper two years ago. How have you improved since? Dave, our new checkout manager, joined the team three months ago. He's got a really good rapport with our cashiers, and we very much say that how we treat our colleagues is how we treat customers. His enthusiasm has rubbed off and lifted the cashiers tremendously.
Which lines are selling the best? Our meat and fish counters have the highest uplift compared with last year. My counters manager is very good at creating theatre around the counter, which I think has made it seem far more approachable. Our quality is also much better than Tesco's!
Do your staff socialise outside work? We had about 800 people at the regional ball at the Hilton hotel in Manchester and are organising the Christmas ball at the moment. As a branch we do activities such as 10-pin bowling and attend regional events such as quizzes and five-a-side football matches.
You can't force people to do it but I think that if people socialise outside work when they come back they're more likely to support each other. It really helps with the teamwork.
Does your store do any charity fundraising? Last year we raised more than £5,000 for the Seashell Trust and our local charity is now the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. One colleague is doing the North Run for them and I'm going to abseil down the Trafford Centre although I absolutely hate heights. But the charity engages you in what it does and that makes you want to go outside of what you normally do to help it.
How long have you worked for Sainsbury's? Twenty-three years. It's never boring because there are so many positive changes to suit customer demand.
"It seemed the staff had been injected with the 'customer is king' ethos and I'm not complaining," he reported.
The checkout supervisor helped him to unload his shopping trolley while the till assistant was warm and friendly. Two floor staff helped to search for products and were very helpful, both asking if they could offer any further assistance.
The area outside Asda in Longsight, Manchester was untidy and littered with papers, packaging and loose trolleys. Most staff were helpful but others were uncertain and inefficient in responding to queries about products stocked.
Tesco in Westhill, Aberdeenshire had some gaps on the shelves, although not for the items on this week's The Grocer 33 list. The car park was difficult to access and the store could have been tidier.
Staff at Morrisons in Bridgwater were helpful and there were no items out-of-stock. However the store felt cramped around the checkouts because of bulky kitchen appliances on some of the gondola ends.
Waitrose in Beaconsfield charged twice for the £4.76 Andrex toilet paper. Our shopper realised when she got home and on the phone was promised a refund. Some stock trolleys caused congestion even though the store was not very busy.
Winner: Julie Smith, store manager, Sainsbury's, Cheadle
How do you compete against your nearest rival? The Tesco down the road is a much bigger store and has a wider offer especially in general merchandise. What we've always been great at in Cheadle is great food so we concentrate on product quality and making sure we've got the availability. Another area where we can make a difference is how we serve our customers.
A checkout assistant was very rude to our shopper two years ago. How have you improved since? Dave, our new checkout manager, joined the team three months ago. He's got a really good rapport with our cashiers, and we very much say that how we treat our colleagues is how we treat customers. His enthusiasm has rubbed off and lifted the cashiers tremendously.
Which lines are selling the best? Our meat and fish counters have the highest uplift compared with last year. My counters manager is very good at creating theatre around the counter, which I think has made it seem far more approachable. Our quality is also much better than Tesco's!
Do your staff socialise outside work? We had about 800 people at the regional ball at the Hilton hotel in Manchester and are organising the Christmas ball at the moment. As a branch we do activities such as 10-pin bowling and attend regional events such as quizzes and five-a-side football matches.
You can't force people to do it but I think that if people socialise outside work when they come back they're more likely to support each other. It really helps with the teamwork.
Does your store do any charity fundraising? Last year we raised more than £5,000 for the Seashell Trust and our local charity is now the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. One colleague is doing the North Run for them and I'm going to abseil down the Trafford Centre although I absolutely hate heights. But the charity engages you in what it does and that makes you want to go outside of what you normally do to help it.
How long have you worked for Sainsbury's? Twenty-three years. It's never boring because there are so many positive changes to suit customer demand.
No comments yet