Keenan Knight is a relative newcomer to Asda, having only started with the retailer last September. Yet he’s wasted no time in making his presence felt and has helped the company claim its second Grocer 33 mystery shop win in a row - a rare feat for the embattled retailer.
Here, he tells The Grocer about his team’s sense of togetherness and the challenges thrown up by running a store on the Isle of Wight.
How long have you worked for Asda? I started at Asda in September last year. I came over from Morrisons into an operations role. I’ve only been doing the GSM role now for a couple of months.
What’s the difference between the two cultures? Asda definitely has more of a sense of togetherness. We are one team that works together. The team has a solid rhythm and routine and the ability to raise the bar every time. This in my opinion is what sets us in front of our fellow retailers on the island.
How do you promote that togetherness as a manager? I support and coach colleagues shoulder to shoulder. If we do something well, it’s about driving them to say: ‘We can do this even better’ - just that engagement with the team. They’re really invested in doing a good job.
What are the best things about being on the Isle of Wight? The seasonal trade is one of them, obviously. While we’re not by the sea, we get a lot of trade from customers who are travelling around the island. We also have a lot of Asda heritage shoppers – older shoppers and families.
Who is your biggest competitor? We have a Morrisons down the road and Sainsbury’s, but there’s an Aldi opening next door in November/December. They will obviously be a big rival, but we offer a whole package, we’re a one-stop shop. There are a few bits in the pipeline that the business will do to help us be competitive when it opens. Our standouts are things like our George department and our GM. There’s a lot of things that we’ve got going for us, especially the Rollback pricing.
What challenges can weather disruption bring, being an island store supplied from the mainland? We have one route in and one route out, which is governed by private companies, so we can’t control that, and sometimes it does impact us. There have been some mornings where it’s been foggy and it’s delayed things. Of course it happens for everybody on the island; it’s the nature of the beast. We have three main deliveries coming over every day from the mainland.
How much of a boost do you get from the legendary Isle of Wight Festival? The festival of course brings people in. The showground is only about a 20-minute walk from here down by the river. This year they had a shop up there, so it’s levelled off a bit, but we get the people who want to shop just outside the hustle and bustle.
What’s selling well at the moment? We’ve just recently launched 1,000 extra Rollbacks. The in-store bakery is really competitive, too. I think we’re very competitive against the likes of Morrisons, and just as a whole I think the range is what our customer wants. I think they’ve done a very good job of simplifying the range and making sure we max out on the popular items. The business is really focused on that simplicity of doing something and doing it well.
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