Asda lands its first win this Grocer 33 year with Weymouth store

Weymouth is one of the UK’s classic seaside towns, made famous by George III’s 1789 visit after he was advised that “taking the water” would help with his health. He would return regularly in the ensuing years, and the town has been firmly on the map for holidaymakers ever since.

Weymouth’s long curve of beach is backed by an esplanade, cafés and seasonal attractions, while its location on the Jurassic Coast makes it a popular base for exploring Dorset sights including Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove. However, its picturesque harbour is perhaps the town’s biggest draw, lined as it is with brightly coloured buildings, pubs, seafood restaurants and fishing boats.

The local community mixes long-established local families with retirees and individuals who work locally or commute to nearby Dorchester and Bournemouth. Unsurprisingly, much local employment centres on tourism, hospitality and retail, with CACI noting that Weymouth and Dorchester over-indexes most notably for the demographic Aspiring Communities (13.7% vs a national average of 5.5%), which comprises “settled owner-occupying households with a strong couple-with-children structure and high rates of outright ownership, representing working families with modest but stable means”.

This week’s winning store enjoys a mixture of those local families and seasonal holidaymakers, given its location within easy walking distance of Weymouth beach and town centre. Asda picked up its first win since November, with its 49,532 sq ft store on Newstead Road putting in the joint-best performance on availability this week and also excelling on customer service with a perfect 20.

Our shopper praised the staff, who were “always happy to help” and provided detailed directions to products as well as help finding an alternative to the not-stocked Mutti pasta sauce. He found the store in general “very bright, well laid out and easy to get around”, while checkout staff were friendly and “asked how your day had been so far”. However, he did feel there were “not enough manned checkouts”.

About 2.5 miles north on a small retail park on the outskirts of town, Sainsbury’s on Mercery Road finished two points back on 82 to take second place. The 40,897 sq ft store tied Asda for this week’s best score on availability with one item not stocked.

Our shopper picked out that availability as the best thing about the shop but also praised the “range of goods and quality of produce”. It was a “bright, airy and pleasant place to do my shopping” with staff “all around the store hard at work filling shelves”. Unfortunately, she did find one member of staff “a little dismissive” when asked about the blueberries and would like the store to “reinstall the deli, butcher and fishmonger counters”.

Just metres away, but on the other side of the railway tracks that run from Weymouth to Upwey stations, Morrisons on Dorchester Road took third place with 74 points. Our shopper is a regular at this 36,634 sq ft store, which was one of a few this week that had been gripped by World Cup fever and allowed staff to wear England shirts. She praised the “ease of finding assistance” and the “friendliness of the till operator” but was disappointed by the amount of queuing and was another to advocate for “more manned tills”.

About 6.5 miles north in the nearby town of Dorchester, Waitrose on South Street was hamstrung by its relatively small 12,559 sq ft dimensions and posted six not-stocked items. Our shopper did, however, describe the service she received as “exemplary” and noted that staff “went out of their way to suggest alternatives” to the multitude of items that were not stocked. However, she disliked “traipsing backwards and forwards trying to find all the chilled items” and was “genuinely exhausted after the shop”. This was exacerbated by the parking bays not being wide enough for her SUV, meaning she had to park in a nearby pay and display car park and “struggle to carry the heavy shopping bags back to the car”.

Just over a mile away, also in Dorchester, Tesco on Weymouth Avenue came last this week with 67 points. Our shopper is a regular here and likes “the ease of navigating the store, the product availability” and the “fair and reasonable” prices. She did, though, describe the service at the checkout as “very disappointing” due to the staff member not looking at or greeting her and texting on his phone while she was packing. She also noted that “Tesco should focus on livening up their foyer displays” because if a customer’s first impression is “exciting and enticing it lifts the mood” and makes customers “more likely to return”.