Asda, Roehampton: Grocer 33 store of the week

How long have you worked in retail? I’ve been with Asda nearly 18 years. Prior to that I was with Tesco for north of 20. I’ve been with this particular store over 10 years – I’ve managed a number of refits.

How do you differentiate from other stores nearby? We’ve got a big clothing department and a big non-food offer. Demand is very seasonal, but it attracts people. It gives them more of a reason to come here that is not just about food. Clothing, with back to school, is massive for us. Our fresh food proposition is important too, whether it is meat or fresh produce, the quality and the price that comes with it is important. To be able to have both is a compelling offer and allows us to cater for all. It’s not about the size – what we do well as a company, and in store, is offer either end of the scale from entry level to premium, without compromise. I think that’s reflected in the store’s spend profile. It’s a higher basket spend than you would generally expect at a company level. People come here and spend heavily. We’ve also got a big online operation as well.

How often do you get out to your competitor stores in the area? We go once every couple of weeks and my team do the same, just to see how we’re stacking up. Our priority of course is to control what we can control. Everyone is good at different things, and it’s about respecting and knowing our competitors. At the end of the day my intention is to take as much of the retail spend in this area into this shop, and I’m sure my competitors would say the same.

Our shopper praised the ‘modern’ layout, have you refitted recently? We took out an internal B&Q concession in Q4 last year, and we took that opportunity to grow our GM range and reset our health & beauty range. We made the ranges more accessible and more shoppable for the customer. We also invested money in the outside infrastructure to make that customer experience more welcoming and warm. It’s a 30-plus-year-old store with an underground car park, and it needed new life breathed into it. We focused on improving the lighting, making it clearer coming into the store. It’s had a good impact and we’re going to go ahead with some more later in the year.

What have you made of the Aldi/Lidl price match? It’s a powerful message and our customers have received it well. We’ve also started to run some ‘megadeals’ which have also gone down really well. It’s very important, not just to drive footfall, but ultimately to give our customers value. PoS is the starting point in terms of how it’s promoted in store, but it’s about putting it in the prime location to make it accessible.

Are you one of the stores involved in the recent four-day week, flexible working trials? No. All I can attend for is what we do here. We have 245 colleagues with a lot of long service. They represent the community and are really proud – and I’m really proud of them. 

What is your focus for the immediate future? There are big trading opportunities with Ramadan, and we’ve got Mother’s Day coming up. The transition between spring and summer is big for us as a store, and it’s really important we manage that proposition – as a business we do that well.