‘Excellent’ Sainsbury’s is the best store in Sheffield

A global centre of steel production from the 18th century onwards, Sheffield’s proud industrial heritage is still on show across the city in museums, old factory buildings and even in its nickname, ‘the steel city’. But it’s also often cited as one of the greenest cities in Europe, with about a third of it lying in the Peak District National Park and more trees per person than any other UK city.

While Sheffield’s economy has shifted away from heavy industry towards healthcare, education and creative work, engineering jobs still play a key part in its DNA. Its growing professional middle class enjoys recent developments such as the £470m Heart of the City project, which delivered new offices, a city-centre park and Europe’s largest purpose-built food hall in Cambridge Street Collective.

This has helped shift the city centre from a dated shopping core to neighbourhood‑style mixed living, with a focus on culture and work, while the Kelham Island & Neepsend area offers industrial-chic breweries, bars and loft apartments. Nonetheless, and despite its upwards trajectory, according to CACI, Sheffield over-indexes most notably for the demographics Cash-Strapped Families (13.9% vs a national average of 7.6%) and Tenant Living (10% vs 6.9%), thanks to its large student population.

This week, in a battle worthy of the city’s fierce football rivalry between Sheffields Wednesday and United, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons fought it out for top spot and ended up separated by just one point. The winner, with a remarkable score of 95, was Sainsbury’s on Claywheels Lane, not far from Wednesday’s famed Hillsborough stadium.

The 51,386 sq ft store posted a perfect score for availability and kept up similar standards in every other area. Our shopper praised its “excellent condition” and said that even though she doesn’t live close by, she has visited “numerous times” and will again because “sometimes it’s worth the extra trip”.

Her favourite thing about the shop was the customer service, with staff seemingly “everywhere” and all of them “genial and warm” with “good eye contact and demeanour”. She also praised the “great variety of products”, the “very active” staff at the tills and the store’s general cleanliness and organisation.

Just over a mile back towards the city centre, Morrisons on Penistone Road was highly unfortunate to find itself in second place with a score of 94. Just one item not being stocked hit the 53,051 sq ft store hard, as did some slightly crowded areas due to promos. However, it was fine margins, with performance outstanding overall.

Our shopper loved the “excellent” Market Street offering and found it easy to locate products because “getting around a Morrisons just seems easier than other stores”. However, “what stood out was the very helpful and kind demeanour of employees”, all of whom “seemed happy” and were “much more prepared to help than other stores I’ve visited”.

Third place went to Waitrose in the city centre on Ecclesall Road with 85 points. Our shopper was particularly impressed by the “incredible” wine selection and said he “will be back to explore that”. He also “loved” the “diverse demographic” of ages of checkout staff, with “the gentleman serving me” providing a “human experience”. However, he did note that under normal circumstances “the prices would be out of my budget”.

A 15-minute drive south in the leafy Millhouses neighbourhood, Tesco took fourth with 72 points. Our shopper praised the “promptness and alertness of staff in the self-checkout area” but felt there were “far too many promotional displays as you enter the store, which makes it feel very crowded around the entrance area”. And although they were “mindful of customers”, our shopper wondered whether staff “should not be picking orders during peak time, as it only adds to congestion”.

More than 20 points back in last place this week was Asda on Handsworth Road, about four miles east of the city centre. Our shopper described the store as “very tired inside and in need of improvements”. There were also noticeable gaps on shelves and “no attempt to replace them with similar items for neatness”.

Our shopper bemoaned a “very poor experience in general” and said the store “needs to address cleanliness and staff morale”. He felt “the staff looked lost”. They seemed “very stressed” and “no one gave the impression they wanted to help”.