How does it feel to be the best supermarket in Worthing? This was the first store I ever worked in and I returned last November as store manager, so it’s close to my heart, but the branch had a tricky couple of years leadership wise and we’ve invested a lot of time into being able to deliver passionate service, so this is a crowning moment for all of the hard work and the effort the team has put in to turn the store around. I’d also like to name drop my deputy store manager Fraser Cannings, who has been instrumental in the journey we’ve been on.
Worthing is by the sea, how does that affect trade? We’re not really a destination seaside town, so while some seaside stores see a summer slump or peak, we trade fairly consistently through the year. I’m Worthing born and bred, and it’s a really nice place to live. We tend to get a lot of older shoppers, which is a completely different demographic to shops in Brighton, just a stone’s throw away. Waitrose has been here for 20 years, so we have a dedicated and loyal customer base who have stuck with us.
Our shopper noted your front window is smashed. Is retail crime a problem in Worthing? We did have an incident that led to the window last week, but luckily, incidents here are few and far between. The whole industry is struggling with the level of crime that’s going on – there are definitely stores that are worse off than here. New laws coming to protect workers are fantastic, but it’s my responsibility to ensure the safety of our partners and customers above all else.
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Waitrose is Worthing’s best in a week of low availability
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What is The Grocer 33 and how does it work?
It’s The Grocer’s Green Week. Have you had any investments to improve the sustainability of the store? We’ve not had anything recently, but we are due to get new fridges in the next 12 months. A lot of our recent investment has focused on customer experience – rebalancing self-checkouts, improving our e-commerce offer – and fridges are the final stage of that work.
Counters are a massive part of Waitrose’s offer, but can have high levels of food waste – how have you been trying to reduce that? Our service counters are really popular, it’s our USP. Waste isn’t really an issue, because we’re doing the right amount of trade. If anything, we could double down and push more sales, but I like to keep a balance. More generally, we work with local charities by donating unsold food at the end of the day. Anything charities can’t take is offered to partners. We have Too Good to Waste bays where we put marked-down, fresh, pre-packed products.
How has the Duchy Organic relaunch landed? Customers have always loved our Duchy range here, so the relaunch has gone down well. The refreshed branding looks phenomenal and is much easier for them to find on shelves because it stands out. We’re promoting it on both front of store display units and across all our fresh promotional ends, with 20% off. Not only is the packing more bold, there’s much less plastic with more of it now cardboard based, so it’s helping with our green credentials as well.
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