Duty manager: Shane Dyke
Store: Fosse Park, Leicester
Opened: 1992
Size: 71,552 sq ft
Market share: 11.2%
Population: 451,317
Grocery spend: £11,152,838
Spend by household: £67
Competitors: 92
Nearest rivals: Aldi 1.2 miles, Asda 0.3 miles, Co-op 0.8 miles, Iceland 1.8 miles, Lidl 2.4 miles, M&S 0.1 mile, Morrisons 2.6 miles, Sainsbury’s 2.3 miles, Tesco 2.0 miles, Waitrose 1.7 miles
Source: CACI. For more info visit www.caci.co.uk/contact. Notes: Shopper profiling is measured using Grocery Acorn shopper segmentation. Store catchment data (market share, population, expenditure, spend by household, competition) is within a five-mile radius. For CACI’s shopper segmentation of the other stores we visited this week see the online report at www.thegrocer.co.uk/stores/the-grocer-33
How does your location affect who’s shopping in store? We’re half a mile off the M1, so we attract a good mix of locals and people from afar. The Fosse Park retail park across the road has been extended and lots of people come here to do their big shop after visiting there. Our shoppers are anyone from affluent to everyday low-priced shoppers. They’re typically coming here for the big basket shop. Due to our location, we also have the biggest Sainsbury’s Smart Charge EV hub in the business. It’s being used more as customers get used to it. It’s definitely helped coffee sales in our café too.
September was the wettest on record. Did that affect footfall? Trade patterns have moved around. People aren’t coming out as much as they probably would do Wednesday or Thursday if the weather has been really bad. But that has moved a lot of people into Friday and Saturday shops. There’s been a lot of floods and road closures in Leicester, which means there’s been some delays to online deliveries.
Sainsbury’s kicked off Christmas recruitment this week. How are preparations going? We released Christmas ranges slightly earlier this year, but people are looking to spread the cost more. We’re seeing an upturn already with shoppers putting the little bits like the Taste The Difference Christmas Biscuits in their basket. Who would have thought we’d be selling Advent calendars before Halloween? But they are really selling well. It’s not just the food mission, it’s gifting as well. We dressed in Tu Christmas clothing this week. The one big sales win at the moment is ‘Family Christmas’ and we’re already seeing Christmas pyjama sets absolutely flying off the shelves. We’re looking to take on approximately 40 seasonal people.
Leicester is a multicultural city. How are you catering to other seasonal events? We dedicate just as much space to Diwali as we do to Halloween and Christmas on our seasonal ranges. They get a third each. It’s a market that we’ve probably under-represented in the past, but we know it’s getting bigger and bigger. We now have boards and amazing PoS at the front of the store, whereas before we would have just sold those lines through the world foods aisle. Typically, we sell a lot of bulk in those lines – so lots of oil, rice and confectionery.
Sainsbury’s has worked hard on improving availability. What are some of the improvements you’ve made in store? The biggest change over the last 18 months has been the rollout of the Blue Yonder forecasting system. The most important thing for me now is that I’ve got what I want, when I need it, rather than after I need it. It’s definitely working and availability is definitely stronger on the shop floor.
How long have you worked for Sainsbury’s? Twenty-six years. A good chunk of that was in convenience when it was a separate division. I made the step into supermarkets 14 years ago. During that time, I’ve gone from 14 colleagues to 420 here.
What’s your main focus for making sure the rest of the year goes smoothly? I’m a retailer at heart, I just love my job. Now it’s giving that to my colleagues. We’re going to have some really hard, busy days, but let’s remember to have fun. Let’s remember we’re all human.
No comments yet