Disruption has been the key word of 2026 for Harriet Gardner, store manager of Tesco Frodsham Square in Chester.
The store was shut for 11 weeks while undergoing a total refit, in what she describes as one of the most significant challenges of her 18-year career at Tesco. But, she adds, the team has come through with flying colours to claim store of the week in our Super 33 shop in Chester.
Here, she tells us what it’s like running the busy city centre store, discusses competition from Aldi and reveals how the store has brought shoppers back.
The store couldn’t be any more central if you tried, how does location impact trade? We are literally in the city centre. No two days are the same, because we get so many different types of visitors coming to see the heritage of Chester from all over the world. We have the university and a hospital near us too. We’re a bit of everyone’s corner shop, as opposed to a big family shop, and people will come in for some pop or ice cream before they walk around town. Anything that’s part of a meal deal is popular. It’s very interesting day to day, but good fun. We offer really good car parking as well which brings loads of people in too.
You’ve recently reopened after a refit, what was done? The store was closed for 11 weeks. We reopened on Easter week – which was a fun one to choose! We had the full essential property rework including brand new lighting, a new ceiling, a full rewire and new freezers. Our F&F department has a new look and feel, we’ve got a fresh layout and brand new, easier-to-navigate aisle signage. It looks completely different.
Eleven weeks is a long time to be closed, has it been a challenge getting customers back through the door? Not really. When we reopened on the Monday the queue was so long, I thought it wasn’t going to end. Customers literally poured in to have a look. We did a bit of couponing, but generally they all came back because they missed us! Our team of 165 colleagues were all redeployed to nearby stores, and they love being back too. A lot of them have only ever worked here, so working in other shops has made them appreciate it a bit more. You don’t always understand what you’ve got until it’s gone.
This week was a Super 33, so it also included Aldi and Lidl, what’s your point of difference? We’ve got lots of competition, including a Tesco Superstore within a short 10-minute drive, so customers have lots of choice about where they can go. The store is more than 40 years old, so we have a good relationship with our customers. We strive to give all of them the best experience they can get and take on their feedback whenever we can. For example, we stopped ranging Brecon Carreg water following the refit, but we have brought it back after a customer requested it. Our shoppers know we’ll listen to them.
What’s your biggest challenge as a store team? Being in the city centre, our trade patterns can change dramatically from day to day. If the weather’s rubbish we can be really quiet, or like last week when we had the unexpected hot weather and Chester races hitting us, we have to dial up differently. Adapting to ensure we provide consistent levels of customer experience can be quite a challenge. We have to work harder since the reopening to maintain those standards.
How do you describe your management style? I’m very approachable and try to be as natural as I can. It’s really important that as store manager you stay as calm and balanced as possible, because everybody looks up to you when it’s going wrong, or even when it’s going right. I walk the shop several times a day. If something doesn’t look right, chances are it’s not, I’ll take some of my team with me, and we’ll work out how to fix it. I’m always pushing for more. I’ve got such a great, responsive team they just take it away from me. Our high standards are down to the team.
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