Store: Tesco Gloucester
Store manager: Matthew Jones
Opened: 2006
Size: 55,000 sq ft
Market share: 16.71%
Population: 218,553
Grocery spend: £5,936,505.86
Spend by household: £64.58
Competitors: 53
Nearest rivals: Aldi 1.1 miles, Asda 2.7 miles, Co-op 0.8 miles, Iceland 3.1 miles, Lidl 2.0 miles, M&S 1.8 miles, Morrisons 1.4 miles, Sainsbury’s 1.5 miles, Tesco 1.0 miles, Waitrose 5.4 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 did you end up as store manager at the store? I’ve been at Tesco for 19 years. I started in one of the local stores on a checkout at 17. I’ve been a manager for the last five years and in Gloucester for the last two-and-a-half years. I’m also the channel lead for the LGBTQ+ network at Tesco, and I was really fortunate to be sponsored to do a business degree with Tesco during my career.
Could you tell me a bit more about the LGBTQ+ network and your role within that? I’m a channel lead, which means I look after stores and fulfilment centres in terms of being an ear on the ground for people policies, such as how we can be brilliant on Pride. We do loads of amazing things. We helped rewrite policies to support colleagues and look after our diversity reps in stores – just making sure we are as fully inclusive as we can be.
How did Pride go for you? We just had Gloucester Pride in September, which I was the organiser for. We were one of the sponsors at Tesco and we were in the parade and had a stall. It was amazing, getting colleagues together to just be themselves and celebrate.
What makes the store stand out? This is the 15th store I’ve worked in. We have 400 absolutely brilliant colleagues that focus on the shopping trip for customers and offering great service. Tesco provides the bricks & mortar and the products, but it’s the team that is important. I’m exceptionally lucky.
What is the area like? Our customers are mid-market, but we tailor for everyone. We’re on a business park, so we get a lot of lunchtime trade, but we also bring in a lot of people from the local towns and villages. We are one of the biggest shops in the area, so our catchment spans quite far, with people driving 30 miles to come shopping because it’s a one-stop shop.
What services does the store offer? We’ve got a petrol station, travel money and a partnership with The Entertainer – the concession looks really good and we’ve had loads of positive feedback.
How much have you seen the gap close with Aldi given Ken Murphy’s recent remarks? I think we’ve got a brilliant array of offers and our value preposition is really strong, including everyday low prices, Aldi Price Match and our Clubcard Prices. Probably the biggest piece of positive feedback I get from customers is around Clubcard. The remarks from our half-year trading statement are absolutely spot on – we’re well placed to do as much work as we can on price.
What are your plans for the rest of the year? I’m super excited about Christmas, we’ve had the first few ranges come through and I’ve started buying it already, which says a lot. I’m super excited for all the fun at work. We have a Santa’s grotto in our community space. It’s an amazing time of the year for retail, I absolutely love it.
What preparations are you making? We’re employing even more local people. And we’re making sure we have enough space for all of our popular lines so we can ensure we’ve got strong availability. We’re starting to rejig the store to make sure we can fit all the ‘holly lines’. We’ve got all the biscuits and cakes out, and then we will look in more detail at condiments, stuffings and the rest.
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