Tesco Lincoln takes narrow win in a high-scoring week

Lincoln is unafraid to play on its enchanting history and heritage, but it’s also a city that leans into its playful, more modern side. The opening of the University of Lincoln in 1996 is credited with invigorating a destination that was becoming tired and staid. Although clustered largely around its Brayford Pool waterfront location, the university’s 15,000 students have supercharged Lincoln’s cultural economy and nightlife.

That doesn’t mean the city’s main draw for tourists has changed, though. The magnificent cathedral still stands tall as the jewel in Lincoln’s crown, the famous castle houses one of just four remaining copies of the Magna Carta, while thoroughfares like the aptly named Steep Hill, in Lincoln’s beautiful old quarter, are lined with independent shops and cafés.

Life here is calmer and less crowded than the likes of nearby Nottingham, Sheffield or Leeds, and that is reflected in Lincoln’s status as an area with “a near-total absence of commuter-belt wealth and metropolitan professional affluence, pointing to a socio-economic profile of a market town/city serving a settled, ageing and moderate-to-lower-income hinterland”, according to CACI.

And in a city whose castle was built by William the Conqueror, the battle to be crowned this week’s Grocer 33 winner was suitably fierce. In a high-scoring week across the board, Asda could count itself highly unlucky not to win with a score of 91, but it was pipped by Tesco with an almighty 94.

Located on Wragby Road just a mile northeast of the cathedral, Tesco excelled in every area, but our shopper singled out “the nice, wide aisles” that made the store “very easy to navigate” as her favourite feature. It was also “very clean” with an “excellent selection of items”. She praised the “very polite and helpful” staff who “assisted me in every way they could” – by using handheld scanners, checking “out the back” and escorting our shopper to an item she was looking for.

A full five miles southwest in the functional family suburb of North Hykeham, Asda missed out on the win thanks to two items being out of stock – which ruined a virtually perfect score in other areas. Our shopper found the store to be in “good condition” with “recently replaced” trolleys, and liked that customers can “visit the café, go to the opticians, collect medication, do some clothes shopping and buy things for your house – it’s not just a food shopping experience”.

She also thinks the prices “are always very competitive” and praised the helpful staff for whom “nothing felt like too much trouble”, especially the colleague who belatedly came across an item on our shopper’s list and tracked her down to give it to her.

Two retailers tied for third place with very good scores of 86. The 29,119 sq ft Waitrose on Searby Road would have been troubling our winners were it not for an underwhelming performance on availability, but it was another store that picked up near-perfect scores everywhere else. Our shopper praised the store’s cleanliness and reported “not a single issue seen as we shopped”. There was also an “appealing selection” on the deli counter, while staff were “extremely helpful and friendly” and “very apologetic at the OOS and DNS items”.

About 4.5 miles southwest, the gigantic 76,412 sq ft Sainsbury’s on Tritton Road also scored 86 but performed much better on availability than Waitrose, with just one item not stocked. It lost ground mainly on store experience, with plants for sale near the entrance that have “seen better days” and “pretty unpleasant” toilets. The store excelled elsewhere, though, with our shopper praising “lots of choice and good availability of products” and being “impressed” by “all the staff I encountered…this was a real positive for the store”.

Just a two-minute walk away on the same out-of-town retail park was guest retailer Iceland, which put in this week’s best performance on availability but still came fifth despite a perfectly respectable score of 80. The store was in “excellent condition” with a “comfortable ambience”, according to our shopper, who also “enjoyed the music being played”. She also appreciated the speed of the shop, at just 34 minutes, “due to the limited choice and intuitive layout”. However, she was disappointed with “the way the staff gave verbal descriptions of where to find an item and did not help me locate it”.

A full 23 points back in last place was Morrisons, our third supermarket on Tritton Road this week, albeit located much closer to the city centre than the others. The store picked up zero points for availability, thanks to three out-of-stocks and four items not stocked. Our shopper described the overall experience as “very average” with “none of the staff members checking the system or stockroom” for items, although “they were all polite”. There were also “many” empty shelves and signage that was “quite difficult to see”, although our shopper did like “the spacious aisles”.