Store: Waitrose Lichfield
Store manager: Barry Griffiths
Opened: 2005
Size: 26,867 sq ft
Market share: 9.36%
Population: 113,519
Grocery spend: £2,986,869.97
Spend by household: £63.62
Competitors: 23
Nearest rivals: Aldi 1.2 miles, Asda 6.7 miles, Co-op 1.5 miles, Iceland 0.8 miles, Lidl 1.8 miles, M&S 6.1 miles, Morrisons 1.0 miles, Sainsbury’s 5.8 miles, Tesco 1.2 miles, Waitrose 15.4 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
You are a familiar face in the G33… This is win number five of my career. I also won Store Manager of the Year at the Grocer Gold Awards last year. It was fantastic, although I didn’t expect to win again 12 months later!
What’s your secret? Why do you keep winning? Without blowing smoke up our own backside, there are two things we do really well. The first is to prioritise the partner experience. I aim for the experience of our 178 partners to be as good as it can be, in terms of communication and recognition. The second is just real old-school retail. If you have an empty warehouse, and the shop is full and looking as good as it can every day, it leaves partners free to focus on providing great service.
What have shoppers in Lichfield been putting in their basket recently? Go back two weeks when the sun was shining, everyone was going barbecue crazy. Even though it’s not been as sunny, it’s been dry, so sales have stayed really strong. Likewise with our meal deals, particularly the pizza meal deal. Then, probably the most popular trade driver has been our ‘25% Off Six Bottles’ wine deal, which has just finished. Our bakery, meat, fish, cheese and deli counter operation are awesome, and therefore they are popular here.
BRC data this week showed trade has slowed after the early sunny weather, have you seen a drop-off in Lichfield? Generally, trade has been very good. The weather has been pretty consistent in Lichfield, so people are still buying into those sunny lines. Yes, we’ve not sold as much charcoal over the last two weeks, but looking outside my office window today, I expect those to crank up again this weekend.
What’s changed in store since our last visit? We had a refurb 18 months ago. It’s brought the shop into the 21st century. We added a Better Together aisle, with John Lewis cookware and toys; our counters were refitted; and we had a sushi bar installed. Every part of the shop was touched. It’s great for the community to know that we have invested in the shop.
The store turns 20 this year, how will you mark it? We’ve got lots of plans leading up to the main party in September, from buffets in the dining area to a live band playing in store. It’s not just for current partners – we’re inviting former and retired partners as well.
Are there any areas of the store you’re working to improve? It’s an obvious answer, but accelerating our operations and standards. The partners here are great already, but now we are focused on how we can take that customer service to the ‘next level’. We don’t want anyone to be better at service than us. We’re trying to make service more personal – so for example, if a customer asked where to find ginger paste, our partners might ask the shopper what they’re cooking or what their plans are.
As a serial G33 winner, what’s your one piece of advice for other store managers? Without trying to be corny, the staff experience has to be at the heart of everything you do. Allow them the freedom to deliver great service. But also don’t forget you need to be fantastic at the retail basics. Make sure your stock systems are right – aim for an empty warehouse and a full shop floor.
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