Waitrose South Woodford named best store in north east London area

With a combined population of 1.2 million – double that of Manchester – the pocket of north east London comprising the boroughs of Enfield, Haringey, Waltham Forest and Redbridge provides, perhaps unsurprisingly, a mixed bag.

Within Waltham Forest alone, the extreme gentrification found in Walthamstow Village, where poké restaurants rub shoulders with wine bars and independent greengrocers, is juxtaposed with the Baker’s Arms area, where 65.5% of households are deprived.

It’s a similar story in Redbridge, where leafy, middle-class Wanstead boasts a French bistro in the Michelin guide, while Ilford has parts where 68.3% of households experience some form of deprivation.

Such contrasts play out in the demographics identified by CACI for the north east London area as a whole, which overindexes massively on ‘thriving neighbourhoods’ (33.2% vs a national average of 23.1%) while also being home to an above-average percentage of ‘low-income living’ inhabitants (14.9% vs a national average of 13.3%).

Read more:

• Tesco comes in cheapest in Grocer 33 shop, beating Asda by 20p

• James Reid of Waitrose South Woodford on winning with a new team

• What is The Grocer 33 and how does it work?

In our mystery shop this week, it was one of the wealthier areas that provided the winner, with Waitrose in South Woodford taking the victory.

It was, however, a low-scoring week across the board – the 26,676 sq ft Waitrose came out on top with just 67 points. A rare Grocer 33 contender located genuinely on the High Road, the store put in a relatively poor showing on availability, with one item out of stock and four items not stocked – though the latter can perhaps be explained by its relatively diminutive size.

Things went slightly better on store experience, where our shopper was pleased with the levels of cleanliness and described shopping there as a “pleasant” if “average” experience. She described the store’s condition as “not particularly tired” but noted “there are other Waitrose stores that look fresher”.

The best thing about the shop was the checkout process, which was “very easy with no errors”, but experiences with staff were “varied”. Overall, our shopper was happy enough with this shop, while noting there was “nothing particularly memorable” about it.

A mere 12-minute drive up the A406, Sainsbury’s in Walthamstow Avenue grabbed second place with 63 points. Despite its address, this store would more accurately be described as located in nearby Chingford – an affluent Tory stronghold, where Iain Duncan Smith has served as MP since 1992.

Also located just off a high street, this store was “bright and relatively fresh”, according to our shopper, who shops here “regularly” – especially when doing “the big shop” due to the store’s whopping square footage of 69,579.

Despite being “very busy”, the store’s shelves were well stocked, while the layout was “good and easy to navigate”. However, our shopper found customer service “a little slow” and felt the store was “let down” by one staff member who responded to a product location enquiry with: “I haven’t got a clue – you’ll have to ask someone else in a different section.”  

Generally, though, our shopper had “a satisfactory experience – neither poor nor good”.

Just seven minutes’ walk away, Morrisons in Salisbury Hall Gardens, also in Chingford, took third this week with 61 points. If it had not been for a catastrophic performance on availability – with three items out of stock and five not stocked – the store might have been celebrating a win.

After all, it scored perfect 10s on both accessibility and features & services, with our shopper praising the “spacious, easy-to-navigate” car park and a “well-managed” store kept “in good order”. Our shopper particularly liked “the helpfulness of staff”, who were not only “interested” but also plentiful.

In the up-and-coming area of Highams Park, Tesco on Larkshall Road took fourth place with 56 points. A perfect score on availability for the 38,024 sq ft store was offset by a very poor performance in most other areas. Our shopper felt the store was “poorly designed” with “tight aisles” and an experience that “didn’t flow”, citing pasta and rice being in one aisle but sauces and herbs located 10 aisles away “at the opposite end of the store”.

They went on to decry the “unfriendly, unhelpful staff” and the “difficult access and exit” via escalators. Our shopper “didn’t like anything about this store” and “definitely wouldn’t return”.

A full 12 points back in last place this week was Asda in Edmonton, which performed similarly to Tesco, but without the buffer of an excellent availability score. The one high point was our shopper’s interactions with staff, who he found “knowledgeable, helpful and friendly”.

Overall, though, the store provided a “generally unpleasant shopping experience”. The store was “incredibly busy”, had “a dirty/unkept feel” and was “generally a bit of a mess”.