Tesco's immaculate Maryhill branch in Glasgow was this week's top store, thanks to a chatty checkout assistant, no queue and staff who were happy to help.

The store provided a pleasant shop in a week where no retailer provided a full basket. Only one item was out of stock and a polite shop assistant escorted our shopper to several items.

At Waitrose in Rickmansworth, which also had one out of stock, our shopper had to negotiate her way around several stacking trolleys and queue for four minutes before reaching the till. The friendly checkout assistant waited until she had finished packing before asking for payment, though.

Helpful staff escorted our shopper to several items at Morrisons' Maldon branch, which also had one out-of-stock item. However, shelf stackers were obstructing the aisles and not enough tills were open. The checkout assistant was polite, though, and offered to pack.

Sainsbury's in Brighton also had one out of stock. However, an unhelpful checkout assistant ruined the shopping experience. He scanned the items so quickly that our shopper found it hard to pack, causing her to drop the bolognese sauce, which smashed and splashed her clothes with sauce.

Asda in Hulme was let down by poor availability, with three out-of-stock items. There was also a 10-minute wait at the till, but staff were polite and friendly.


Winner: Graham Nisbet, store manager, Tesco, Maryhill, Glasgow

What products are selling particularly well at the moment? Our entertainment range, particularly computer games, are selling particularly well. So is our meal deal offer where you can get three courses - starter, main course, accompaniment and dessert - for £5. A lot of customers have started buying Valentine's Day gifts and cards, too.

Does head office give you any freedom when choosing stock? Yes. As a store, we are given a lot of freedom. We ensure we stock lines if customers request them. Any feedback we receive goes back to a conference call twice a week. We constantly monitor our lines, and try to offer the best-possible products suited to our customers. We also try to introduce products from local suppliers, such as milk.

What would you change about your store? I would like to make it bigger so we could have more floor space for more ranges. I would look at doubling its size, because customers deserve that. There are plans in the pipeline to turn the store into a Tesco Extra.

What's been the biggest change you have made in the way the store is run? Emphasising the importance of working shoulder to shoulder. It's important to build trust with staff and customers, so the team and I spend as much time on the shop floor as possible. We have recently been rolling out some of our computers from the office on to the shop floor so we have a heavy in-store presence and are available to help customers as much as we can.

What are your everyday management challenges? Looking after our customers and staff, providing excellent availability and a level of service that exceeds customers' expectations, and ensuring they have the best shopping experience they possibly can. It is important that staff see Tesco as a brilliant place to work and we value their opinions. We appreciate what they do for us.

How do you compete against the nearby Asda store? We respect our competitors and I think we compete very well against Asda. We also have the Clubcard option, which is a bonus.

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