Deciding the winner of this week's Top Store Award was a close call between Sainsbury's Kimberley store in Nottingham, and Tesco's Loundwater store in Buckinghamshire.
As both stores provided full baskets and flawless customer service, the time that our shoppers had to spend queuing at the checkout was the deciding factor. Our Tesco shopper spent just one and a half minutes queuing.
However, our lady at Sainsbury was able to progress straight to the till, meaning that its Kimberley claimed this week's award, much to manager Craig Flewitt's delight.
Morrisons' Brampton store in Rotherham may not have provided a full basket, but our shopper said that it was brimming with well-mannered helpful staff. The store is in the middle of an extensive refurbishment and was exceptionally busy at the time of her visit.
However, the staff were doing their utmost to provide excellent service and enjoyable shopping. She spent seven minutes queuing at the checkout and was offered help packing her goods.
Asda's Stockport store had an issue with packing trolleys this week. Shelf stackers were busy at work in many of the aisles and caused him trouble. While the store was well-merchandised and staff on the shop floor were helpful and polite, it lost points at the checkout, where our shopper had to wait for nine minutes and was not offered help packing his goods.Q&A with Craig Flewitt, Manager of the Week
Tell us about your store and your time as a manager? Sainsbury's Kimberley is 24 years old and had an extensive refurbishment four years ago. I have been a store manager for three years now, and have managed Kimberley for the past two.
Did you always want to be a store manager? No, I actually started my career working as a chef! However, the hours didn't suit me and so I switched to retail to further my career. I was attracted by the fantastic opportunities that this sector has to offer, and it has not disappointed.
What is the best part of your job? It's got to be the customer service. The response that we get from our customers is fantastic, and the store is performing better and better each year. Customer numbers are up 6% annually and our takings are up 16% on last year.
What are your team like? I have an amazing team. Our colleagues' satisfaction is measured on a regular basis through Sainsbury's Talk Back surveys. Our store scored 100% in a recent survey. That means that all of our staff are happy and enjoy coming to work. Kimberley is the best performing Sainsbury's store in the region for colleague satisfaction. We are held up as an example.
What do you bring to the table? If you asked my colleagues they would probably say humour. You probably spend more time at work than you do at home so it's so important that you enjoy your job. I try to make each day as fun as possible for everybody, and we have a fantastic working environment. What is your strategy? In my opinion you have to treat every single day as if it were your first. Always turn up to work with clean shoes, a clean shirt and really show what you can do. That way you can inspire others to do as you do. What are your plans for 2006 and beyond? I am thoroughly enjoying my time at Kimberley and plan to spend the rest of the year working here. However, there is the possibility that I could be moving to a larger store in late 2007 although this is not confirmed yet.this week a year ago The winner was...
Andy White of Sainsbury's Leamington Spa was our winning manager this time last year. When we last spoke to White he said his strategy for the year was to make customer service second to none.
He is clearly a man of his word. Twelve months on and not only is the store meeting all its availability and customer service targets, but it is also trading excellently, up 6% year on year. And White has another busy 12 months ahead of him. The store is heavily involved with Sainsbury's Active Kids scheme and Sport Relief, something which White is excited about. "The event will culminate on 15 July with everybody in the store dressed as their favourite sporting hero. It's a truly fantastic thing to be involved in."
As both stores provided full baskets and flawless customer service, the time that our shoppers had to spend queuing at the checkout was the deciding factor. Our Tesco shopper spent just one and a half minutes queuing.
However, our lady at Sainsbury was able to progress straight to the till, meaning that its Kimberley claimed this week's award, much to manager Craig Flewitt's delight.
Morrisons' Brampton store in Rotherham may not have provided a full basket, but our shopper said that it was brimming with well-mannered helpful staff. The store is in the middle of an extensive refurbishment and was exceptionally busy at the time of her visit.
However, the staff were doing their utmost to provide excellent service and enjoyable shopping. She spent seven minutes queuing at the checkout and was offered help packing her goods.
Asda's Stockport store had an issue with packing trolleys this week. Shelf stackers were busy at work in many of the aisles and caused him trouble. While the store was well-merchandised and staff on the shop floor were helpful and polite, it lost points at the checkout, where our shopper had to wait for nine minutes and was not offered help packing his goods.Q&A with Craig Flewitt, Manager of the Week
Tell us about your store and your time as a manager? Sainsbury's Kimberley is 24 years old and had an extensive refurbishment four years ago. I have been a store manager for three years now, and have managed Kimberley for the past two.
Did you always want to be a store manager? No, I actually started my career working as a chef! However, the hours didn't suit me and so I switched to retail to further my career. I was attracted by the fantastic opportunities that this sector has to offer, and it has not disappointed.
What is the best part of your job? It's got to be the customer service. The response that we get from our customers is fantastic, and the store is performing better and better each year. Customer numbers are up 6% annually and our takings are up 16% on last year.
What are your team like? I have an amazing team. Our colleagues' satisfaction is measured on a regular basis through Sainsbury's Talk Back surveys. Our store scored 100% in a recent survey. That means that all of our staff are happy and enjoy coming to work. Kimberley is the best performing Sainsbury's store in the region for colleague satisfaction. We are held up as an example.
What do you bring to the table? If you asked my colleagues they would probably say humour. You probably spend more time at work than you do at home so it's so important that you enjoy your job. I try to make each day as fun as possible for everybody, and we have a fantastic working environment. What is your strategy? In my opinion you have to treat every single day as if it were your first. Always turn up to work with clean shoes, a clean shirt and really show what you can do. That way you can inspire others to do as you do. What are your plans for 2006 and beyond? I am thoroughly enjoying my time at Kimberley and plan to spend the rest of the year working here. However, there is the possibility that I could be moving to a larger store in late 2007 although this is not confirmed yet.this week a year ago The winner was...
Andy White of Sainsbury's Leamington Spa was our winning manager this time last year. When we last spoke to White he said his strategy for the year was to make customer service second to none.
He is clearly a man of his word. Twelve months on and not only is the store meeting all its availability and customer service targets, but it is also trading excellently, up 6% year on year. And White has another busy 12 months ahead of him. The store is heavily involved with Sainsbury's Active Kids scheme and Sport Relief, something which White is excited about. "The event will culminate on 15 July with everybody in the store dressed as their favourite sporting hero. It's a truly fantastic thing to be involved in."
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