Having the economically deprived Moss Side estate and a university campus for neighbours may not seem an ideal place for a Sainsbury's store. But its Fallowfield branch in Manchester has proven a surprise hit with the locals and wins this week's Top Store award, marking the fourth win in six weeks for Sainsbury's. CACI data indicates the best location for a Sainsbury's would be in an area where 27% of residents were wealthy achievers. Fallowfield has none of those customers. Though the branch does attract more urban prosperous shoppers than a typical Sainsbury's store, it also attracts more hard-pressed shoppers. But store manager Simon Perry need not be concerned as the data also reveals his rivals are even less suited to the area. Students from the nearby University of Manchester campus, however, are vital to Perry's store, providing one third of his trade. Our mystery shopper was a fan of the store, too, praising it for its strong availability, first-class customer service and short queuing time. Perry said Sainsbury's winning streak was a result of better availability measures. "Justin King has got the bit between his teeth about availability at the moment," he said. "Reducing out-of-stock items has been a priority for every Sainsbury's store manager and these Top Store awards mean our internal ordering systems have dramatically improved."



Q&A with Simon Perry Store manager of the week


 


Being in the middle of a university campus, you must have extra stocks of Pot Noodles? Not at all! Everyone thinks students eat poorly but they don't here. One third of our trade comes from students and we value their custom. They eat very well, buying more tuna steaks than Pot Noodles. Lager is always a top seller, though. September, when the first term starts, is like Christmas for us. All the parents come in and buy enough mops and buckets to last the year. So your average shopper is a student? We have the challenge of catering for different types of shopper. Aside from the Moss Side estate, Didsbury is two miles down the road, which is an affluent area. There's also a large multi-cultural community nearby, too. Offering the right range of products to suit everyone's tastes and budgets is hard but we are succeeding with strong availability and offering quality produce. Is shoplifting an issue at your store? It was a big problem when I arrived 18 months ago, but since then we have monitored the aisles where incidents occur more closely. We call it the Red Route and colleagues are more vigilant and check these aisles regularly. Since this system was introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement. What do you make of Sainsbury's Taste the Difference range passing the £1bn mark? It's great. Own-label products are more popular than ever because consumers have more confidence in the quality of the food. And our frozen food sales are bucking the national downward trend because students can't seem to get enough oven chips and pizza. If you could change your store in any way, what would you do? I'd change nothing inside the store because we had a refit in September and now stock a full clothing and general merchandise range. The street entrance to the store is too concealed at the moment and needs to look more welcoming to potential customers passing by.


 


Asda The Forge, Glasgow


2 - This Asda branch provided first-class customer service and the aisles were neat and tidy. Although the Radox foam bath and the Birds Eye chicken curry ready meal were out of stock, there was a large selection of special offers and 17 of the 24 checkouts were open, which was sufficient for the number of shoppers. We visited on 15 February at 10.25am. Our shop lasted one hour and 10 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was three minutes.


 


Morrisons Leyland, Lancashire


2 - Our shopper said this Morrisons was clean and brightly lit with spacious aisles and helpful staff. Availability was strong even though the fruit scones were sold out. However, queues at the checkout were long as only eight of the 26 tills were open and operators were chatting to each other, which disappointed our shopper. We visited on 15 February at 9.32am. Our shop lasted one hour and four minutes. Time spent at the checkout was eight minutes.


 


Sainsbury's Fallowfield, Manchester


0 - There was a busy but welcoming atmosphere at our winning store and although it didn't stock a six or seven-pack of kiwi-fruit, other sizes were available. There were no large gaps on the shelves and the checkout operator was quick and polite. There were no queues as 17 of the 21 tills were open. We visited on 15 February at 1.20pm. Our shop lasted one hour 15 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was two minutes 20 seconds.


 


Somerfield Brentford, west London


3 - This Somerfield was clean and tidy with polite staff members, who did their best to help our shopper find items. However, the Evian, brie and fruit scones were out of stock and the quality of the loose broccoli was poor. Three other items were not stocked and the variety of stock was limited because the shop was small. We visited on 15 February at 4.29pm. Our shop lasted 45 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was seven minutes.


 


Tesco Hythe, Hampshire


2 - There was a chaotic atmosphere at this Tesco when our shopper visited as it was being refurbished. The aisles were fairly empty, but staff were doing their best to help shoppers. The store was also cold because the heating system had broken. The only out-of-stock items were the McCain Smiles and VO5 gel. We visited on 15 February at 11.40am. Our shop lasted one hour. Time spent at the checkout was 10 minutes.


 


Waitrose Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire


5 - Availability was the main weakness at this Waitrose as the grapes, loose apples, own label corn flakes, Evian and John Smith's beer were sold out. Delivery cages blocked the aisles, but the staff were polite and attentive and queues were minimal. We visited on 15 February at 5.30pm. Our shop lasted one hour and five minutes. Time spent at the checkout was 5 minutes.


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