Asda Hunt's Cross, Liverpool: Grocer 33 store of the week

Your store is 30 years old this year. How did you celebrate? We actually have a few staff who have worked here all those 30 years so we had a good party to celebrate. I actually talk about it with my team a lot. Every week we look through The Grocer and say ‘that could be us one day’.

You’re located in a shopping mall. Does that help trade? Yes. We’re actually in a mall that’s Asda-owned. It’s about 100,000 sq ft in total, with a Subway, Domino’s, Card Factory and other shops. We’ve also just had our petrol station refurbished so we have a lot to attract people. It’s like a one-stop shop.

So will it be the Best Christmas Ever in Hunt’s Cross? We’ve really gone for it this year. We have a massive tree; it must be well over 20 ft and right in the middle of the mall area. It feels very festive and our figures so far are looking very positive.

What do you think will sell well this Christmas? We’ve got some really great deals in BWS. There is a six for £25 deal on wines, which is going down a storm, and £16 spirits. We also launched 25% off George knitwear, just before the freezing cold weather arrived, which was good timing.

What about in non-food? The product that seems to be really selling well is projection Christmas lights, which project lights on to people’s houses without having to put actual lights up. We have a whole gondola end devoted to them and they are proving a bit hit. There are different designs like snowflakes and Christmas trees and they save people risking life and limb climbing up ladders.

Do you have any changes coming up to your online offer? Yes, there’s a lot of focus on digital. We currently have a van in our car park where people collect their click & collect items but we are going to be switching over to lockers. It will free up staff time and I think people are comfortable with the idea of collecting from lockers themselves.