Winner: Asda Thurmaston
Store manager: Ian Rowntree
Size: 55,000 sq
Opened: 2003
Market share: 16.2%
Nearest rivals: Tesco (0.8 miles), Sainsbury’s (3.1 miles), Morrisons (4.9 miles)

Store data source: Analysis by CACI. Call the market planning group on 020 7602 6000

 

You’ve been GSM for four months. What have been your priorities? We have been focusing on how we can improve and drive availability, as well delivering warm and friendly service with Asda personality. I am delighted for the whole store team that all the hard work they have been putting in has been recognised.

What is the hardest thing you have had to do recently? Everything is challenging each day – but in a nice way. One of the most exciting things is that yesterday we launched click & collect. Customers shop online but instead of their shopping being delivered, they are given a time-slot and can pick it up. No more sitting in at home waiting, now you can pick it up on the way home and not have to get out of your car.

How about self-service tills – are they becoming more popular? They are. The software is getting better and people are getting more comfortable with using them. We are encouraging people to use them and if they do go wrong our colleagues explain why. It’s about demonstrating that it’s a quick and easy way to pay.

Tesco is just up the road. How do you compete? It’s quite an exciting prospect as we get closer to Christmas – our prices are similar, our promotions are similar, but the key thing for me is that we deliver great service. That is what wins over that inbetween customer – along with great availability. We need the customer to trust that the products they want will be on shelf – we are in the trust business. And we do a lot of community work to build on that.

What is selling well in store at the moment? Halloween is going very well. We put it out a week ago and we have some great lines in the ‘Trick or Treat Street’ aisle – everything from dressing-up to eating. There has been a lot of interest there. Every year it just gets bigger and bigger. I remember 15 years ago we used to have a couple of bays – now we have 25. 

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