Store of the week: Asda Thurmaston

Congratulations. How do you feel about the win? I’m chuffed to bits - this is my second win - I won back in October 2012 when I’d been at the store for four months. The store team are really pleased and proud that we’ve won twice.

What challenges have you faced since you last won store of the week? We recently had a large Sainsbury’s open down the road, which was a big cause for concern. We lost customers initially but it could have been a lot worse. We’ve focused work on store standards. I’m very process orientated - it’s all about doing as best as we can.

Our shopper was impressed by the staff and store standards. How do you encourage this? In January, we had our year-beginning meeting for managers, which is about focusing on delivering and executing our strategy. We’ve shared this with the team and communicated key messages to staff in groups.

How do you cater for the demographic in your area? There are quite a lot of affluent villages in the north and east of the store, but in the south there are quite a few low income areas. We had an Aldi and Lidl open up over the past couple of years and one of the things we’ve tried to do is drive the value message. We’ve been running price lock on some lines for more than a year.

How do you capitalise on events such as Pancake Day? We have two selling champions who have mobile microphones and promote offers over the PA. It’s a good selling tool. We promoted pancakes and their component parts including frying pans, which have sold well.

What’s been performing well outside food and drink? We introduced an outdoor living range last week. It’s at phase one but it’s doing well. Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been introducing new lines for George Home. It’s undergone a total redesign - we’ve had a lot of interest in new products and there’s definitely been an increase in sales.