Winner: Morrisons, Penrith

Deputy store manager: John Wolstenholme

Opened: 2004

Size: 27,000 sq

Market Share: 74.4%

Nearest rivals:

Booths 0.0 miles

Sainsbury’s 0.4 miles

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

Sainsbury’s and Booths opened new stores in Penrith last November. How has this affected trade? We’ve been the main supermarket in the town for a long time, the store was a Safeway before Morrisons bought it in 2004, and the loyalty of our customers has really shone through. Our sales have actually held up even better than we thought they would.

How has the store coped with the recent cold snap? Last week was difficult. It wasn’t so much the snow but the ice. There were a lot of accidents in the area and many roads were closed. As a result we were really busy on the day of the G33 shop as it was the first time a lot of people could get to the store – so we were really pleased our availability was so good. This was especially the case on things like soups and cupboard items as people looked to stock up.

This week Morrisons rolled out its first veggie range as part of M Kitchen. How is it doing? It went on shelves on Monday and it’s going really well. Our customers had been asking for something like this and so many more have particular dietary needs these days – I think it will do really well.

And what about the other new own-label ranges that have been introduced recently? The M Kitchen range that came in last year has been a real success. There is a great variety and the quality is fantastic – my favourite is the Bistro spaghetti Bolognese. We also had M Savers this month and customers have really taken to that. The new look is great – it doesn’t look like a value product.

How was Valentine’s Day for you – the store that is? It was very busy. We had a lot of good deals on and some interesting new products. On Valentine’s Day itself we had a lot of very worried looking fellas coming in looking for flowers. They were all delighted that we had some left. The store was also busy this week as the schools were off, so there was a lot more holidaymakers in the area.

John Wolstenholme was talking to Ronan Hegarty

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