Winner: Sainsbury’s Fallowfield
Store manager: Stephen Lea
Opened: 1999
Size: 29,000 sq
Market share: 27.2%
Nearest rivals:
Tesco 1.5 miles
Asda 1.7 miles
Morrisons 2.2 miles
Store data source: Analysis by CACI.
Call the market planning group on 020 7602 6000

 

So. Another win for the City of Manchester then. What a great week! It certainly is! Half of my staff here are red and the other half are blue, so half had glum faces on Monday morning while the rest were loving it.

So, why do you think your store won? We try to offer two things at this store – great service and great availability. If we can get both of those things right then customers will come back. My staff are very much from the younger generation and many of them are students and term timers, which means they work with me when they’re at university, and when they go home they work at the store nearest there, so there are some challenges.

As well as students on your staff , your store is very much in the middle of a student area. How do you cater for them? Students make up 40% of our shoppers. We don’t tailor the range for them specifically but in September when the new term starts we offer more general merchandise products for the newcomers, such as sheets, cushions and cutlery.

How do student shopping habits differ from other shoppers? The busiest time for the store is a Monday evening because all the students have finished their work and come in to do their shopping for the week. They’re a healthy bunch and eat a lot of fresh produce. But towards the end of the week, they turn to the hot food counters and want the beer deals.

Do they like Brand Match? It’s been so successful here. The student population is really savvy on price but they continue to shop with us because Brand Match is showing them we are really competitive on price.

Have Sainsbury’s recent strong results been reflected at your store? We’ve been in line with the company. We’ve all worked really hard in the past year and I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved. We all work so well together and support each other. It’s a fun place to work. 

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