Winner: Sainsbury’s, Tewkesbury Road, Cheltenham
Store Manager: Tim Jackson
Opened: 1988
Size: 58,000 sq ft
Market share: 14.3%
Nearest rivals: Tesco - 1.1 miles, Waitrose - 1.3 miles, Asda - 2.1 miles
Store data source: Analysis by CACI. Call the market planning group on 020 7602 6000

 

How does it feel to win store of the week? It’s our 25th anniversary today so it’s a wonderful birthday present.

Did the snow affect your store? We were quite lucky in Cheltenham we weren’t too badly affected. Some of our colleagues left their cars at home and walked three or four miles into work, which was great.

A new Whole Foods Market store opened nearby in November 2012. Has this affected trade? No - it’s helped us. We looked closely at our customers’ shopping habits to identify what they wanted and we introduced foods from all over the world - Afro-Caribbean, Indian and Polish.

Have you made any changes in store recently? We’ve just had a major refurbishment. Every part of the store has been renewed. We have new signage, new bakery counters, and have introduced 250 new lines including ingredients geared towards the more confident cooks out there.

How did you deal with the horse burger fallout? All Sainsbury’s meat is British sourced, so we had no doubt our meat was fine but as a precautionary measure Sainsbury’s took a decision to take some products off shelf.

How long have you worked at the store? Three years. Before that I was with Asda for 26 years.

Have you noticed a change in shopping habits during that time? Customers used to browse and fill their trolleys up but, in the current financial climate, they’re shopping little and often. They’re relying on lists a lot more so availability is really important.

What’s the most difficult thing about your job? I guess retailing is about juggling: keeping abreast of everything coming down the line, understanding which balls to keep in the air and which ones are safe to put to one side.

And the best? The colleagues I work with are fantastic. The talent and enthusiasm we have around our store never ceases to amaze me. I love it.

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