Grocer 33 store of the week: Asda Huyton

What’s new in the supercentre? We have an in-store Barclays, which is very popular with some of the local community whose local bank has shut down. Pensions come through the bank, so they come to the shop and have a coffee. It’s delivered a good increase in sales and plenty are customers that we didn’t see before.

What else is interesting? Our main focus at the moment is making the store clear and clutter-free, so it’s easy for customers to spend more time and money in the shop. We have been focusing on that and it’s seen another increase in sales.

Do you wish Asda would launch a big headline-grabbing promotion, or do you think an EDLP approach is most effective in the current climate? Price Lock has been the most effective promotion over the past 10 years. Customers love it because they know what prices are going to be; they’re not changing all the time. It really resonates with them. They like to know what they are going to spend when they walk through the door and Price Lock supports that. Customers just want to get around their store with ease, hit a good price point and then use an efficient and friendly checkout.

How long have you been at the store and what has been the biggest change over that time? I opened it 10 years ago; I did all the recruitment. I am now people service manager. Click & collect has been the biggest change - it’s the fastest-growing part of the business. It’s amazing how fast it grows every year.

In terms of local rivals, you have Tesco, Iceland, Aldi and Lidl and Morrisons within two miles. How do you compete? Our store is quite unique, especially compared with Iceland and the discounters. It’s a genuine destination store; our big George offer gives us a real point of difference, for example - that helps us to compete.