Tesco Extra, Chorley: Grocer 33 store of the week

Tell me about your career in retail… I’m a one-company person, and now in my 27th year. I’ve been with this store since September last year. I’ve worked in 12 stores and been a manager for the last three. I suspect I’ll be a career Tesco colleague.

Our shopper said the store had a “wow factor”. Describe it… We’re just on the edge of Chorley – technically Euxton. It is typically seen as a more affluent area. However, we’re not classed as an upmarket store, and we get shoppers from across the spectrum. Dotcom accounts for 15% of our turnover. We’re very much a destination shop within town – we are the shop that can pretty much offer anything. A pharmacy, café, clothing. We’ve got a really good range of homeware, and a really strong range on grocery and fresh, so the proposition you get as a customer is really strong. I think the ‘wow factor’ comes from its simplicity, which sounds strange, but we’ve really worked to simplify the shop. We know what our customers desire, which is to be able to get what they want in a nice clean environment. We nail that in every measure.

94 out of 100 is a great score, what drives those standards? It’s great to hear we’ve scored highly, but it’s no surprise to me given the amount of effort my colleagues put in. We walk every inch of the store every day, and we’re on it. We’ve worked really hard on ensuring consistency within the shop, especially during busy periods. Our aim is for customers to have the same experience at the end of the week as they would have had at the start.

How big is the team? We’ve got 260 at the moment, 10 of whom have been here since the store opened. The majority are very much local, they know the town. They’re able to be themselves, and that’s what works. 

Ken Murphy has talked about the potential of Tesco Finest. You’re promoting lots of lines at the front of store, is that intentional? It’s showcasing our best quality, and I think it’s right to showcase it as soon as you walk into store. There’s been some good investment over the last couple of months into the range. As a shop, we sell a lot of Finest products. At the moment we’ve got a Finest Deli and Picnic proposition showcased at the front of the store.

Our shopper visited during a heatwave, has summer finally come to Chorley? We’ve had a good few days. Like anywhere, trade goes up as soon as the weather’s good, and you make the most of it while the sun shines. We’ve had a strong summer regardless of the weather, a good run in the Euros helped. People have been buying a lot of impulse products like snacking, and drinks such as Fruit Shoots. As we move into the school holidays, I expect we’ll see trade move towards more of that.

The Euros is behind us, are you now focusing on the Olympics? It’s not as focused as it would be for the Euros – we don’t tend to see an uptick specifically for that. However, we’ll still have a proposition for snacking if customers choose to watch it. That being said, it’s still an opportunity. I think it will depend on how well Team GB does. As a store team, we’re always looking ahead. We’ll start our preparations for Christmas towards the end of summer. The traditional lull of summer doesn’t really exist as it used to.