Winner: Tesco Extra, Leicester
Deputy store manager: Darren Print
Size: 100,000 sq ft
Opened: 1984
Market share: 26.9%
Nearest rivals: Sainsbury’s - 2.3 miles; Morrisons - 3.4 miles; Waitrose - 3.6 miles
Store data source: Analysis by CACI. Call the market planning group on 020 7602 6000

 

It was Valentine’s Day last week - now you’ve won store of the week. Are you feeling the love? Well winning is a great achievement and certainly something to celebrate. Our customers seem to be feeling the love and trading up.

How do you mean? Over Valentine’s we were selling more than expected of our Finest flowers and high-end presents. Last year, trading was down, this year trading was up. We sold out of our Finest flowers, while sales of our £15 Finest Meal Deal, which included sparkling wine and a three course meal for two, performed better than the year before. We noticed this trend at Christmas too. People like to treat their other half on special occasions.

What have customers said about the horsemeat scandal? There’s been no negative feedback from our customers. I felt what Tesco did - to come out and be the first ones to put their hands up - was honest, and I think that’s gained us a lot of respect from our customers.

So how have you addressed the horsemeat repercussions in store? We’ve taken the value lasagne off sale and dropped the price of the mid-range lasagne back to the price of the value line. With the burgers, we’re looked at the type of person who would be buying them and picked chicken nuggets to fill the gap. We’ve reduced chicken nuggets to half price to compensate for that meal loss. I think what the company has done has been very thoughtful - here’s a premium product at the same price it shows we are trying to give something back and are taking responsibility.

Which areas of the store are performing well?Dotcom has been one of the biggest growth areas for us. We’ve gone up from four vans to 15 in the past 12 months. In November 2011, when we had our refresh, we introduced a beauty shop. We were one of the first Tesco’s to offer eyebrow threading, hairdressing and nail services.

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