Waitrose Newton Mearns: Grocer 33 store of the week

You’ve just had your fifth birthday and 1 June was Waitrose’s 10th anniversary in Scotland. How did you celebrate? The first customer we had on 12 May 2011 was invited back and given a bottle of Champagne and a gift voucher. There were lots of activities in the store. Sixty of our 160 partners started when we first opened, and we invited them to a party in town and an afternoon tea in the branch.

A 100% availability score is pretty impressive. What’s the secret? We put a lot of effort into that and it’s a key strength. Good staffing at night is important to ensure we have maximum availability every morning when we open. This is great recognition for them.

Waitrose 1 is getting a big push now. How’s the range going? We’ve had hundreds of products in, a tasting campaign and 25% off for myWaitrose cardholders. The feedback has been fantastic. I think Waitrose 1 shows who we are: the best of the best in terms of provenance and supply chain. It also shows we won’t compromise our standards.

As a relatively new store in Glasgow, how are you fitting in? Customer numbers are growing, we are growing average spend year on year, and all the signs are positive. I think our strong presence is helped by our community involvement. We have the charity scheme for shoppers’ tokens and £1,000 a month is shared out. Every quarter we invite charity representatives in to receive their cheques and have a celebration evening. We also have a community partner who liaises with them and a volunteering budget plus work experience for people with learning difficulties.

What are you doing to tackle food waste? We work hard on forecasting so our stock levels are as accurate as possible. And as part of a trial, our partners are allowed to buy last-day food at a reduced price.