Branch manager: Laura Shaw
Store: Waitrose Otley
Opened: 2004
Size: 21,035 sq ft
Market share: 18.7%
Population: 109,935
Grocery spend: £2,864,207.12
Spend by household: £61.24
Competitors: 19
Nearest rivals: Aldi 2.1 miles, Asda 0.4 miles, Co-op 2.0 miles, Iceland 5.9 miles, Lidl 6.1 miles, M&S 2.4 miles, Morrisons 2.3 miles, Sainsbury’s 0.2 miles, Tesco 4.4 miles, Waitrose 7.4 miles
Source: CACI. For more info visit www.caci.co.uk/contact. Notes: Shopper profiling is measured using Grocery Acorn shopper segmentation. Store catchment data (market share, population, expenditure, spend by household, competition) is within a five-mile radius. For CACI’s shopper segmentation of the other stores we visited this week see the online report at www.thegrocer.co.uk/stores/the-grocer-33
Well done on the win. Have you been with Waitrose long? I’ve been with the partnership for nearly 20 years. I started out here in Otley but at the time, my intention was not to stay in retail. I wanted to be a midwife but did not pursue that as I fell in love with retail and just working with people in general. I have been a manager for the last three years and I have been in charge here for seven months.
Are you local to Otley? Yes, I live in Otley and it’s really close to my heart. Not just because this is where I started my journey but it’s where I’ve grown up. I have a lot of family and friends here and know the community really well.
Our shopper said the store was very busy on Easter Saturday, so how was trading over the period? It’s good that we managed to balance back after Good Friday as it was a massively busy day. Easter has been great. I think we’ve had the best displays I’ve seen across the shop for such a long time. Partners have been incredible in delivering the right commercial decisions. And we have also had a mini heatwave, which has helped trade – not that it takes much for the Yorkshire lot to get the barbecues out anyway.
What were the big sellers over Easter? We had some brilliant products this year like the pistachio egg, which made a return, and the chocolate croissant Easter egg. We sold out of them before the bank holiday weekend, they were that popular. Overall we aim to deliver great standards and great quality service. But I think when you’ve got a peak trading time, it just elevates everyone that little bit more.
How about you? What is your management style? I am really present on the shop floor. I like to work alongside our partners day to day. I also try to bring an element of fun to the day. Stocking shelves can become a bit repetitive and there are a lot of things that are just the same every day. So how we show up makes a difference and customers see that as well. We also make good use of the headsets we have in store. They are a really great tool in terms of being able to engage with everybody across all areas of the shop and not just those you are directly working with. I am really lucky in that I have a great team of experienced partners. They bring an extra sense of care and are really proud of the shop as well.
What are the key changes you have implemented since becoming manager? We have just been through a Simpler Shops change curve, during which we have streamlined processes and made things more efficient. Partners have got on board with that change and they deliver it every day. They know why they’re doing it, and ultimately that’s just improved standards.
Next on the retail calendar, it’s summer… That’s right. In retail it is always a case of “what’s next?”. We have just launched a whole new promotional cycle. It is all about summer and we have some really exciting new summer products that have just landed. The ranges are really bold and colourful. You cannot miss them and it just puts you in the mood for summer. The barbecue range is very exciting with new products like hot honey halloumi kebabs. We can’t guarantee the weather but we also have some great products to eat inside.
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