The pleasant and helpful staff in Kwik Save were singled out for praise this week by our mystery shopper who was asked to visit Accrington, the Lancashire town which has become discounter heaven. Our shopper was asked to buy products suitable for a girls' night in. All of the discounters did a good job meeting our requirements and our shopper said the stores were well stocked ready for the Saturday rush. However, garlic bread was missing from Kwik Save. But our shopper was impressed by the staff member who took the time to try to search for the product. The girl on the checkout was also praised for the way she remained polite and apologetic while changing the till roll ­ always a nightmare task when the store is busy. The main drawback to this Kwik Save is that its off-licence and grocery store are still separate units, which meant our shopper had to pay for wine in the drinks section, not in the main store. Our shopper was less than impressed by staff in the Netto store, branding them unhelpful and rude. One aisle was blocked by trolleys piled high with boxes which nobody could get past. Another black mark for Netto, which has just reopened its Accrington store after it was damaged by a fire. Staff at both Aldi and Lidl received a better write up ­ and the stores were praised for being bright and clean. However, our shopper was bemused by the fact Aldi had pallets of goods everywhere, even though its shelves were well stocked. {{GROCER 33 }}