nWaitrose opened its new 24,000 sq ft store in Windsor in October. However, head office had to find a temporary solution for the existing store before this could happen. Being on the same site, it was impossible to keep the old store open while the site was redeveloped.
The temporary store erected nearby was just under 3,000 sq ft, which raised considerable challenges for department manager Carolyn Bailey, who ran the store for the two-year interim.
"The team worked hard to ensure we utilised the maximum space possible and offered customers as much as we could," she says. "Where we did not have frozen lines, we stocked the fresh alternative - peas, chips, desserts and a good selection of fresh breaded fish." She adds that scaled-down versions of new range launches were the order of the day. Carolyn says customers were "pleasantly surprised by the assortment".
While not all original staff were retained, they remained in the business except for those retiring. The staff who remained were tested by the conditions. The confined space meant that they "had to be versatile", says Carolyn. "On top of stock routines and understanding your level of trade, partners were trained on more than one area, so it had a real family feel. Our partners would help each other out if one section was busy." She adds: "The size of the store heightened the level of cameraderie."
Activities such as "theme day lunches", pancake flipping in the street and a monthly newsletter giving updates on progress of the business all helped to keep staff morale up.
Has the number of customer complaints about the price of goods increased recently?
