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Sainsbury's was founded in 1869 by John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury. They opened a small dairy shop at 173 Drury Lane, London. Drury Lane was one of London's poorest areas and the Sainsburys' shop quickly became popular for offering high-quality products at low prices. They gradually opened more stores and by 1900 they had 48. The company continued to be owned by the Sainsbury family until 1973 when it was floated on the Stock Exchange. Their first edge-of-town store opened in Cambridge in 1974. The company now has almost 600 stores, employing about 153,000 staff.
Sainsbury's state that its aim is to deliver an ever-improving quality shopping experience for its customers with great products at fair prices. It aims to exceed customer expectations for healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food making their lives easier every day.
The Sainsbury's store at White Rose Shopping Centre has a staff of 430, 70 of whom are part time. The store is open from 9am - 10pm Monday to Friday, 8 am - 8pm Saturday and 11am to 5pm Sunday. It has recently downsized from 87,000 square feet to 67,000 square feet. There are 26 managers-covering departments such as petrol, produce, fresh food, pharmacy and bakery. The store was originally a Savacentre but has since become a general Sainsbury's store. Savacentre's were established 25 years ago as a hypermarket plus non-food stores. The White Rose Shopping Centre was one of the final ones to be built. At the time Sainsbury's were in partnership with British Home Stores who supplied the non-food items, originally it was profitable and Sainsbury's bought out BHS. Sainsbury's did not have the expertise in non-food areas and it became too expensive to run. Savacentres were the trailblazers for the big stores and were followed by ASDA and Tesco.
Sainsbury's realised that it was not optimising the space it had in the White Rose Shopping Centre and that it was too big so it was decided that the store should reduce its size. Sainsbury's at the White Rose Shopping Centre is not a destination store - that is one where people go to do their weekly shop. It is used more by people who are topping up on essentials or buying non-food items whilst at the White Rose Shopping Centre. There is a weekly 28,500 footfall with an average £23 shop. Other stores take an average £28-£30 basket.
As the store has been redeveloped the manager has been able to influence how it is set up. He knows the customers and what they want. There are regional differences on what is stocked in stores; examples include Vimto being very popular in Blackpool, pease pudding in the northeast, irn bru in Scotland as well as regional variations on local beers. In these cases the extra quantities will sometimes replace other items. Scottish and Irish stores buy their produce locally.
The store suffered as a result of the link to the White Rose Shopping Centre being closed due to redevelopment. It has now reopened and the store is working with the centre to advertise the fact that they are open for business. The prime stores including Next and Zara which are moving into to adjoining units will be good for Sainsbury's as they will draw in more customers. The Centre (and Sainsbury's) is very busy on Saturdays, evenings and wet days. When it is dry and sunny there is less trade.
Head Office sends out plans of how the shelves should be laid out but there is some leeway if the manager knows that certain items would be popular. This particular store does not stock the full Sainsbury's range because staff know that the Taste the Difference range, for example, will not sell there. Sainsbury's is often perceived as being expensive but it has reduced prices, introduced a Basic's range and added big special offers.
Sainsbury's used to have its own Reward card but is now part of the Nectar loyalty card syndicate. There are signs around stores reminding customers that they can earn points on purchases.
As with many other companies the special offers and promotional items are placed on gondola ends. Frequently manufacturers pay for their products to be placed here and at eyelevel in the store. The stores must comply with the plans devised by Head Office as they are checked for compliance.
Ordering is done by Sabre (sales based replenishment), which produces a list of what they need. The store receives orders daily of 3500 - 5000 cases. Sainsbury's has regional distribution depots at Haydock (which has 60% of stock), Stoke (health and beauty, alcohol) Rotherham, and Hams Hall.
