Sharon's convenience store report

Sharon Kane, area manager at Henderson Retail in Northern Ireland, takes on added responsibility with two new stores in her region.

The past couple of months have been extremely busy and challenging as I approach the first anniversary in my role as area manager. I have gained two additional stores, on top of my existing 10, and both within two weeks of each other. It has certainly put my organisational and time management skills to the test.

Both stores are forecourts but they couldn’t be more different. One is a small kiosk store and the other is 3,000sq ft store with a very popular food-to-go department.

I took over a new store as manager when I went to Spar Cullybackey, so I knew it would be a challenging job. However, I hadn’t appreciated all the planning and organising, which goes on in the background prior to opening.

Firstly, I had to arrange consultations with all of the staff to let them know what would be happening and to answer any questions or concerns they may have had. The smaller store was fine because it only had four staff but planning to meet the 20+ staff in the larger store was a task in itself.

Secondly, I had to manage the stock take - set a suitable date and time, order in equipment and arrange for existing store staff and staff and from my own stores to cover it; along with head office staff to ensure all bases were covered.

The accounts and phone lines also had to be changed, while new tills and computer systems were installed in each store, during the stock take. Both stores were closed for that day and re-opened the next morning. The larger store was also fitted with additional shelving and re-planogramed and merchandised over night, ready to open at 6am the following morning.

I had to arrange management cover from my current stores to run each store since neither store had management teams in place to run the shifts. The existing staff, meanwhile, attended induction training to introduce them to the Henderson Group.

Thankfully, we have a great support network in head office and the training department looked after all the inductions as well as carrying out food safety audits. The Health & Safety Department carried out an audit too. As a result, we were able to identify immediate training needs to ensure both stores operated safely and legally.

It can be very challenging for both sides when we take on a new store. It is frustrating for our managers, who find the stores are run very differently and need to change procedures to Henderson ones. However, it is equally challenging and confusing for the established teams who have been used to one way of doing things and we go in and change it all around. Having done it, I can say it is not an easy task, but the two girls I put into each store have done a terrific job so far. The sales are climbing steadily each week and the staff have settled in nicely.

Sharon Kane

Sharon Kane: managing change at new stores