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p14
 Peter Villa is the manager of Stoke Newington's largest
shop. In fact, as he points out, Safeway is not a shop, it's a 'superstore' and not to be
confused with the smaller 'supermarket' at the top of Stamford Hill.
With over 20,000 people passing through its checkouts each week, around 170 employees
(mostly part-time) speaking 28 different languages, customer queries, deliveries and
glitches, it's not surprising that he looks a little harassed. He has a small office -
just off the main sales floor containing a bank of CCTV monitors scanning the aisles and
counters, a computer, a couple of chairs and a table covered with papers and leaflets
advertising 'summer deals' and 'hot deals.' A small loudspeaker on the wall relays
frequent 'customer announcements' with bargain offers 'thank yew.'
Aged 42, Peter's been with Safeway for 19 years, 4 of them at Stamford Hill. Three
assistant managers work with him on a 3 shift system that covers the hours of 7am to 11
pm. All tend to exceed their contracted time. He speaks with warmth about his staff,
comparing them to a family, with all the good things (and occasional problems) that come
with it. He says he appreciates the multiculturalism of the area. This is not tokenism as
he then explains his liking for bangra music and the time he met the famous Nigerian
musician King Sonny Ade, who was a friend of a member of staff at one of his previous
stores.
Peter Villa gives the impression of understanding all aspects of his job, from the tins of
baked beans to the wider politics of the cut-throat competition between Tesco,
Sainsbury's, Asda and Safeway. This can get , extremely nasty' with rival staff leafleting
other stores and impersonating customers demanding special offers. He says that the
takeover of Asda by the US giant Walmart is definitely going to shake up the market.
Stoke Newington customers 'know their wines' as they often arrive clutching a wine column
from an up-market magazine or newspaper to search for the appropriate bottle of plonk.
Chardonnay is a runaway best-seller.
Unusually, more red wine is sold overall than white. The Stamford Hill store has the
fourth largest turnover of organic food in the Safeway group. At the other end of the
market, the best-sellers include 2 litre bottles of Coca-Cola, bags of sugar, tinned
tomatoes, frozen chips and peas.
The busiest times are Friday afternoons and all day Saturday. Turnover is affected by the
religious days of the large local Jewish community. There is a substantial section devoted
to kosher food.
Any business that involves large numbers of people - either as customers or staff - is
bound to have a number of incidents. One that he remembers particularly well involved a
female store detective and a woman shopper. The latter was suspected of stealing stockings
which she had hidden in a cardboard box. When these were discovered, the store detective
asked her to empty her handbag. As she did so, a vibrator, of the battery-powered bendy
type, fell to the ground and switched itself on. Customers watched with amusement as
shoplifter and store detectives chased it as it wriggled across the floor.
On another occasion, a woman was spotted hiding goods underneath a large blanket wrapped
around her and held together with a broach. She was asked to remove the blanket. She
complied without hesitation and revealed that she was not wearing a stitch of clothing
underneath. Peter says that other customers and members of staff tried to avert their
eyes. Not all succeeded. Shoplifting is a major problem throughout London and is often
drugs related.
Managing a large enterprise such as a Safeway store involves some stress, but Peter Villa,
who lives in Harrow with his wife and daughter, is obviously a competent, likeable man,
who relaxes by watching football when he can find time. He could be compared to a modern
football manager as he has to satisfy the customers, organise the team and keep his
financial people happy. It's not an easy job.
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