Dale’s Supermarket Sweep

Born in 1955, Dale Winton was widely known as a popular television presenter, although he started his career off as a radio DJ. With stints at Nottingham's Radio Trent and on BBC Radio 2 covering Pick of the Pops, it wasn't until 1986 that Dale moved into television.

Although Dale first presented a programme called Pet Watch, it was his presenting role on Dale's Supermarket Sweep that made him a household name. This daytime television programme modelled on an American version saw Dale at the helm from 1993 to 2001. After a period of over five years off air, the show later returned in 2007, where Dale once again presented.

This highly watchable games show involved three teams of two people answering a series of questions, with 60 seconds on the clock. If the teams answered a question correctly, they would gain 10 extra seconds. Each show comprised of a number of different games and challenges that would give contestants the opportunity to gain bonus seconds. Some of the games included Counting Calories, Memory Game, Random Reveal, Scrambled Letters and Dale's Bluff.

Members of each team would take it in turns to answer questions, followed by the Round Robin, where players swapped positions after each question.

In the Mini Sweep round, contestants who answered a question correctly would look for an item on the supermarket shelf, based on a clue given by Dale. Those who got the correct item in less than half a minute would be awarded a £25 bonus, or £50 in the later version.

A £50 bonus could be gained if contestants successfully gathered five types of sweets weighing a total of 500g, in the Pick and Mix bonus game. Other bonuses included the Pricing Gun, where contestants priced up 12 cans for an extra £50, and Shopping List, where three items given by Dale had to be found on the shelves by players to receive a £100 bonus. In the Inflatable bonuses, ranging from £25-100, players could take an inflatable item from the supermarket, and its value would be revealed later in the show.

Contestants were only allowed to take up to three of any one item, and they'd lose £25 if they broke or dropped an item, or knocked over a cameraman!

The team with the highest score would then go on to the Super Sweep, where they'd unravel clues to find three objects in the supermarket, the last of which was a prize of £2,000, or £5,000 in the revamped version. If they weren't successful, they'd only get the cash equivalent of the goods in their trolley.

Dale was a vibrant and charismatic presenter of the show, where he later went on to present Pets Win Prizes, the Great British Song Contest, The Other Half, the National Lottery and Hole In The Wall. Sadly, Dale passed away on 18 April, 2018.

Dale Winton encouraged contestants to 'go wild in the aisles', and if you want customers to experience the same kind of enthusiasm shopping at your store, having the right shelving and equipment to present your products can assist with encouraging a sale. KAS Shopfittings provides a wide range of quality shop fittings and display equipment… we’ll have them filling up their trollies!