32 Facts About Morrisons

Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fourth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom.

Morrisons opened its first supermarket, "Victoria", in the Girlington district of Bradford in 1961.

In 1967, Morrisons became a public limited company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

In March 2004, Morrisons acquired Safeway, a British supermarket chain which owned 479 stores, allowing Morrisons to have a larger presence in southern England.

At the time Morrisons chose not to move into the convenience store sector .

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In Northern Ireland Morrisons sold the Safeway stores, and a store in Bangor that opened after the Morrisons takeover, to Asda.

Morrisons sold Safeway's Channel Islands stores, in Guernsey and Jersey, to CI Traders where the stores continued to trade as Safeway, although the products they sold carried the brand names of chains such as Iceland.

Morrisons had issued five profits warnings since the acquisition, and it was felt that the original Morrisons northern format did not work as well in some of the former Safeway stores in the south.

Morrisons purchased 35 stores from the combined group, mostly trading under the Somerfield fascia.

In 2010, Morrisons signed a deal with budget retailer Peacocks, the first concession store opened as part of a refurbishment at the retailer's store in Idle, Bradford.

In May 2013, Morrisons announced a partnership with Ocado to use its technology systems and distribution infrastructure to help launch its own online service.

Morrisons stated that it had trialled the new structure and believed that better performance was achieved via these methods.

On 25 February 2015, Morrisons named former Tesco director David Potts as its new chief executive.

Morrisons announced the closure of 10 small loss-making stores in Cramlington, Accrington, Ravensthorpe, Bransholme, Telford, West Bromwich, Wallasey, Newton le Willows, Rugby and Crawley.

Morrisons responded by deciding to 'simplify' its head office in Bradford—at the cost of 720 jobs.

In May 2022, Morrisons purchased McColl's in a pre-packaged insolvency arrangement with its administrator.

In July 2020, Morrisons had 497 superstores in the United Kingdom, including those it retained following its purchase of Safeway plc.

Until 2004, Morrisons superstores were largely concentrated in the English Midlands and the North of England, but had expanded southwards, beginning with a store at Erith, Greater London, which opened in 1998.

In 2018, Morrisons agreed on a franchise and wholesale supply deal with SandpiperCI to operate 43 Morrisons Daily convenience stores in the Channel Islands, which were previously operated under the Nisa brand.

Morrisons revived the Safeway brand in 2016 for use in stores of its wholesale customers and in Morrisons Daily stores, along with two MPK Garages forecourt stores which operate with Safeway Daily branding.

Unlike its major competitors, Morrisons did not make an early entry into offering online shopping.

In May 2013 Morrisons announced a partnership with Ocado to use its technology systems and distribution infrastructure to help launch its own online service.

Morrisons signed a deal with Amazon to supply products for their Prime Pantry.

In June 2020, Morrisons introduced a revamped doorstep subscription program targeting elderly and vulnerable people who cannot go shopping in supermarkets.

In 2011, Morrisons bought children's retailer Kiddicare for £70m to give it the knowledge to sell clothing and homewares online.

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On 15 March 2007, Morrisons unveiled a new "more modern brand image", which was rolled out to all stores, vehicles and distribution sites.

The rationale behind the decision was the need for Morrisons to attract a wider national customer base, capitalising on its expanded geographical spread following the acquisition of Safeway.

In 2016, Morrisons released a new logo and slogan 'Morrisons Makes It' to try and draw on the brand's heritage, with the new logo being installed on all store signs as well as new uniforms and new in-store looks.

Morrisons has launched a special 'Tommy's Afternoon Tea Box' to support shoppers mark the end of World War Two anniversary on 2 September 2020.

In 2005, Morrisons purchased part of the collapsed Rathbones Bakeries, which supplied Morrisons bread, for £15.

In 2007, Morrisons opened a new Distribution Centre in Swindon and announced that it had bought a new site on Junction 23 of the M5 in Bridgwater in Somerset, for redevelopment as a fresh produce packing facility.

Morrisons later changed the scheme in 2017, so the total additional payment went directly to a selected group of 300 British farmers.