Morrisons

Morrisons is the 4th largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. It is operated by the company Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc. It was founded by William Morrison in 1899, initially as an egg and butter merchant in Bradford, England. His son Ken Morrison is now chairman of the company.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From the early 1900s the company used the name Wm Morrison (Provisions) Limited. Ken took over the company in 1952, aged 21. In 1958 it opened a small shop in the town centre, followed by its first supermarket "Victoria", in 1961. In 1967 it became a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morrisons products are primarily marketed under two slogans, "More reasons to shop at Morrisons" and "The very best for less". The more reasons campaign is backed up with separate adverts explaining numbered "reasons". There are usually a large range of special offers in each store.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As of October 2005 Morrisons has around 360 supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with around some still trading under the Safeway brand. It originally had stores under the Morrisons brand mainly in the English Midlands and the north of England, but had expanded southwards, beginning with a store at Erith, Kent, which opened in 1998 http://www.morrisons.co.uk/42.asp.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On 8 March 2004 Morrisons' takeover of Safeway was finalised. Stores under the Safeway brand were concentrated in the south of England and Scotland, thus giving Morrisons a full national presence. Many Safeway stores have been converted to Morrisons, while many other stores have been sold off to other companies to fulfil competition regulations. The conversion process of the remaining stores is expected to be completed by the end of November 2005, when the Safeway brand will disappear from the UK. For full information of the Safeway stores divested by Morrisons, see the Safeway entry.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morrisons is now one of just four supermarket chains that dominate the full-size superstore market in the United Kingdom. In descending order of size the other three are Tesco, ASDA (owned by Walmart), and Sainsbury's. Morrisons strategy is based on doing the basics efficiently, that is on selling predominantly food, at low prices, and doing so only from large stores. It has sold the 114 Safeway Compact stores to Somerfield. This is a different approach from the other three big chains: Tesco and Sainsbury's in particular have moved into "retail services" such as banking; the same two companies are expanding into the convenience store sector; and Tesco and ASDA place great emphasis on their non-food ranges and are experimenting with stand alone non-food stores.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some analysts have expressed concern that Morrisons relatively downmarket ranges and value-focused marketing may not be as successful in affluent parts of Southern England, as they are in Morrisons northern heartlands. At the 2005 annual results briefing, Sir Ken Morrison informed investors, "I don't know what a "middle class shopper" is." The City was becoming impatient with Morrisons corporate governance, especially its lack of independent direcctors. By May 2005 Morrisons had issued five profit warnings since its takeover of Safeway. Sir Ken stood down as chairman of the operational board, but remained chairman of the main board. In July 2005, Morrisons released figures that suggested it may have turned the corner, with a 14% sales increase in converted Safeway stores.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Safeway brand products have been to be phased out in favour of Morrisons products, the most notable of which is the carrier bags. Many Safeway brands were re-launched under the Morrisons name, including The Best and Eat Smart ranges. The layout of most Morrisons stores is traditional, named Market Street; The meat is near or next to the butcher's counter, the delicatessen being traditionally named Provisions with cheese fridge nearby and rottisserie being named Oven Fresh. There's also a Pie Shop in every Morrisons store and a bell rings when a fresh batch comes out of the oven.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

52/3 weeks toTurnover (?'m)Profit before tax (?'m)Profit after tax (?'m)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

30 Jan 200512,116297.1205.7

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1 Feb 20044,944319.9197.6

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2 Feb 20034,290282.5186.3

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

3 Feb 20023,915243.0143.7

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

4 Feb 20013,496219.1120.0

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

29 Jan 20002,969189.2103.1

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Supermarket: A supermarket is a store that sells a wide variety of food. Most supermarkets also sell a variety of other household products that are consumed regularly, such as alcohol (where permitted), household cleaning products, medicine, clothes, and some sell a much wider range of non-food products. Superm...

Plc: PLC is an initialism for:...

William Morrison: There have been a number of people known as William Morrison:...