nodnirG kraM wrote:WillPS wrote:I've long harped on about the many opportunities Sir Ken wasted through sheer arrogance with the Safeway takeover; but I think every passing year for Morrisons highlights what a colossal fuck up it really was.
Examples?
Branding - Safeway had a clean, modern brand image which had evolved with time. Around half their chain had the new branding; the other half having the 90s logo (which itself wasn't too bad). By almost every measure, Safeway was the bigger brand, with more stores than Morrisons and far greater brand awareness, especially south of the Midlands. Morrisons essentially deleted every element of Safeway's brand (except for "The Best" which I don't really think was the best, ho ho). Given the massive cost just in new signage for the more-than-doubled Morrisons chain, it could have been an opportunity to revise the inferior Morrisons brand, but instead the same awful logo was used, which looks like something a flyer designer might have created c.1977 - only to then be changed 4 years later. How much was wasted in that particular exercise?
Convenience stores - Safeway had an enviable portfolio of typical Co-op to Aldi sized stores which were all flogged off. Sir Ken said there was no future for that type of store. Safeway had the locations, if not the right format for the smaller of those locations. 10 years later Morrisons is deperately trying to play catch up to get a convenience foothold; having to massively overpay to get prime locations.
Automated systems of any sort - Safeway was behind only Tesco in terms of their setup; they had invested heavily in the IT infrastructure in the 90s and by the early 00s. Availability was well respected. Sir Ken thought it was load of rubbish and scrapped it all. Now Morrisons are crippled by their lack of automation and all the insights and savings it can bring. An act of sheer luddism. Safeway were seriously ahead of the game in terms of technology; and lightyears ahead of where Morrisons are even now.
JAS84 wrote:I don't think Dansk would own any of them - they were either rented or they would now be owned by the new occupants. Besides, it's not Dansk themselves bringing the Netto brand back to the UK, it's Sainsbury's.
The branch I mentioned is a former Netto, but it's owned by the operators of North Point Shopping Centre, to whom they pay a rent. I went there this morning, and asked the cashier if she knew when they were closing. Eight weeks from now apparently. Of course that might just be when the lease is up for renewal, so other branches may not be closing on the same date.
bilky asko wrote:JAS84 wrote:10 branches are closing, including the one nearest to me.
At least some of the former Netto sites which didn't become Asda stores are still owned by Dansk. I remember reading that a worker in one of the stores taken over by that Haldane crook and briefly traded as Ugo reported a lawyer/representative of Dansk visiting in the dying days of the chain to serve papers and whatnot. The usual scenario for retail units like those is that they're taken on a 10-year or so lease; it's entirely possible that what you say is true or the unit could be sublet via Dansk or anyone else.