Yet another Morrisons thread

[Gavin Scott]

I don't think its a bad thing to try something old that worked before. Milk bags, for example, were apparently a big thing in the 80s in Soviet countries but I don't see you complaining about Sainsburys introducing them.

Milk bags? Eew. That sounds like something Carrie's mother would say.

[SirKen]

Aha, had just read the blog five minutes ago. It's interesting that they just repainted the old Safeway beige fridges though, they must be getting on 10 years old by now? You'd think they might invest in newer ones to save power. Mind I suppose a thorough service can get a few more years out of them.

Are these new stores starting to use LED lighting btw? I note my local Asda is getting the "Let's Annoy Chie" refit at the moment and they're moving over to LED in a lot of places. Only Tesco however have really seem to gone for it in their fridges / freezers.

Yep, reconditioned and painted so they were tarted up and they'll get some years out of them. Someone said the bakery cream fridges were mismatched but not from memory when I visited.

I think they were trying to see what costs could be reduced as obviously replacing fridges takes up a lot of cash.

[WillPS]

and the dynamic displays of fruit haven't been seen anywhere (besides Supermarket Sweep) since the early 90s! Does look good in both cases though, I must say.

I don't think its a bad thing to try something old that worked before. Milk bags, for example, were apparently a big thing in the 80s in Soviet countries but I don't see you complaining about Sainsburys introducing them.

Anyhow compared to Tesco's produce section which consists of just green tray after green tray, I suspect something like this would be far more pleasant to shop in and indeed increase sales as people would be more tempted to buy the stuff.

Actually I hate milk bags. I think they're a stupid idea, the amount of plastic they really save is quite low and the "savings" on them are disgustingly poor. The whole concept is moribund. There's no way it can survive with take up as low as it has been; milk is hard enough to keep on top of as it is!

And I did qualify what I said with "Does look good in both cases though, I must say"...

SirKen, may I enquire why your website is named "UK Retailers" when it seems to almost entirely focus on Morrisons?

Further proof that Morrisons are eternally stuck in the past too. Those half-height refrigerators have been mostly removed from the others (or are at least in the process of being removed, in the case of the Co-op and JS), and the dynamic displays of fruit haven't been seen anywhere (besides Supermarket Sweep) since the early 90s! Does look good in both cases though, I must say.

Good point, I do cover others from time to time - I did a great bit on Asdas availability issues that was well received and google analytics indicates people search for uk retailers still so its a bit of a 'brand' now.

The Morrisons stuff was by accident really, never intended to be solely Morrisons but Kirkstall appeared, everyones down south and all new store concepts up here it became a bit of a vocation to do Morrisons stuff with the amount going on. Especially when you get around, make contacts and hear more and more....

Half height refrigerators are brand new though, its not a case of being stuck in the past as they work for the 'halo' feel they have from the front to the back of the store. Whilst they may be 'old school' they work for them as a standard refrigeration unit wouldn't work at all.

I don't think its a bad thing to try something old that worked before. Milk bags, for example, were apparently a big thing in the 80s in Soviet countries but I don't see you complaining about Sainsburys introducing them.

Anyhow compared to Tesco's produce section which consists of just green tray after green tray, I suspect something like this would be far more pleasant to shop in and indeed increase sales as people would be more tempted to buy the stuff.

Exactly, the sales figures are Kirkstall are mid teens % increases so it clearly works.

I think certain people (not necessarily you Will, you have a good grasp of stuff) do like to target Morrisons with the 'old fashioned' handle but they are trying to change things rapidly and should be cut a bit of slack to be fair.

They're all the same, at least Morries are trying with their concept stores - compared to a new build Asda that's just a yawnfest to shop in with no real clear order of aisles or indeed range.

I'm not shooting you down, you do a great job covering Morrisons, just seems a little biased if it's really a "UK retail" blog.

I like half-height refrigerators. I thought it was a shame that JS chose to drop them when they turned Central stores in to Main estate stores, just strikes me as fitting that Morrisons start experimenting with them just as the others finish disposing of them. Just in the same way that it's very possible that some ex-Safeway Megastores (like Gamston) could be refitted back to a similar style to that they opened with over a decade ago - I'm not saying that's wrong; I loved Safeway Megastores, just shows how wrong they got it really.

[SirKen]

True, when it was incepted it was UK retail but I started doing Morrisons, I dont want to limit it to Morrisons as there's loads of stuff out there. So name works and as I said - its a brand in itself now with people searching for it.. I hear you though, I declare the bias at the top!

Yeah, I do see where you're coming from with half heights and they obviously think now they are right, I think looking back they got things wrong with Safeway but 2004 was different to 2011, its an entirely different management team now and Dalton is driving loads of new ideas - there's a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on and the labs being rolled out.

Exciting times, they'd have done things differently in 2011 with Safeway for sure.

[SirKen]

Friend of mine has put up some Safeway pictures, he's got 500 in total, here's the first 100 from one of the megastores he helped out in.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66435887@N ... otostream/

[WillPS]

Thanks for the pictures. The 'look and feel' of Safeway Megastores remains the best I've experienced to date.

Morrisons should have absorbed the format and rolled it out across older Safeway (and eventually Morrisons) stores.

[Pete]

awwwww, I did love the look of Safeway near the end. Those conical Christmas trees were particularly nice.

It's so odd that this thread actually began just as Morrisons were disposing of that look and now, six years later, we're seeing them bring in a look and feel into Morrisons that is of a similar quality.

[WillPS]

Nothing short of idiocy if you ask me.

[SirKen]

New management brings new things though, not the same top team that took Safeway over now.

Anyway - there's some more changes in store - new blog is up.

http://www.uk-retailers.co.uk

[WillPS]

Interesting. I've yet to see it myself, but JS have been experimenting with a "Fresh Kitchen" counter too (not to be confused with the City-shops they're also trialling with the same name). So far I think it's only gone in XXL stores (which apparently does not include the reduced-size Savacentres) - Lincoln being the only one that comes to mind.

I'm not really sold on the idea though, I've got to be honest. I might pay £3 for a lasagne portion at a nice cafe but I wouldn't pay that to take home. Frankly, whenever it looks like a meal might cost £4 per head I sort of think "in for a penny, in for a pound" and just get a takeaway. I rarely do ready meals though as I'd far prefer to knock up a simple pasta or something so perhaps I'm not the target customer.

Your coverage of the Tesco phoney war has been interesting. Interesting too that you perceive their bricks and mortar quality as decreasing - I only really 'do' Tesco in Nottingham (their presence in Sheffield is almost completely useless for my needs), and their stores around here are pretty good all told (not that I like them, just not so obviously crummy as you describe). I don't necessarily object to lots of 10p savings across £1-£2 items (a 5% saving is not to be scoffed at), but yeah the usual 4p off a £15 bottle of Vodka for my mind represents a lack of respect for their customer's intelligence.

I expect this Christmas could be quite telling as to Tesco's future - I think you're bang on in saying it's not at all clear what they're about - Asda have 'everyday' value; Morrisons have freshness; Waitrose have superior quality; Sainsbury's concentrate on service and trust, inspiring and exciting their customers (but see my next point)... what do Tesco do?

I think you're a little off the mark though when you say about JS continuing to focus on quality. Exhibit A. I think the focus has changed, and it's less about pushing Taste the Difference (indeed, the range has shrunk somewhat in most store formats with the recent relaunches) and more about an overall promise of decent quality food at a good price. My friend still in the company was reeling off some figures about independent research revealing that of the 'big 4' only Sainsbury's was found to be accurately listing ingredients - I've no idea how good this research is but it gives you an idea of where their competitive focus is at present. Note the transition in slogans too:
"making life taste better" (my personal favourite still) sounds decidedly Waitrose by today's standards
"Try Something New Today" - generally along the same lines but more accessible
"Live Well for Less" - in line with what I'm talking about

[SirKen]

I've updated the blog with some new lines that have appeared as part of their transformation of own label to own brand. Some interesting ready meals and pizza.

Will - some great points, I'll reply fully later.