Metropol

WillPS wrote:

rdobbie wrote:Oh balls, I just did a load of internet surfing to compile a list of the histories of the 11 stores listed above, then lost it all through user error.

Anyway, it was an interesting mixed bag ranging from the very old to the very new; roughly a 4-way split between stores that were previously Safeway, Netto, Somerfield (one a former Kwik Save) and purpose-built Morrisons.

The latter were the most surprising, as they both opened in 2011 (Salford and West Bromwich).

Incidentally, I've never come across a single case of a purpose-built "classic" Morrisons having reopened as something else. Does anyone know of such an example? When the Competition Commission ordered Morrisons to sell X number of stores in 2004, did Morrisons only get rid of former Safeway properties? I'd be interested to see how another brand dealt with a refit of an original Morrisons, given the stylised architecture and layout.

I thought all the ex-Netto branches had closed back in March? Which ones remain, and will that be all of them?

Seems that what Morrisons used to refer to as "Rump" stores (where the full 'market street' as was couldn't be achieved) are the ones which are going?

I knew something was up! Morrisons claimed that the Bransholme branch in Hull (a former Netto) was not making money. But it was VERY popular and a petition was even done to try and save it. So they only closed it because it was so small, and not because of lack of sales at all?

JAS84 wrote:

WillPS wrote:

rdobbie wrote:Oh balls, I just did a load of internet surfing to compile a list of the histories of the 11 stores listed above, then lost it all through user error.

Anyway, it was an interesting mixed bag ranging from the very old to the very new; roughly a 4-way split between stores that were previously Safeway, Netto, Somerfield (one a former Kwik Save) and purpose-built Morrisons.

The latter were the most surprising, as they both opened in 2011 (Salford and West Bromwich).

Incidentally, I've never come across a single case of a purpose-built "classic" Morrisons having reopened as something else. Does anyone know of such an example? When the Competition Commission ordered Morrisons to sell X number of stores in 2004, did Morrisons only get rid of former Safeway properties? I'd be interested to see how another brand dealt with a refit of an original Morrisons, given the stylised architecture and layout.

I thought all the ex-Netto branches had closed back in March? Which ones remain, and will that be all of them?

Seems that what Morrisons used to refer to as "Rump" stores (where the full 'market street' as was couldn't be achieved) are the ones which are going?

I knew something was up! Morrisons claimed that the Bransholme branch in Hull (a former Netto) was not making money. But it was VERY popular and a petition was even done to try and save it. So they only closed it because it was so small, and not because of lack of sales at all?

I'm not sure how you've deduced that. It'll *definitely* be a financial thing.

My understanding is that Dansk retained the Netto stores which did not reopen as Asda Supermarkets. Initially they were let to Ugo (since failed), Morrisons (pulled out of these stores) and a few went to Co-op. It's quite telling that despite these stores being the ideal size for Aldi/Lidl, with both chains looking to expand wherever they can, neither did so.

One possibility is that Dansk were unwilling to trade with them, but since they were (at that time) withdrawing from the UK that seems unlikely.

Another possibility is that Dansk set the rents at an unsustainably high level, the letting of which would be consistent with Morrisons' desperation to develop a convenience store format of some kind.

Wrongly, in my view, Sir Ken Morrison and the Morrisons board made the decision in 2004 that the only format the business would deal with was the Morrisons format. The upshot of that is that people have a clear expectation of what a Morrisons store offers (e.g. all the Market Street guff). The problem that causes is that now the amount of land and capital available to build large supermarkets has gone, they are left with no easy route of expanding. Forgive me for speculating further - but it would appear to me that the ex-Netto and other small stores were a gamble (high rents and no proven format) which has failed.

By comparison, Tesco manage expectations by having 5 clear customer-facing propositions - one|stop, Tesco Express, Tesco Metro, Tesco, Tesco Extra. Customers intuitively understand broadly what each fascia offers. Morrisons could have achieved something similar by retaining the Safeway brand (and all the stores, which were then more profitable than they have been since!). This shortsightedness has lead in no small part to the check-mate situation Morrisons now finds itself in.

WillPS wrote:Tesco manage expectations by having 5 clear customer-facing propositions - one|stop, Tesco Express, Tesco Metro, Tesco, Tesco Extra. Customers intuitively understand broadly what each fascia offers.

Maybe I'm just a thick customer, but I've never really understood the difference between Tesco Express and Tesco Metro - I know there's a combination of 4 of these near my workplace, but couldn't tell you which one(s) are Express and which one(s) Metro. They're even grouped together on the 'Store Finder'. I also don't know why one|stop is different to the other two, with the exception that it isn't Tesco branded so presumably doesn't carry Tesco own brand products. The 'intuitive understanding' has passed me by.

In Penge, there's a one|stop and a Tesco Express along the same stretch of road. The only difference is you'll pay convenience store prices for everything with the general customer not knowing they're owned by Tesco, while the other offers some products at supermarket prices and has the Tesco brand awareness.

The only Tesco Metro I'm aware of near me is this one in Halifax

https://goo.gl/maps/yML1ue4BbcC2

Basically a small urban supermarket, on the high street, no car park, Low ceilings, narrow aisles, a bit grim.

Actually there is also one in Leeds City Centre. Both these examples have been there a million years well before Tesco Express became a thing, so I'm wondering if this is just a legacy fascia or did they still open Tesco Metro stores in recent years?

Metros are surprisingly large, the size of the Safeways that Morrisons sold off to Somerfield.

Express can be tiny, the single aisle one opposite parliament being a particularly mad example.

Andrew wrote:The only Tesco Metro I'm aware of near me is this one in Halifax

https://goo.gl/maps/yML1ue4BbcC2

Basically a small urban supermarket, on the high street, no car park, Low ceilings, narrow aisles, a bit grim.

Actually there is also one in Leeds City Centre. Both these examples have been there a million years well before Tesco Express became a thing, so I'm wondering if this is just a legacy fascia or did they still open Tesco Metro stores in recent years?

Tesco Metro dates from the late 80s. Tesco Express began with a trial in 1994.

Tesco Metro stores were still being opened recently. Sheffield West Street started life as a Tesco Express, before they took over the Chinese Buffet next door and expanded (forgoing the right to open all day on Sunday), rebranding it as Tesco Metro - think that was in 2010.

There is a Tesco Metro in Felixstowe, I think most of the Metro branded ones were the old 1960s (and onwards) stores that many towns had before the big out of town stores.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Fel ... f0!6m1!1e1

I remember the town centre store here in Mansfield had Tesco Metro signage on the inside from the mid-late 90s onwards, but it never did on the outside- in fact they never replaced the original external signage from when it opened in the 70s!

Martin Phillp wrote:The only difference is you'll pay convenience store prices for everything with the general customer not knowing they're owned by Tesco, while the other offers some products at supermarket prices and has the Tesco brand awareness.

Quite a lot of people don't know that some prices at Tesco Express are a little higher than in Tesco Metros/Extras.

Or for some products, they sell smaller packs which are less good value.

M&S pull a similar trick. Little bottles of iced tea are £1 in Cardiff city centre store but £1.15 at the railway station SF.

And of course WHS has been in the news because of its "hospital premium".