Supermarket giant Morrisons is set to close 52 of its in-store cafes and 17 Morrisons Daily convenience stores as it faces mounting pressure to reduce costs and stay competitive.
The move puts hundreds of jobs at risk as the retailer attempts to streamline operations and reallocate resources to more profitable areas of the business.
Alongside the closures, Morrisons will also phase out a range of in-store services over the coming months, including 13 florists, 35 meat counters, 35 fish counters, four pharmacies, and all 18 of its market kitchens—food court-style setups offering freshly prepared meals.
These changes come as Morrisons continues to struggle against the rapid growth of budget supermarkets like Aldi, which overtook Morrisons in 2022 to become the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket.
Although the company says most affected staff will be redeployed, approximately 365 employees are expected to be at risk of redundancy. The closures will mainly affect the Morrisons Daily convenience stores, known for their extended hours, and cafe locations in cities including London, Leeds, Portsmouth, and Glasgow.
Morrisons CEO Rami Baitiéh said the changes are crucial for the company’s future:
“The changes we are announcing today are a necessary part of our plans to renew and reinvigorate Morrisons and enable us to focus our investment into the areas that customers really value and that can play a full part in our growth.”
In some locations, Morrisons plans to partner with third-party providers to replace the in-store services being removed.
Industry analysts say the supermarket is adapting to a fiercely competitive, price-sensitive market.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented:
“The supermarket chain is closing services seen as nice-to-have, but not essential, and scaling back its convenience footprint as it readies for a round of cost-cutting from rivals. Aldi and Lidl are already proving to be formidable competition.”
Morrisons, which employs 95,000 people across 500 supermarkets and 1,600 convenience stores, is now focused on delivering better value to customers as it braces for an intense period of industry competition. Photo by Mtaylor848, Wikimedia commons.