Will Your Local Morrisons Close? 100+ Morrisons Daily Stores Shutting Down in the Coming Months

The first wave of Morrisons Daily closures has been announced, with more than 100 stores expected to be shut down in the coming months. At one point, Morrison Supermarkets Limited had close to 500 supermarkets.

It has been plagued with losses in the last few months, resulting in closures of many stores even before the latest announcement. A spokesperson said, 'The performance of all company-owned stores across our Convenience business is subject to continuous review. Having completed the review, we are now proposing to take the tough but necessary decision to close a number of these stores over the next few months.'

Is Your Local Morrisons Closing?

The stores confirmed to be closing soon are the branches in Esk Close, Guisborough; Fairfax Avenue, Hull; Middle Street, South Driffield; Queen Street, Redcar; Stokesley High Street, Middlesbrough; Woodthorpe, York and Zetland Road, Loftus. They used to be McColl's outlets before Morrisons acquired them in 2022.

The decline of Morrisons was apparent last month when it was overtaken by German-owned Lidl to become the UK's fifth-largest grocer. According to Lidl, it reached an 8.8% year-on-year increase in sales, while Morrisons lagged with just 1.3%. Market share for Lidl reached 8.6% this year, compared to Morrison's 8.3%.

Hundreds Are Set To Lose Jobs

Hundreds of jobs are at stake. A single Morrison store generally employs between 10 and 25 people, depending on the size of the store and its location. According to data, Morrisons Daily employs around 95,000 people within its 500 supermarkets and 1,700 convenience shops.

However, Morrisons' Q2 report doesn't mention any losses. Chief executive Rami Baitiéh's report reads, 'Against the challenging backdrop, I'm pleased with the performance we have delivered in Q2; a 14th consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales growth; underlying EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) up, strong improvements in customer experience in our Supermarkets, Cafes and Online with significant increases in net promoter score; good further progress with our cost saving programme and market share on an improving trend.'

Baitiéh also reported £940 million ($1.2 billion) in savings due to the use of expanded AI in most of Morrisons' supermarkets.

'Save the Post Office'

A separate report noted that the Morrisons Daily in Grovehill is also expected to close in August. Its closure also means that the post office it hosts will shut down permanently. The post office serves around 9,000 residents.

Hull MP Diana Johnson has co-launched a petition to save the post office, which has set its last day on 9 August. On her Facebook page, MP Johnson said, 'With Bricknell Labour Councillor Sharon Hofman, I've launched a petition urging Post Office Ltd to secure another site in the ward for Post Office services.' More than 1,000 people have already signed the petition.

Hemel Hempstead MP David Taylor is backing Johnson's petition. In a statement, he said, 'I know the planned closure of the Morrisons Daily and Post Office in Grovehill is concerning for residents. My office is working with councillors Alex Bhinder & Julie Banks to keep a Post Office in the area.'

Morrisons has blamed government policies, particularly the decision to raise National Insurance and the legal minimum wage, for the company's losses.