Morrisons is the 4th largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. It is operated by the company Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc. It was founded by William Morrison in 1899, initially as an egg and butter merchant in Bradford, England. His son Ken Morrison is now chairman of the company.

From the early 1900s the company used the name Wm Morrison (Provisions) Limited. In 1958 it opened a small shop in the town centre, followed by its first supermarket "Victoria", in 1961. In 1967 it became a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Morrisons products are primarily marketed under two slogans, "More reasons to shop at Morrisons" and "The very best for less". The more reasons campaign is backed up with separate adverts explaining numbered "reasons". There are usually a large range of special offers in each store.

As of early 2004 it had over 550 supermarkets (most under the Safeway brand) in the United Kingdom. It has stores under the Morrisons brand mainly in the English Midlands and the north of England, but has expanded southwards, beginning with a store at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol that opened on October 27, 2003 [1]. Other stores in the southern regions have been opened since.

On 8 March 2004 Morrisons' takeover of Safeway was finalised. Stores under the Safeway brand are concentrated in the south of England and Scotland, thus giving Morrisons a full national presence. Many Safeway stores have been converted to Morrisons, while many other stores have been sold off to other companies to fulfil competition regulations.

Morrisons is now one of just four supermarket chains in the United Kingdom which operate full-size superstores, all of which are fully national. In descending order of size the other three are Tesco, ASDA (owned by Walmart), and Sainsbury's. Morrisons strategy is based on doing the basics efficiently, that is on selling predominantly food, at low prices, and doing so only from large stores. It is selling Safeway's smaller stores to Somerfield. This is a different approach from the other three big chains: Tesco and Sainsbury's in particular have moved into "retail services" such as banking; the same two companies are expanding into the convenience store sector; and Tesco and ASDA place great emphasis on their non-food ranges and are experimenting with stand alone non-food stores. Some analysts have expressed concern that Morrisons relatively downmarket ranges and value-focused marketing may not be as successful in affluent parts of Southern England, as they are in Morrisons northern heartlands. At the 2005 annual results briefing, Sir Ken Morrison informed investors, "I don't know what a "middle class shopper" is."

Safeway brand products then began to be phased out in favour of Morrisons products, the most notable of which is the carrier bags. Many Safeway brands were re-launched under the Morrisons name, including The Best and Eat Smart ranges.

See Also

• Supermarkets in the United Kingdom

External links

• Company website