Morrisons joins the big boys in mini store wars
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Morrisons has revealed a roll-out of its M Local smaller stores to take the fight to Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury's, as it posted record annual profits.
The UK's fourth-biggest grocer also revealed it will launch a non-food offer online in its fourth quarter, but will hold fire on selling food on the internet until late 2013 at the earliest.
Morrisons has just three M Local convenience stores, sized up to 3,000 square feet, but it wants to add about 20 this year and 50 in 2013-14. Its chief executive, Dalton Philips, said: "This is a real statement of intent that we are taking this channel very seriously." But Morrisons is playing catch-up in the market for smaller shops.
Tesco has nearly 2,000 convenience stores, including its One Stop format, Sainsbury's operates 435 and Waitrose has 29.
Morrisons delivered underlying pre-tax profits up by 8 per cent to £935m for the year to 29 January. It grew its total sales by 7 per cent to £17.7bn.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments