A Shockwave Through Britain’s Supermarket Scene:-
What happens when one of Britain’s most historic supermarket chains decides to close over a hundred of its own doors? Is it a strategic move for survival or the first real sign of a massive retail shaking crisis? This week, Morrison’s a grocery staple for millions, confirmed the closure of 103 outlets and services. And it’s not the main supermarkets that are vanishing. It’s the iconic cafes, the communityarmacies, and the ambitious market kitchens. The question is, why is a grocery giant hitting the self-destruct button on its own services? For those unfamiliar, Morrison’s is the UK’s fifth largest supermarket, a pillar of the British high street known for its unique market street concept. It’s been a UK institution since 1899. But the last few years have been turbulent, defined by a massive private equity takeover and relentless competition. This new closure announcement is the clearest sign yet of a desperate fight for efficiency.
A Legacy Brand Under Pressure:-
The company is shutting down a total of 103 individual outlets and apartments by the end of 2025. A sweeping restructurin effort designed to cut costs and renew and reinvigorate the brand. When the news broke that Morrison’s was closing 103 stores, the immediate panic was that entire supermarket buildings were disappearing. That thankfully is largely not the case. The core closures are concentrated on the instore services that according to the new CEO Rammy Bate are simply uneconomic.
The 103 Closures Explained:-
The total figure breaks down into several key departments each representing a painful cut. 51 intore cafes are closing, nearly half the total. These are a fixture in British shopping culture, a place for a budget breakfast or a cup of tea after the weekly shop. Their demise is a massive symbolic loss. All 18 market kitchens are being scrapped. This is a 100% closure rate for the ambitious food to go concept. 17 Morrison’s daily stores, the smaller convenience shops are also shutting down with most of those closures having already taken place in April this year. Finally, 13 floors department and fourarmacies, crucial community services are being removed from the supermarket’s offering.
The Café: A Sentimental Loss:-
It’s clear Morrison’s is not closing its main supermarket doors, but it is stripping out every service deemed a luxury or an operational drain. This is not just a business decision. It’s a cultural shift away from the traditional fullervice supermarket model. The most sentimental loss, the 51 cafes. These cafes have always been part of the unique Morrison’s identity. They offer a lowcost meal, a meeting point, and a moment of rest for millions of shoppers, particularly older generations. But the sentimental value could not outweigh the financial reality. The cost of operating these full service kitchens, staffing, energy, food waste, and equipment maintenance have skyrocketed in recent years. Post pandemic, many cafes failed to see their foot traffic return to pre2020 levels. The official statement from Morrison’s confirmed the reason cost of operations are significantly out of line with usage, volumes, or the value that customers place on them. In plain language, they weren’t making enough money to justify the expense. The supermarket is now exploring working with third parties to provide a relevant specialist offer in some of these vacated cafe spaces. This signals a move toward least specialized third party food services. It shifts the entire financial risk and operational headache off of Morrison’s balance sheet.
The Fall of the Market Kitchen Dream:-
The cafe as we know it, however, is gone from these 51 locations. Perhaps the most fascinating closure is the fate of the market kitchens. This was a relatively new, highly ambitious project. Morrison’s want to compete with modern urban food halls by offering freshly prepared highquality meals. But this concept was a high-cost gamble. Running a full-scale restaurant within a supermarket requires specialist chefs, complex logistics, and high capital investment. The market kitchens were trying to compete with fast casual restaurants. But with the operational complexity of a major supermarket, all 18 market kitchens are set to close. The failure here is not about a lack of good food, but a lack of scale and efficiency. When shoppers are laser focused on value, an expensive premium instore dining experience is the first thing they cut from their budget. The market kitchen was simply the wrong concept at the wrong time in the UK’s cost of living crisis. To understand the scale of these 103 closures, you must understand the economic pressure Cooker Morrison’s is currently operating in. The situation is a perfect storm driven by three major factors. Debt inflation and competition.
The Economic Storm Behind the Decision:-
In 2021, Morrison’s was acquired by the US private equity firm Clayton Dublier and Rice or CDNR in a deal valued at over $10 billion. As is typical in private equity buyouts, a significant amount of debt was piled onto the company’s books. Servicing that debt burden in a period of rapidly rising interest rates becomes exponentially more expensive. Cost cutting is no longer a choice. It’s a financial imperative. Second, global inflation and operational costs. The UK has faced sustained high inflation. The supermarket business operates on notoriously thin margins. When the cost of electricity, delivery, and wages all shoot up simultaneously, those thin margins evaporate entirely. The services being cut, cafes, floors, and market kitchens are all high labor and high energy departments, making them prime targets for closure. The most enduring competitor is a rise of the German discounters Aldi and Little. Aldi recently overtook Morrison’s to become the UK’s fourth largest supermarket. These chains operate with a ruthlessly efficient lowcost model. Morrison’s with higher cost full service market street approach is simply too expensive to run and is losing customers who are forced to switch to discounters due to the cost of living crisis. The closure of 17 small Morrison’s daily convenience stores reflects this.
The Man Behind the Overhaul:-
The man orchestrating this massive and often painful overhaul is CEO Rammy Bate who took the helm in November of 2023. Bety, a former car for executive is known for his focus on operational efficiency. He came to Morrison’s to ensure survival. His strategy is not just about cutting costs but about renewal and reinvigoration. In other words, getting back to the core job of grocery store, competitive prices, and fresh food. This plan involves three key strategic shifts, all financed by the savings from the 103 closures. First, investment in price competitiveness. The goal is to aggressively close the price gap with Aldi and little. Closing high cause apartments frees up capital to invest in lowering the price of core produce. Second, focusing on the core. Bate has stated he is committed to the main supermarket and the traditional market street counters. However, even here, cuts are being made with reports suggesting up to 35 meat counters and 35 fish counters may also be scaled back or close entirely where they are not performing. Third, modernize an experience. The space left behind by the cafes and market kitchens will be reallocated to services that are more in line with modern customer habits, such as online order collection points. The reaction across the UK has been swift and deeply emotional in communities losing their local Morrison’s daily or market kitchen.
Community Impact and Public Reaction:-
The impact is devastating. Local news reports are filled with concern over job losses and the destruction of a community hub. While Morrison’s has stated that staff from the affected services will be offered redeployment opportunities elsewhere in the business where possible, the scale of these closures means thousands of jobs are being fundamentally changed or eliminated. Analysts see this as a necessary if painful course correction. They point to the fact that Morrison’s was simply too slow to adapt to the changing landscape. The boom in discounters and the shift towards online shopping. The closures are a sign of a company shedding its past in a desperate bid to be lean and competitive enough for the future. For the UK high street, this is another significant blow.
What This Means for the UK High Street:-
The closure 103 Morrison’s outlets and services is much more than a corporate footnote. It’s a stark symbol of the overwhelming economic pressures facing legacy UK retailers. It is a necessary sacrifice to ensure the company can focus its capital on the one thing that will save it. Offering value to the customer in the face of inflation. The era of the full service community focused supermarket cafe and pharmacy is being aggressively traded for an era of operational ruthlessness. The aim is to survive even if it means losing a piece of the brand soul.