Morrisons is closing 16 of its supermarkets permanently tomorrow. The move is part of restructuring plans which aim at cutting costs. The supermarket said in a statement last month: “Morrisons has made the difficult decision to close some Morrisons Daily stores, some of which contain Post Offices.
“We fully recognise the inconvenience this will cause for our customers and apologise for the short notification as these branches close between April 9 and May 14. We have reviewed Post Office provision in these areas and for most of these affected branches we are advertising the vacancies.”
The closures come as part of the supermarket chain’s plans that include closing 52 café, and 100 other in-store services like 12 florists and four pharmacies.
There is an ongoing “renewal programme” of Morrisons services, in which the brand is looking to reduce costs and boost growth.
Cutbacks even extend to 35 meat counters and 35 fish counters, putting 396 Morrisons employees’ jobs on the line, reports Metro.
Reports say Morrisons workers affected will be deployed elsewhere in the company.
In-store cafes will be shut in five London stores, with cafes in Leeds, Portsmouth and Glasgow also affected.
Commenting on the closures, Morrisons CEO Rami Baitiéh said: “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 most locations the Morrisons Café has a bright future, but a minority have specific local challenges and in those locations, regrettably, closure and re-allocation of the space is the only sensible option.”
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