Can new-look Morrisons gain ground?
By Robert Plummer Business reporter, BBC News Talk of Britain’s North-South divide may sound like a tired old platitude, but the saga of Morrisons supermarkets shows that you ignore the phenomenon at your peril. Many people living south of Watford had never heard of the Bradford-based chain until it bought rival Safeway in March 2004. Until then, most of its stores were in the north of England and the Midlands. But suddenly, the old red-and-white Safeway logo gave way to the yellow-and-black “big M” symbol at stores throughout the UK. It looked like a good fit geographically, since Safeway was strong in Scotland and southern England. As a result, the purchase turned Morrisons into a truly national player for the first time. However, bewildered shoppers were even more perplexed when many of those same outlets changed hands yet again soon afterwards. Within months, 114 of the 479 Safeway stores had been sold off to Somerfield, while individual shops were sold off to other rivals includin
