THE McColl’s convenience store in High Brooms Road is one of 132 ‘loss-making’ convenience stores to be closed by Morrisons.
The supermarket giant sealed a deal to buy McColl’s for £190million in a rescue deal in May, and last week (November 1) it unveiled plans to overhaul the convenience retailer.
Morrisons said it expected some McColl’s stores to return to profitability as part of its turnaround plans, but said there were ‘132 stores where there is no realistic prospect of achieving a breakeven position in the medium term’.
The supermarket group said 55 of the 132 stores earmarked for closure, including High Brooms, have Post Office counters and will shut next year, following their busy Christmas period.
Morrisons said it now plans to convert the ‘substantial majority’ of stores to Morrisons Dailys following a review, bringing the total under the banner to more than 1,000 within two years.
Other local McColl’s stores not earmarked for closure – in Tunbridge Wells High Street, Quarry Hill in Tonbridge and Commercial Road in Paddock Wood – will be part of the switch to the Morrisons Daily brand.
David Potts, chief executive of Morrisons, said: “Today marks an important moment for the McColl’s business, colleagues and customers as we formally welcome the business and its colleagues into the Morrisons family.
“We are now able to begin the urgent journey to transform McColl’s into a viable, well-invested and growing operation.”
