Morrisons has launched the first of five forecourt pilots as part of its tie-up with Motor Fuel Group.
The Morrisons Daily franchise store in Crewe will be supplied by the supermarket group with own-label and branded goods including food to go, fruit & veg, meat, fish, ready meals and essential groceries.
Four more sites are set to open during the first quarter of 2016 in the South East of England. This is later than its original plans, which were to open all five by the end of this year.
The 12,000 sq ft Crewe site was converted to Morrisons Daily over the weekend with a new fascia and logo that has been trialled in two of Morrisons’ Leeds stores.
“These pilots will allow us to create different propositions for each location and the customers they serve,” said Morrisons logistics and supply chain director Ross Eggleton. “The first pilot in Crewe also allows us to test and refine our approach ahead of opening another four early in 2016.”
While the stores are owned and operated by Motor Fuel Group, the move marks a return to convenience retailing for Morrisons after it sold its 140-strong M Local c-store chain to Mike Greene’s My Local business for £25m earlier this year.
Motor Fuel Group currently operates 373 sites across the country and while the model could be rolled out to further sites across the group, MFG does not hold the exclusive rights to open Morrisons-branded stores, which would allow Morrisons to work with other operators as well.
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