Opinion: My Local couldn’t move fast enough in cutthroat convenience sector

Entering perhaps the toughest market in UK retail – the convenience grocery sector – from what was effectively a standing start, and competing against the might of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op, was never going to be an easy task.

And so it proved today when My Local formally entered administration, weeks after drafting in KPMG to advise on strategic options.

It’s a far cry from the retailer’s conception back in October last year, when entrepreneur Greene exuded confidence and oozed knowledge, to the extent that you felt the near impossible could just be achieved.

When I interviewed him shortly after the launch of the chain, the convenience veteran laid down his plans for the retailer: to “refill, rebrand and reformat” the 140 stores he acquired from Morrisons, with the backing of Greybull Capital.

He spoke authoritatively about the four different formats he would employ based on the demographic of different areas and revealed how he would stock products sourced from within “a 10-15 mile radius” of shops.

And he insisted that Morrisons boss David Potts had rid the estate of the 23 “ugly” stores the grocer had picked up during its scattergun approach to c-store acquisition in 2013, leaving Greene and his experienced senior team to focus on rejuvenating the fortunes of the apparently well-positioned stores that remained.

But he admitted in that interview: “retail is a fast-moving business.”

My Local was playing catch up with its rivals from day one and it simply could not move quick enough with its plan to breathe new life into the estate.

Its fresh offer was not up to the quality of competitors – a fact that was exacerbated by the investment that the likes of the Co-op have ploughed into improving their own-label propositions.

Availability of certain products was patchy, pricing in some categories was out of line with rivals, it had a few obvious gaps in its non-food proposition and, despite Greene’s bullish claims to the contrary, the location of some stores left plenty to be desired.

Add the impact of the national living wage into the mix and My Local was left gasping for breath as it attempted to scale the proverbial mountain – one that it has ultimately been unable to conquer.