On May the fourth – what has become affectionately known as Star Wars Day – the force is well and truly with Morrisons.
A 3.4% jump in group like-for-like sales over the past three months – the majority of which came from its core retail business – represented its best quarter since Christmas 2009.
“Potts has proven to be something of a Jedi Knight in shining armour for the supermarket group”
Morrisons’ commendable performance in the 13 weeks to April 30 also marked a sixth consecutive quarter of growth – a run the grocer has not achieved since 2011.
When chief executive David Potts first walked through the door of the grocer’s Hilmore House headquarters in Bradford a little over two years ago, that rate of progress would have seemed light years away.
Yet Potts has proven to be something of a Jedi Knight in shining armour for the supermarket group.
Okay, Potts is building the business from a relatively low base after Morrisons slipped into an alarming habit of decline under his predecessor Dalton Philips.
But there is no arguing with the fact that, by returning to retail basics and focusing on the art of good shopkeeping, Potts and his reshaped senior leadership team have given shoppers countless reasons to fall in love with Morrisons again.
Back in favour
Prices are sharper, stores have been modernised and reconfigured, staff are friendlier, queuing times at checkouts are shorter and the core product proposition has been enhanced.
Like many of its grocery rivals, Morrisons is ploughing cash into improving the quality, price and presentation of its own-label ranges – and it’s an investment that is paying dividends.
The grocer’s relaunched Best premium range proved hugely successful over Christmas and Easter, with the underlying range that is sold all year round now through the 500-SKU barrier.
Potts believes that can reach the 1,000-SKU milestone in time.
Strong foundations
Today, Morrisons revealed that it has soft launched an Eat Smart healthy eating range – another area in which Potts sees room for expansion.
Away from its core grocery offer, the Nutmeg clothing brand is growing at pace, too.
“Although Potts is the first to point out that there is plenty more work to do, for him to have laid the foundations for growth across such a broad spectrum of areas within just two years is an admirable feat”
It has expanded into the baby and child accessories category, offering products such as nappies, toiletries and bottles, while the recently launched womenswear offer has already been rolled out to 52 stores, where one in every 20 shopping baskets now contains a Nutmeg product.
And the fact that the retailer has now started to break out wholesale like-for-likes as a separate figure in its reporting – they contributed 0.4% towards its like-for-like growth in the three months – suggests that Potts and Morrisons’ finance boss Trevor Strain believe its supply business is destined for relatively rapid growth.
Although Potts is the first to point out that there is plenty more work to do, for him to have laid the foundations for growth across such a broad spectrum of areas within just two years is an admirable feat.
Despite competing in a market where the stories being told by Tesco, Waitrose, the Co-op and Aldi all deserve particular acclaim, it is Morrisons that stands out as the shining star.
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