WM Morrison Supermarkets

WM Morrison Supermarkets History

The Morrisons we know today first sprung to life at the end of the 19th century. Egg and butter merchant William Morrison opened a stall in a Bradford market, situated in the north of the UK, in 1899. But it wasn’t until almost 50 years later in 1958 that the first town-centre shop was opened.

A few years later in 1961, Morrison opened the first supermarket in Bradford, called ‘Victoria’, having transformed an old cinema into a 5,000sqft store selling fresh meat, greengrocery and other produce.

The next few years saw fast expansion for the firm, with Morrisons becoming a public company in 1967. In ’78, Morrisons took over Whelan Stores, and by 1980 the company was producing fresh food produce after The Farmers Boy fresh food factory started trading as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morrisons.

Further expansion throughout the UK took place over the coming decades, with the first southern store propped up in Erith, London, in 1998 and Rhyl, Wales, in 2000. February 2004 brought the first store to Scotland, the same year that Safeway became part of the same company. The next few years saw board members appointed and the company expand its online and delivery services, before launching its budget range of products ‘M Savers’ in 2011.