It seems you do have to pay more for better food (Morrisons)

Member Name: sweetiebum

Product:	Morrisons
Date:	30/10/08 (213 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fresh produce

Disadvantages: Couldn't afford to do my weekly shop here!

Recently my local Somerfield supermarket (I use the word supermarket reluctantly!) was transformed into a shiny new Morrison's store. I had never frequented a Morrison's until this one opened as the nearest one was about an hour away. When I first heard that there would be a Morrison's round the corner I was both pleased but initially sceptical, particularly with money being rather tight. I was mainly apprehensive because of my memories of Safeway (who were bought out by Morrison's) not being exactly cheap.

On my first trek around the supermarket aisles my initial suspicions were confirmed as the prices were slightly higher than average. However, this was compensated by the fact that they had a lot of special offers on. A lot of the products that were on offer were actually very cheap and things that I would normally buy anyway so I was quite pleased.

As I continued to walk around the shop I noticed that how extremely clean and fully stocked all of the shelves were compared to some other stores. This may just because it is a newer shop and the staff are keen to impress but this standard has been upheld on subsequent visits.

One of my favourite things about the supermarket is their 'Market Street', which consists of a fishmonger, greengrocer, butcher, bakery, delicatessen, cake shop and oven baked. As far as I know all Morrison's is different to other supermarkets in the fact that they try to produce the majority on site. For example the meat from the 'Family Butcher' is cut and prepared in-store. The majority of meat from the 'family butcher' is sold at the counter, although they do also have pre-packaged meat on the shelves that are ready to take away. This is noticeably different from the standard vacuum packed meat on the shelves as it comes packaged in a polystyrene tray covered in cling film. The meat also looks a lot fresher and is minced more finely. When I got round to cooking this mince I was really pleased because it tasted as good as it looks. It really does taste exactly like the mince I would buy from a traditional butcher. Despite being slightly more costly (I paid around £1.50 for a very small portion) it was worth it.

Another aspect of Market Street that I loved was their salad bar. This reminds me of the salad bar from Pizza hut which is probably part of the reason why I love it! They have three different sizes of container, small, regular and large and you can fill it up with as much salad/ pasta as you want. They have a large variety of salad to choose from with the usual things like lettuce, tomato and cucumber to flavoured cous - cous, pasta, potato salad and my favourite - bacon bits! Unlike some things in the shop I find this extremely good value for money as you would pay a lot more for a similar salad in a restaurant or a café.

Despite this, I do have a few criticisms of the store. My main critique is the fact that unlike the larger stores they do not have a large range of value products. It is for this reason that I wouldn't shop here every week as the brands they do sell are already quite expensive. Their product range is also limited and they do seem a much smaller supermarket in comparison to my local Tesco Extra. In my new store I believe they could have utilised the space a lot more. For example a quarter of an aisle is devoted to shoe cleaning products, which I just don't understand. This could have been reduced to provide more room for more useful products.

Overall I found my experience of Morrison's to be extremely pleasant and straightforward. I managed to find everything I was looking for and the layout was quite logical. I also have no complaints about the checkouts, as I have never had to wait very long to be served despite the shop being really busy. They also have a couple of self-service tills which I find quite handy if you are in a rush. I'll admit it isn't the cheapest supermarket out there and I don't think I will use it every time I do my shopping. However, on the whole it is worth the extra pennies every now and again.

Summary: Worth the money for special occasions