Shop till you drop - literally! (Morrisons)

Member Name: alirigby

Product:	Morrisons
Date:	20/05/02 (959 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reasonable prices, Good sweetie bit

Disadvantages: Bad Layout, Long Queues, Lack of Service

The big black M lying against a lurid yellow background heralds my arrival at my local Morrisons; my palms start sweating, my shoulders tense and I need to start controlling my breathing.
I am basing my opinion on my local Morrisons in North Shields, Tyne and Wear – I have also had the misfortune to visit other Morrisons which I have not found to be much better.

The Morrisons Experience:
So I don’t like supermarket, or any form of, shopping anyway but I can tolerate most places without too much effort, however as soon as I enter the door of Morrisons I feel stressed, rushed and under pressure.
Once you have shuffled your way through the very slow, automatic, revolving doors (which jam every 30 seconds or so) you enter a world of pandemonium; there is no calming entrance just a throng of pensioners and queues for the cash points just inside the door. Just beyond the entrance is the queue for the National Lottery which usually winds it’s way around to prevent people actually reaching the start: the fruit and veg (Market St).
Once you have made it across the very badly organised, cluttered entrance hall you enter Morrison’s Market Street.
Multiply the initial hassle of entering the shop by 10 and it will give you an idea of the chaotic bottleneck that is Market Street. As you first enter through the flappy barriers there is a stand of flowers right in front of you, usually surrounded by middle aged women, which you have to dodge: if you go to the left there is the Fish bit, if you go to the right there is fruit and veg.
According to Morrisons website Market Street is a ‘unique collection of specialist fresh food counters’ – this in not the case in my local store.
Market Street is Morrisons pathetic attempt to recreate a market environment: it is the fruit and veg section, with the fish and chicken counter plonked to one side for good measure, then at the very far end are a few fresh pizz
as and bread! The rest of the food counters (which are supposed to be in Market Street) such as the butcher, deli, etc. are located at the veryfar, opposite corner of the store. Not a very logical layout really, I would never guess the fish were with the veg unless I knew the place and then the meat is at the complete other end of the shop.
My local Market Street is generally difficult to manoeuvre around: for a start there are usually ten times more staff than necessary (I know this as most of them are larking around whenever I go in and getting in the way), there lots of counters and people to move the trolley around to get through! My fiancé and I always feel we’ve accomplished something when we’ve made it through Market Street and to the bread section!
The shop is not a welcoming place, it makes you want to leave as soon as you get in. There is harsh, fluorescent lighting, no music, always very crowded, long queues and narrow aisles. It is the most badly organised supermarket I have ever been in; I always spend ages searching for things for instance the orange squash is located in the wine section, nowhere near the other soft drinks?!
Once you have managed to locate everything you need, you will be well exercised having walked around in circles for miles and will then need to find a queue to join so that you can pay for you hard earned selection. Morrisons doesn’t seem to have any philosophy regarding queue reduction and if it does, it certainly doesn’t implement it. Expect to queue for an average of 10 –15 minutes at my local shop (unless you go first thing in the morning or on a Saturday night); it doesn’t matter if you have a trolley, a basket and/or cash the queues always seem the same length – long. Never, Ever, Ever go around Christmas time last year on Christmas Eve (yes I was stupid leaving it so late) the queues reached the back of the store for every checkout.
The checkout operatives tend to
ignore you, my polite, friendly ‘hello’ is usually greeted by a grunt as they slowly scan all my items; the only conversation is to ask if I want cashback. There is no offer of help to pack your bags and you’re under pressure to pack as fast as possible to let the next person go. (I must say there is one friendly guy at my local store who I try to go to, he is an exception to the rule).
Once I’ve paid, I’m like a bullet back to the car and the safety of home.

Anyway, onto the practical stuff….

Products:
Ok, so the real reason we go is to buy stuff (unless you’re insane and go for pleasure), here’s a quick rundown of what’s on offer:
Fruit & Veg:
There’s a wide variety of fresh produce including ready-made salads and exotic fruit. Recently I have found they have had special offers on strawberries which I’ve taken advantage of. There is a good selection at good prices if you can stand the trauma of working your way around Market Street!
Bakery:
There is a good bakery with a wide range of different breads and cakes; there are often things on special offer so you can treat yourself.
Meat:
I don’t think that their fresh meat is particularly great; much of the steak that I’ve bought has been tough even when I’ve opted for the more expensive option. I have not found there to be many special offers on the meat either.
I do however like their cooked chickens which make for an easy meal and are often on offer.
Own Brands:
I don’t tend to buy their own brands much, I have bought their washing up liquid which is good value for money.
Tins:
For all your tinned food needs; there’s a wide selection of branded and own brand tinned food. I’m not a big tin fan, but notice you can pick up most things in tins very cheaply.
Other Stuff:
You can buy videos, music, magazines, greeting cards and there&
#8217;s a limited selection of rubbishy books and computer games too. You can pick up movies pretty cheaply – there are always deals on (at the moment Godfather I, II, III can be bought for £15 on VHS).
You can also get pots & pans, candles, a few bits and bobs for your car and DIY all located at equally illogical places.
There’s a good selection of kids sweets like big refresher bars and drumsticks etc… I do like this section (although my backside doesn’t”).
Wines & Spirits:
There’s a large alcohol section, I don’t drink so can’t really comment on quality or value for money.

Prices:
It may be that Morrisons one saving grace is the fact that its prices are pretty low (although I still find Asda cheaper overall).

Parking:
There is a huge car park, there’s always a fight for spaces near the entrance where it can get congested as there’s also a number of shops in a pavilion around there. I’ve never had a problem finding a parking spot.
There are a number of disabled spaces; I don’t recall any mother and child spaces though I may be wrong.
If you want a trolley, you’ll need a pound coin.

Other Services:
There are some toilets at my local store (best avoided in my opinion if you can). There’s also a café which I’ve never tried although it looks popular owing to the queues (which is why I’ve never tried it).
There’s a cigarette counter which is shared with the National Lottery and makes for a long wait usually.
There's also cash points and an HSBC mini bank at my local store.

Customer Service:
I am not impressed with the Customer Service at Morrisons. I have not found the staff very helpful or friendly; more than a few times they have pushed past me in the store and I just hate to be ignored by the cashier. There is no help offered with bags, I recently was on crutches and recei
ved no assistance when I requested it, there is also no consideration to how people move around a shop and to reducing the length of the queues.
There is a service desk, I have asked a question here once and they were of no use whatsoever. This may just be the case at my local store, but the staff don’t do much to make the experience better.

Overall:
I don’t think I need reiterate that I dislike this supermarket. I much prefer Asda and Tesco as I think they are far more customer focused.
There is a good variety of produce at reasonable prices, I just feel the store is let down by it’s poor layout, long queues and unhelpful staff.


More info:
If you do want to find out more:
http://www.morrisons.plc.uk/
The store I am basing my opinion on:
Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLCPreston GrangePreston North RoadNorth ShieldsTynemouth NE29 9QR0191 2964494


Thanks for reading J

Summary: