U.K.’s M Local earns major design award

ILKLEY, WEST YORKSHIRE, U.K. — Morrisons, the large U.K.-based supermarket chain, wanted to get closer to its customers. The result was M Local, its new 3,000-sq.-ft., freestanding, convenience food format. In developing the new store, Morrisons identified four key issues U.K. customers have with convenience stores: lack of fresh food options; poor overall quality and value; difficult to shop; and poorly stocked. To address these areas, the store is positioned as “Daily Market Fresh,” with up to 75% of the items in the store priced comparably to a larger grocery store, low fixturing and a clutter-free, open environment with clean sight lines. The store features five key areas: Dine-in Tonight, Scratch Cooking, Entertaining, Fill-in Shopping and Good Food To Go. Fresh food is delivered to the store up to five times a day from a nearby Morrisons store. Unique to the store: a wine selector kiosk, an “order now/pick up later” service, and a selection of local products sourced from within a 30-mile radius of the store.


M Local earned an honorable mention in the hotly contested drug store/convenience store category in Chain Store Age’s (DSN’s sister publication) 30th annual Retail Store of the Year awards. The winners were featured in the February/March edition of Chain Store Age.

To view all the photos, click here.