Harj Dhasee has officially opened his first store under the Morrisons Daily fascia.
The high-profile retailer’s larger 1,600 sq ft store, based in the Cotswolds, has been converted first. It received its initial delivery from Morrisons last week.
Dhasee told The Grocer that it was currently trading as a “soft open” as the businesses “fine-tuned the flow of the store and played with the range”.
“My shoppers have said it’s a great brand to have in the village,” added Dhasee. “They’re really into the ethos of it.
“We’ve got the core range in, with meat and veg flying out. But being in an affluent area, we’ve looked at how we can add more of The Best range in across all categories.”
Dhasee praised Morrisons’ support as it set out to understand the store’s demographic to help increase basket spend. He added during his “first big fill”, that had a service availability of 98%, the operations manager went to a Morrisons supermarket to fill any gaps so the store “didn’t run short”.
The businesses have also decided on the local suppliers that the newly converted store would keep to complement Morrisons’ range. This included local products such as organic milk, eggs, fruit, veg, cakes and bread.
“Once we’ve fully integrated more of the Morrisons range, we’re going to look at what space we have left to see where we can add in a bit more local, which Morrisons specialise in through their local sourcing teams,” said Dhasee.
The full conversion is set to be completed by early March, with the integration of the EPoS system still to be finished and staff being trained up.
Each staff member is being trained one-on-one on processes and procedures such as health and safety, cooking, store standards and customer service.
“Throughout the transition, it’s been a two-way conversation,” said Dhasee. “It’s a partnership, not a dictatorship, and my staff and I already feel part of the Morrison family.”
Dhasee’s smaller 800 sq ft store, which is also based in the Cotswolds, is still trading as a Nisa. The planning for the store is due to begin in April, with the conversion to Morrisons Daily to be completed by early June.
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