Harj Dhasee to convert independent convenience stores to Morrisons Daily format

Harj Dhasee is set to become one of the first independent retailers to take on the Morrisons Daily fascia.

The well-known convenience retailer, who runs two stores in the Cotswolds, announced today that he had chosen Morrisons as his new supply partner, having been impacted by Sainsbury’s decision to pull the plug on its wholesale operations earlier this year.

Dhasee was gearing up to switch to Simply Fresh’s supplied by Sainsbury’s model in August when details of the supermarket giant’s plans emerged in July.

Four other retailers, including Londis retailer Steve Bassett, were also affected by Sainsbury’s decision.

Dhasee told The Grocer he expected to officially open under the Morrisons Daily fascia after Christmas.

He said he was looking forward to working with Morrisons head of wholesale, convenience & franchise Paul Dobson.

He also thanked wholesale managers for new business, Nick Russell and Paul Foster, for their continued efforts during the transition.

Speaking to The Grocer this week Dhasee said the relationship was already proving particularly collaborative.

”It is very much a franchise model, and you’d think it would be very regimented. But some of the challenges I’ve put to them are on local supply, store layout and product listings and there has been some flexibility to all of that,” he said.

”Paul and the team have been very willing to listen and learn about how this side of the industry works. And that’s the biggest thing, it’s a partnership, not a dictatorship.

”It’s about their ethos as well, from farm to the store. They are vertically integrated throughout, so they have total flexibility over the supply chain and that makes it really appealing.”

Morrisons said it was working with a number of other independent retailers looking to move to the Morrisons Daily format and was keen for other interested retailers to get in touch.

It is currently accelerating its rollout of the fascia across McColl’s Retail Group.

Morrisons currently supplies the 1,200-strong McColl’s estate and it the retailer currently has plans to have converted 350 of these to Morrisons Daily stores by the end of November next year.

It also continues to expand the Morrisons Daily franchise with its existing partners such as Harvest, MPK and Rontec, who have opened a combined nine new convenience stores so far this year.

Morrisons also has wholesale supply arrangements with three other forecourt retailers – Highland Fuels, Gardner Garages and Platinum Retail – operating under the format.