Morrison 181.40p, -3.4p (-1.84%)
So there goes Dalton Philips, albeit slowly, I am picturing him going out through the awful revolving door that fronts my local Morrison store.
Intended to keep heat in perhaps but it does a better job of keeping customers out as it stutters to a standstill from people trying to squeeze in (or out), add a few trolleys (from outside as well as instore), and hey presto, its chaos.
And this might be after queuing to get through one of the worst self checkout terminals of all the supermarkets I have tried.
And 5 years in charge, wow, time flies.
Its a shame that it has taken so long, and when you add on the additional time of his predecessor, Marc Bolland (doing so well at Marks & Spencers), who jumped ship in the honeymoon period of his strategy, and having spent the funds on stores and acquisitions, and embarked upon a borrow, to buyback share strategy its been a long drawn out series of disappointments to get to this stage.
I guess I am feeling a little frustrated and disappointed about my venture into supermarkets given the apparently simple metrics of product quality, availability, pricing, and sourcing, along with the added value of customer experience in terms of location, access, good parking, and store environment.
It seems both Morrison's and Tesco have failed to do this in recent years being distracted by expansion, and looking through the windows of others.
More recently, these super logistics companies, have started cutting back their product ranges so I now have to frequent more than one of them or look to source online from the manufacturers of my preferred products.
Which, I imagine, is not what they would like and runs the risk of a wholesale change in my shopping loyalties.
Tesco take note, that your clubcard database for me is useless if all my products are bought elsewhere.
My view on supermarkets, as an investment, was not necessarily about continued aggressive growth through their own efforts, as they are really only cannibalising each others market share but by maintaining that in an inflating economy ie. the pie from which they all take becomes bigger each year as the economy grows/inflates.
I also coined a phrase a few years back regarding another of my investments as it appeared to ride the crest of a wave with increasing profits, and that was to suggest that the real measure of success won't be visible for a few years and that it would only come when we are able to look back and ask if the profits were spent wisely, in the case of Tesco, and Morrison's (and my other investment), the answer appears to be a lengthening list of noes.
The unfortunate thing is that success does breed apathy in terms of loosening the controls and measures that brought success in the first place, and then, as time moves on, successions kick in, and new blood, which never seems to feel part of the journey (remember the word is succession), is typically more free in spending the cash or filling out the existing structure/administrative cost base.
Anyway, I have always found it a little odd that my in store Morrison's experience always seemed more expensive than Tesco, and even Sainsbury's and along with the (in the past), shorter opening hours, find it easy to understand why it has struggled to dupe shoppers into entering. But that's just my experience at my local stores where the restaurant seems to be the success.
The share price rose yesterday on the news, and looks to be falling with the wider index today following deflation and growth risks, but the concern for Morrison's now is where to turn next.
Philips is stepping down in March but without the enthusiasm and energy of a committed CEO, and a clear strategy and performance to measure, Morrison is rudderless.
Related links:
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk: Morrisons ousts Dalton Philips after Christmas sales drop
Related posts:
- Morrison's Preliminary Results: "Different and Better than Ever"?
No comments:
Post a Comment