Without fuss or fanfare – and without planning permission – Morrisons opened their new convenience store in High Street, Marlborough, at 9am yesterday.
And this morning the doors glided open at 7am with 34-year-old manager Adrian Botwright declaring: “It was all very exciting when we opened. And I am thrilled and delighted to be here.
“Our concept is that we are here for the community. We want to know our customers on a name basis. We want to be involved in events, fetes or anything we can sponsor or donate raffle prizes for.
“That’s what we’re about. We want to get involved with the people who live and work in the area. And we want to create a bit of a buzz and an atmosphere in the store.”
As to the initial reaction of customers, he told Marlborough News Online: “We were very pleased with the reception from our first customers. Their reaction was very good, the feedback was that the aisles were wide and the produce fresh and we were somewhere new to go to shop.”
Devizes-born Adrian, who has worked for Morrisons and Safeway for 16 years, has a staff of 20 to support, including one university-educated student from Devizes, who has never worked in retail before, and three members of staff who live in Marlborough.
He does not see the convenience store as being in direct competition either with Waitrose across the road or Tesco on the Marlborough business park site.
“The big difference for us with Waitrose is our prices,” he explained. “Obviously, we are a much smaller store than them.
“Where we would like to gain custom is the fact that we are open to 10pm on Sunday and open from 7am to 10pm every day. So we offer an alternative.
“If you want a newspaper at 7.30am you don’t have to wait around anymore. And if you want to shop at 6pm on a Sunday evening, then we’re here for you.
“We are trying to do something different with convenience stores. The ‘M’ stores are a whole new concept with Morrisons, which they are rolling out on a massive scale across the country.”
He is aware that the former fashion store premises and once an M&S food store, has yet to be granted planning consent by Wiltshire’s eastern area planning committee, which is not due to meet until next month.
The convenience store has been welcomed by the Planning Committee of Marlborough town council, which has asked for assurances that the new store’s refrigeration and air conditioning units do not disturb residents living behind the store.
“The situation was explained to me on a conference call last week. We have been in the store now for seven days preparing,” he said.
“But we wanted to go ahead with the opening as we have the staff on board and the customers are out there to serve.”
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And even Waitrose gives a welcome to their new competitor
“It’s always great to visit a new store, I do believe competition is a good thing,” Ian told Marlborough News Online. “”The arrival of a new store in town makes you look at things with fresh eyes. “It will good to hear from our customers what they think we can do better, examples how we can make their shopping visits to Waitrose even better than they tell us they are.” He added: “I had a good chat with Adrian when Morrisons opened on Monday and welcomed him to Marlborough. Everything was very convivial, as it should be. “I do hope we can work together on town-based initiatives in the future. I am sure our paths will cross and that we can work together on projects that benefit the town.” |
Waitrose manager Ian Smith has crossed the High Street to his new opposition and given a personal welcome to Morrisons manager Adrian Botwright and his staff.
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