After 11 years in the wilderness, Morrisons is bringing back the Safeway brand as a new wholesale range of groceries to be stocked at independent retailers across the UK from next year. The name itself will be familiar to anyone who grew up in the 90s as a supermarket brand that once stood toe-to-toe with the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury's, but was retired, along with its 479 UK stores, when it was acquired by Morrisons back in 2004. The brand has been brought out of retirement, however, in order to promote a new range of products that Morrisons hope will help it claim back some of the business it's lost to more casual shoppers, who prefer picking up bits and pieces as and when they need them from local retailers instead of relying on one big weekly shop. Morrisons hopes to tap into the UK convenience market with the new/old brand, 75% of which is currently made up of independent businesses. The supermarket chain has also announced its plans to pilot 10 more Morrisons Daily convenience shops in petrol garages in the UK as part of the wider push to take back the custom of daily shoppers.
The new own-brand packaging features an updated design and logo, replacing the previous italicised marque with a red sans serif typeface. The supermarket has not yet confirmed which consultancy has worked on the redesign, but it's definitely got a fair amount of retro charm to it. The now defunct BDH/TBWA was the last ad agency to work on the Safeway account, having already held Morrisons. Morrison’s ad account is now held by Publicis London following a competitive pitch earlier this year, while MEC handles its media.
Morrisons will begin distributing the range in the first half 2017, although the retailer has not confirmed whether it will be handling relations with independent stores directly or working with a distribution firm. The move could result in the Safeway brand competing for space on convenience store shelves with established wholesale brands such as Booker’s Happy Shopper and Nisa Today’s Heritage. Morrisons is also building its relationship with Amazon. Earlier this year, the company announced a partnership with Amazon to ramp up its online offering in a deal that allowed Amazon Prime customers to order fresh and frozen products from Morrisons. Last week, the service was expanded further to offer a full Morrisons shop. Amazon Prime customers in selected postcodes in London and Hertfordshire can have their shopping delivered within an hour for £6.99, with a two-hour delivery slot also available for no extra charge.
“By working with well-established partners and reviving the Safeway brand, we are making our products more accessible to more customers” David Potts, CEO of Morrisons
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK.
