Morrisons are basically the Arsenal of the supermarket world, they always finish in 4th place. Morrisons is of course the 4th largest supermarket in the UK and has been for a while now, always trailing behind Tesco, Asda and Morrisons. Most of their stores tend to have an old fashioned feel to them I feel, with a store even in an old mill in Failsworth, but this store in Chadderton is an example of one of the stores that is an improvement, and a better store in general.
This store basically follows the traditional Morrisons layout, with a few minor changes, such as the none of the old fashioned revolving doors, the counters some being closer when you come in etc, and the freezer section looking a little different, with 2 connected isles and then half of the next one next store.
The main purpose of my visit today was to check out the newly improved free from range at Morrisons, having heard about it from a friend about Morrisons as a whole. I was pleased to see a large store outside mentioning about the new range. This store is fairly easy to get in and out of, considering it is near enough just off a motorway type road, and it looks a lot harder to get in from a distance, than it actually is.
The car park is a decent size, with a small amount of disabled bays, due to limited space they probably couldn't fit anymore in, as this would mean sacrificing the size of the store, but the room there was okay.
This store even has a "Free from fridge", which most other stores don't have, most of the stuff in there I find not to be very nice, overpriced and simply disgusting, although I think it is nice Morrisons are doing a better free from range, it isn't better if the products they bring in, are not great quality, such as The NO G Pies and Kirsty's meals.
In the to go food section, they have a small range of gluten free sandwiches, which can be combined with a drink and a side for £3, however it is quite frustrating, especially if you are in the rush because you'll need to get the free from sausage roll than a totally different area than the other to go items.
The frozen free from range is quite poor, to the point they isn't even any labeling to say where it is, like they is in the fridge and standard shelf range. They stocked a few items, such as the Schar Pizzas and Amy's Kitchen meals, but these are not great quality either, including the toad in the whole, which is hard to get hold of, with many local stores not stocking it, but still this Morrisons exclusive product is just thick and bland.
Moving onto the better part, the free from range, on shelves they had a good range of breads, cereals and biscuits, including some products I have not seen before, including the new Schar paninis, the "Feel free" cake mixes and Doves farm flour, normally hard to get from other supermarkets were stocked, along with a good range of own-brand and branded items. Cereals were also stocked. This range was quite impressive, with reasonable pricing for gluten free, Photos attached.
The range of drink multi-packs needs to improve, I was looking at San Pellegrinio drinks only to find a selection of two and it was just the Orange and Lemon flavours seperatly, I was looking for another flavour having just picked up some for much better value at Costco just down the road, there they charge £9 for 24 and it is nearly £4 for 6 here which is really bad pricing considering it is the same price just down the road from here, less than half a mile and a 5 minute drive in fact.
The staff here seemed okay, although they still wouldn't squeeze me on when they were about to close the tills, and they didn't seem to be helping with the large queues and rush as well as they could.
I don't normally like Morrisons stores due to the decor and selection of some products, but this store is "A-Ok" to quote the Yelp description of 3 stars, which I feel this store deserves. read more