City analysts may have been questioning Morrisons' decision to expand south out of its Yorkshire heartland in April 1998, but how things have changed. Sir Ken Morrison has just stepped down as chairman after 56 years, in which time he has transformed the firm from his father's three market stalls to the UK's fourth biggest supermarket.
The past decade included the difficult takeover of Safeway in 2004, which cost £3.35bn, but following the bedding-down of the new much-enlarged grocer, it is well on the way to rivalling Asda and Sainsbury's, in its mission to be "the food specialist for everyone".
Morrisons was the clear winner this Christmas, with an extra four million customer visits, and like for like sales [excluding fuel] in the six weeks to 6 January 2008 up 9.5%. Total food sales also increased, by 11.6%, boosted by a new discount scheme for staff introduced in November.
The group strengthened its fresh food offer last year, and developed a celebrity-heavy marketing campaign.
Sir Ken had a good send-off, with the company's preliminary results for the year ending 3 February showing record earnings of £13bn, up 6% on 2007, and like-for-like sales up 4.6%.
Has the number of customer complaints about the price of goods increased recently?
