Morrisons to axe store in West Bromwich town centre
Morrisons has announced plans to close its supermarket in West Bromwich town centre after it was named as one of 10 struggling stores.
The store on The Ringway is no longer viable, the supermarket giant said, with talks now due to begin over the future of the workforce.
A 90-day consultation on the plans has begun before a final decision is made.
It means dozens of workers have been left facing an uncertain future after Morrisons said it was possible some staff could be offered roles at other stores.
But defiant store manager Mick Walsh said it was business as usual.
He said: "We are carrying on as normal and I hope the staff would say the same.
"We are all facing the risk of redundancy. A decision will be made in 90 days and we are doing the best we can for customers.
"We are all contracted to do a job by Morrisons and we will be doing everything we can for the next 90 days."
Morrisons has become the latest of the 'big four' supermarkets to announce store closures, following Tesco which will be axing 43 sites as well as scrapping plans to build new stores, including in Wolverhampton.
The rise of discount stores Aldi and Lidl have added to their struggles. News of the Morrisons closures comes in the same week it was announced chief executive Dalton Philips would be standing down.
Morrisons spokesman Tom Cooledge said: "We have looked extremely carefully at whether these stores can be turned around but unfortunately we cannot see a way of making them viable. We are therefore proposing their closure.
"We are consulting with colleagues and unions to reduce the risk of redundancies and we are looking at ways of redeploying colleagues around our business."
Black Country Chamber of Commerce President Ninder Johal said the closure of Morrisons would come as a huge blow.
He said "This is disappointing news for the Black Country in the back drop of a local economy and employment that is increasing quarter by quarter."
Albert Powell, who is 79 and lives in Hargate Road, West Bromwich, said: "I always shop here and it is very reasonable with prices, it's cheaper than Tesco. The staff are very nice, they seem to have more time."
