Morrisons has confirmed that 54 of its in‑store cafés will close next year, trimming a once‑familiar fixture of the weekly shop as costs rise and customer habits shift. Shoppers are being warned to check local notice boards, with affected branches already posting closure dates and sketching out what will replace the hot meals and milky teas.
Why Morrisons is shutting 54 cafés next year
The café move is part of a wider rethink of how the supermarket uses its space. Hot food and tea used to be central to the “big shop” experience. Now, the chain says too many of its dining areas sit half‑empty for long stretches of the day.
Next year, 54 Morrisons cafés will shut at sites with low footfall or where expensive kitchen refits no longer stack up financially.
Energy bills, wages and ingredient prices have all climbed, pushing up the cost of keeping full kitchens running from breakfast until late afternoon. At the same time, more shoppers grab a coffee on the way to the store, eat at home, or rely on quick meal deals from the fridges instead of a sit‑down fry‑up.
Retail managers talk about “dwell time” – how long people linger in‑store. In many supermarkets, that time has shifted from plates to trolleys. Customers swing in for a top‑up shop or collect online orders rather than planning a long visit with a café break built in. Morrisons’ weakest cafés rarely recovered their old rhythm after the pandemic. Busy Saturdays are not enough to offset long, quiet weekdays, and the sums have started to look harsh.
The decision to close dozens of sites is designed to free up staff and space for parts of the store that still grow: bakery counters, ready‑to‑eat food, click‑and‑collect areas and partner concessions. In some locations, the café space will be shrunk rather than scrapped, or taken over by a branded operator that can trade longer hours on a slimmer menu.
What will happen to staff and regular customers?
Morrisons stresses that this is not a simple “lock the doors and walk away” exercise. The chain says workers will be offered alternative roles where possible, both within the same store and at nearby branches.
Café colleagues are being steered towards roles in bakery, deli, front‑of‑house and online fulfilment, with retraining on offer in many cases.
For customers, the immediate impact will be felt most in towns where the supermarket café doubles as a social hub. Coaches park up, carers meet between appointments, and older shoppers build their entire weekly routine around a bus, a big shop and a cheap cooked breakfast.
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Local managers are being encouraged to soften the blow by keeping some seating in place or setting aside community corners. These might be a handful of tables near the bakery, a small hot drink offer beside the counters, or use of a community room where groups can still meet even after the main café shutters.
Key things affected shoppers should do now
- Check café notice boards for closure dates and final last‑order times.
- Use up café loyalty stamps and paper vouchers before the final week of trading.
- Ask staff where seating or hot food will be available once the café closes.
- If you’re part of a regular group, speak to the duty manager about alternative meeting spots in‑store.
- Keep an eye on your More Card offers, as new bakery or hot counter deals often appear during refurbishments.
Gift cards linked to Morrisons usually work across the wider store, not just in the café, so customers with unused balances should still be able to spend them on groceries, bakery items or hot food counters after the change.
How the closures fit into changing shopping habits
Supermarket cafés used to be the soft landing zone of the high street: somewhere cheap, warm and predictable. As home coffee machines, high‑street chains and convenience food have spread, that role has been chipped away.
| Change | What Morrisons is doing | What shoppers will notice |
|---|---|---|
| Rising running costs | Shutting 54 full cafés and avoiding big refits | Fewer large sit‑down areas, more compact food zones |
| Faster shopping trips | Testing grab‑and‑go counters and smaller menus | More quick options, less space for long stays |
| Flexible store formats | Bringing in partner brands in some locations | Different coffee or snack brands appearing where cafés once were |
| Local social needs | Setting up small seating zones or community areas | Simple tables and chairs instead of a full restaurant set‑up |
Industry‑wide, café takings in big supermarkets have been squeezed by drive‑through coffee, app‑based takeaway orders and people working from home rather than grabbing lunch in retail parks. It is harder to justify a large kitchen and dozens of seats when the same square footage could host a concession, a click‑and‑collect area or more chilled aisles.
Not every store will look the same. Some Morrisons branches will keep a full café where demand is consistent – often in busy suburban sites or near major road routes. Others will downgrade to simplified offers such as self‑serve coffee machines, pre‑packed cakes and a handful of tables. A third group will likely switch to outside brands, trading on recognisable logos and standardised menus to draw in customers.
What shoppers can realistically expect next year
If your usual Morrisons is on the closure list, the first visible change will be posters on notice boards and at café entrances. Those usually give a date for the final day of cooked service and sometimes a rough outline of what’s coming next.
Expect a patchwork of outcomes: some cafés fully gone, some shrunk, some reborn as partner outlets or expanded hot counters.
During transition, parts of the store can feel disrupted: temporary walls, blocked‑off seating and contractors moving equipment. That phase tends to be short, as supermarkets want to minimise lost trade while work is carried out.
For regulars who value routine as much as the food, a practical approach helps:
- Check whether nearby Morrisons stores still have full cafés and decide if the extra travel is worth it.
- Look at independent cafés or community centres close to bus stops as alternative meeting spots.
- If you rely on the café as a warm, low‑cost space, ask your local council or charities about “warm spaces” schemes, which often run through winter.
Frequently asked questions about the closures
- Where can I see the full list of the 54 cafés? Stores on the list are displaying notices and staff have been briefed. The most accurate information will be at your local customer service desk and on in‑store boards.
- When exactly will my café shut? Closures will roll out through next year in phases. Each branch sets a final service date and usually gives several weeks’ warning.
- What if I still have loyalty stamps? Most cafés will honour them right up to the last week, but customers are advised not to leave redemptions until the final days, when queues may build.
- Will there still be hot food? Many affected sites are expected to keep some form of hot offer, either at a dedicated counter or through partner brands, though full table service may disappear.
- Can staff refuse redeployment? Colleagues can discuss options with managers and HR. Where alternative roles are not suitable or available, normal employment procedures apply, so individual circumstances will matter.
What these changes tell us about modern supermarkets
The Morrisons decision underlines how quickly the balance between social space and selling space is shifting. For decades, in‑store cafés functioned as a kind of quiet social service – somewhere warm where no one rushed you off the table for the price of a tea and a scone.
As margins tighten, supermarkets are under pressure to prove that every square metre pays its way. A café that only fills up for two hours a day is harder to defend when a partner coffee brand or extra grocery aisle could generate more steady income.
That does not mean the social role disappears entirely. Managers in smaller towns know that closing the café outright can feel like ripping out part of the community fabric. The likely compromise is modest: a few tables, plug sockets, self‑serve drinks and maybe a microwaveable snack range. Less ceremony, more function.
For shoppers, the risk is that everyday life becomes a little more fragmented. Instead of one stop for food, warmth and conversation, people may juggle multiple venues – a discount retailer for groceries, a chain coffee shop for a sit‑down, and home for the rest. Any extra bus fare or coffee price jump can matter a lot for pensioners and low‑income households who relied on supermarket cafés as an affordable third place between home and the street.
On the other hand, a leaner set‑up could keep prices keener across the rest of the store. If closing underused cafés helps Morrisons hold back on price rises in core groceries, many shoppers may see that trade‑off as worthwhile, especially as budgets stay tight.
One thing is clear: the way we shop and socialise around food keeps moving. Those white mugs and yellow trays might not vanish entirely, but they will be harder to find. The branches that keep a simple, friendly corner – even without a full kitchen – will likely win quiet loyalty from customers who just want a warm seat, a straightforward brew and a familiar face behind the counter.