Morrisons was the British supermarket chain founded in 1899 as an egg-and-butter stall in Bradford.
William Morrison began trading in Rawson Market, Bradford, in June 1899. The business initially dealt in eggs and butter rather than operating as a supermarket. His son, Ken Morrison, later took over and helped turn the family firm into a larger grocery retailer.
Morrisons opened its first proper shops in the 1920s. In 1958, it opened a self-service shop in Bradford, and its first supermarket, Victoria, followed in 1961. The company expanded beyond its northern base much later, notably through its 2004 acquisition of Safeway.
A common mix-up is to associate Morrisons with the other major Yorkshire-linked chain, Asda. Asda began as Associated Dairies in 1949, while Sainsbury’s and Tesco also have different origins. Morrisons’ egg-and-butter-market beginning is the distinctive clue here.