McColl's shops in Gateshead, Sunderland and Ashington are among the 132 stores which will be closed as part of Morrisons' restructuring of the convenience chain.
The shutters will come down on a total of nine North East stores by the end of the year, after Morrisons confirmed it would purchase the failing convenience store chain in May. The 132 closures will put 1,300 jobs at risk througout the UK, although the supermarket chain has said that affected colleague will be offered alternative employment either at a local store or in another part of the business.
The news came as the supermarket chain set out its plans for McColls, which it rescued from administration earlier this year in a £190m rescue bid which saved around 16,000 jobs at the time. Morrisons also outlined plans to speed up the conversion programme, aiming to convert the “substantial majority” of McColl’s branches to Morrisons Daily stores within two years.
