Last week I wrote about the sale by Morrisons of its C stores to My Local. I suggested that this was a clever way for Morrisons to retain exposure in a capital-light manner by continuing to supply My Local on a 'franchise' basis.
Today, My Local have announced a billion pound five year supply agreement with Nisa, so I couldn't have got that more wrong!
This seems to me to be a missed opportunity for Morrisons, and something of a coup for Nisa in a business where scale is important. Without a supply agreement with My Local, Morrisons options in convenience may just have become even narrower.
That's not to say however that the direct operation v. franchise battle is not still raging; in fact it might just have intensified further.