Skip to content

Guiseley locals won’t be getting trollied as Morrison’s supermarket opens new bar

 

The Woolpack pub in Guiseley

By Jazmine Ella Blackah

PUB LANDLORDS and regulars in Guiseley say they are sceptical about a decision to serve alcohol at the cafe in Morrison’s supermarket.  

The Guiseley branch is the first of the chain’s stores to have an in-store bar, called Barista, which sells alcohol between 6am and midnight.

Landlord of the nearby Woolpack pub, Darry Pech, 26, said: “It’s a weird one. The whole theory behind it, going shopping and buying a pint, it’s not like going to the pub. I don’t think it has been thought out.  

“It’s just another way to make money. The prices they are charging is too high for what it is.

“When you come here and have a pint you pay for the experience and atmosphere as well as the pint. In a supermarket there is no atmosphere.”

The Yorkshire Rose Pub in Guiseley

And landlady of The Yorkshire Rose, Sam Corrigan, 50, said: “It is a novelty for now but I don’t think it will last long because most people go shopping in a car, hence with children or a family shop.

“That to me is encouraging drink driving.

“I don’t think it is going to affect the local pubs because it will just be they call in and have one drink and leave, whereas in a pub environment it is different.

“You are here for a few hours and socialise. It is a really bad idea.”

David Schofield, 54, a customer at the Yorkshire Rose, said: “I find it quite strange for a supermarket to actually sell alcohol on the pump.

“I am not sure why it is needed. I can’t imagine many people using it.”

Wendy Schofield, 51, another customer at the Yorkshire Rose, said: “The last place you want to go for a night out is Morrison’s supermarket. You’re not going to go there for your night out are you.”

Abigail Madden, 20, Morrison’s cafe assistant, said: “For the first week or so we had a couple of people come in that knew it was going to happen originally so it wasn’t massive.

“Last weekend it got busy as more and more people came in. It is doing quite well.

“The people that come in and buy alcohol are like waiting while their wife is doing the shopping.”

What do you think?