Morrisons is closing four supermarkets, putting more than 400 jobs at risk.
The Bradford-based grocer said the decision was made after a review of the performance of its 494 stores.
The stores shutting are in Crawley, Ince near Wigan, Shirley in Solihull and Swindon town centre.
Recent industry data showed Morrisons to be the worst-performing member of the big four supermarket chains in the three months to 11 August, with sales down 2.7%. The Kantar data revealed customers were putting fewer items in their baskets when shopping there, with Morrisons’ market share now 10.1%, down from 10.3% a year ago.
A Morrisons spokesperson said: “We will now be going through a consultation process at the stores and discussing how to reduce redundancies and where possible redeploy colleagues.”
The big four are under pressure from the German discounters Aldi and Lidl, which are expanding rapidly, as well as the growth of online services.
In July, Waitrose said it was closing seven supermarkets as it focused on expanding its home delivery arm. Morrisons has online deals with Amazon and Ocado.
