Morrisons has acquired six former HMV stores from the collapsed retailer’s administrator Deloitte as the grocer builds its convenience arm.

The grocer will rebrand the stores to its convenience fascia Morrisons M Local. The acquisition comes just a week after the retailer bought 49 Blockbuster stores and a month after purchasing seven former Jessops stores.

Morrisons looks set to exceed its target of operating 70 convenience stores by the end of 2013. The grocer currently trades from 13 convenience stores across the UK and opened its first London store in Ealing yesterday.

The retailer is also offering its staff a £500 finder’s fee if they identify convenience properties for the retailer that are subsequently opened. The grocer is keen to rapidly build its convenience arm after pinpointing its lack of exposure to the growing market as a key reason it lost out to rivals over Christmas.

Morrisons convenience managing director Gordon Mowat said: “We have either opened or acquired 70 stores just one month into our financial year so we are pleased that we will exceed our 2013 target.

“Our focus is now on opening these stores as soon as we can as well as pushing on to secure even more sites. This is a big expansion year for us and we have got off to a great start.”

HMV collapsed into administration last month after fierce competition from online retailers and a severe decline in its core markets.

CBRE and Savills acted for Deloitte.

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