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Got started talking about Coles supermarkets in the thread on the TTP extension and decided to give the subject its own thread here.

I read in the news not long ago that even the CEO of Coles openly admits that Coles supermarkets is a mess. I can't remember his exact words but he basically said that customers have other options, and therefore why would they choose to shop at Coles? (meaning they wouldn't!)

They need to get their act together. Just from a casual observers point of view they have several different logos and slogns in use at the moment, none of which are any good.

Who else here find the Coles supermarkets brand boring, tired and uninspiring?

pushbutton wrote:Got started talking about Coles supermarkets in the thread on the TTP extension and decided to give the subject its own thread here.
(snip)
Who else here find the Coles supermarkets brand boring, tired and uninspiring?

I think they made a number of bad moves a couple of years ago. I live near what was Bi-Lo for many years - a bit
daggy, in need of a clean, but viable. Coles rebranded it as Coles Central two years ago, but the available choice
was cut, many brands vanished, and instead of convenience, it was confusion. They were better keeping Bi-Lo
as a distinct entity, & not having Coles Central, Express, and just Coles. Anyway, 12 months later, Romeo took
it over as an IGA, and has rebuilt it and is adding a newsagent / Xlotto section. I believe the same thing happened
with Bi-Lo at Port Adelaide -> Coles -> Foodland.

Xaragmata wrote:

pushbutton wrote:Got started talking about Coles supermarkets in the thread on the TTP extension and decided to give the subject its own thread here.
(snip)
Who else here find the Coles supermarkets brand boring, tired and uninspiring?

I think they made a number of bad moves a couple of years ago. I live near what was Bi-Lo for many years - a bit
daggy, in need of a clean, but viable. Coles rebranded it as Coles Central two years ago, but the available choice
was cut, many brands vanished, and instead of convenience, it was confusion. They were better keeping Bi-Lo
as a distinct entity, & not having Coles Central, Express, and just Coles. Anyway, 12 months later, Romeo took
it over as an IGA, and has rebuilt it and is adding a newsagent / Xlotto section. I believe the same thing happened
with Bi-Lo at Port Adelaide -> Coles -> Foodland.

Also on Marion Road, Marion, the same thing happened.

Norman wrote:

Xaragmata wrote:

pushbutton wrote:Got started talking about Coles supermarkets in the thread on the TTP extension and decided to give the subject its own thread here.
(snip)
Who else here find the Coles supermarkets brand boring, tired and uninspiring?

I think they made a number of bad moves a couple of years ago. I live near what was Bi-Lo for many years - a bit
daggy, in need of a clean, but viable. Coles rebranded it as Coles Central two years ago, but the available choice
was cut, many brands vanished, and instead of convenience, it was confusion. They were better keeping Bi-Lo
as a distinct entity, & not having Coles Central, Express, and just Coles. Anyway, 12 months later, Romeo took
it over as an IGA, and has rebuilt it and is adding a newsagent / Xlotto section. I believe the same thing happened
with Bi-Lo at Port Adelaide -> Coles -> Foodland.

Also on Marion Road, Marion, the same thing happened.

That was a nice looking Bi-Lo. The one on Marion Rd near Anzac Hwy survives as a Coles, but how long with
KMart / Coles Kurralta Pk not far away, and a likely competitor to be built behind the Hwy Inn. I guess Woolies
& Coles are both eyeing any threat from Aldi and the like, if they come to SA.

Xaragmata wrote:

pushbutton wrote:Got started talking about Coles supermarkets in the thread on the TTP extension and decided to give the subject its own thread here.
(snip)
Who else here find the Coles supermarkets brand boring, tired and uninspiring?

I think they made a number of bad moves a couple of years ago. I live near what was Bi-Lo for many years - a bit
daggy, in need of a clean, but viable. Coles rebranded it as Coles Central two years ago, but the available choice
was cut, many brands vanished, and instead of convenience, it was confusion. They were better keeping Bi-Lo
as a distinct entity, & not having Coles Central, Express, and just Coles. Anyway, 12 months later, Romeo took
it over as an IGA, and has rebuilt it and is adding a newsagent / Xlotto section. I believe the same thing happened
with Bi-Lo at Port Adelaide -> Coles -> Foodland.

The same things happened at quite a few ex bilos throughout Adelaide.

Did you know by the way that BiLo still operates in other states?

A slight tangent but I've always thought it'd be great if there were a "Coles Express" (or whatever brand) in the immediate vicinity of the Railway Station. It would be very convenient for commuters to grab those few things on the way home, saving a trip though the suburbs later. There's a car park that takes up a large block over the top of Railway Station Arcade. That'd be a great spot for a supermarket.

There's a few stations in Sydney where there's this sort of arrangement: underground supermarkets, mulit-story supermarkets, etc. The Woolworths at Town Hall has four levels and has entrances from the street, from the underground arcade and directly from the concourse of the Town Hall station.

There's loads of convenience stores near the railway station, if you just need a few basics.

If you want a proper supermarket in the CBD, there's a Woolworths in Rundle Mall and a Coles in Grote street, and another Coles to be built soon in Rundle Mall.

Personally I'd say that's enough really.

I think Aldi need to come to Adelaide

I'm not really a big fan of Aldi. I find Coles stores a positively wonderful shopping experience by comparison! When I used to shop occasionally at Aldi in UK it was only because I was a student with little income and Aldi was at the time extremely cheap.

However I had a look in one in Brisbane recently and it appears they're not quite so cheap here. Also I like the convenience of being able to buy all my food in the one place, which you can't do at Aldi because they have no fresh food.

Also one thing I like about shopping in Adelaide is that you have the option of shopping in truly independent locally owned supermarkets (generally Foodland / IGA). These stores have managed to do quite well here and the standards are often equal or higher than those at Coles or even Woolworths.

You tend not to find as many of these stores interstate, and if they are there they're shabby little stores that seem to struggle to survive.

If there was too much additional competition in the Adelaide grocery sector, even from Aldi, I would worry that perhaps a lot of these independents would not do so well and many may close.

If there was going to be new competition, I would prefer it to be a big supermarket operator that at least would open full range supermarkets.

Aldi sell fresh food in the ACT. There's also another chain here, Superbarn, to compete with Wooloworths, Coles, Aldi and IGA.

Superbarn? What is that? Pottery Barn for food?

It's the same as Coles and Woolworths basically.

Aldi selling fresh food? That's interesting. Do they have a full range (bakery, fruit and veg, meat, fish, deli etc)?

What are their prices like in ACT?

Sounds nothing like the Aldi I've seen in Britain if it sells fresh food.

pushbutton wrote:Aldi selling fresh food? That's interesting. Do they have a full range (bakery, fruit and veg, meat, fish, deli etc)?

What are their prices like in ACT?

Sounds nothing like the Aldi I've seen in Britain if it sells fresh food.

I think that's because there are two types of Aldi, Aldi Sud and Aldi Nord.

If it has this logo then it's Aldi Sud, which is the same company that operates Aldi in UK. In which case they must have adapted the format for Australia (or maybe they've just evolved it into a full line supermarket in UK too. I haven't been in a UK Aldi for quite a few years).
It's Aldi Sud in Queensland, so I would imagine they operate all the Aldis in Australia probably.

On the other hand, if it has this logo, it's Aldi Nord, which I don't know much about.