Supermarket juggernaut Coles just launched its first-ever concept store, a supermarket and food hall hybrid. It’s a store in a store. It’s store-ception.
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Coles opened the hybrid store at its Tooronga Village location in Melbourne, promising ready-to-eat bites from independent partners / beloved staples EARL Canteen and Sushi Sushi. A quality combo if I do say so myself.
Using their own staff and products, both companies have set up shop in the supermarket. On offer will be barista-made coffee and sushi rolls complete with Coles’ Special Burger Sauce. Side note: I actually hadn’t heard about the sauce before writing this yarn, so if you have no idea what it is either then you can check it out right here.
In classic fashion, Coles Chief executive Steven Cain named the hybrid Australia’s first ‘grocerant’, which sounds like such a precious dad joke.
“The market is going two ways,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald. “One is towards value…and the other is towards convenience. And that’s what this store caters for.”
Speaking of which, Coles’ Head of Convenience Louis Eggar said the hybrid store is about “making life easier for our customers by solving the problem of what to eat – for everyone, any time of the day.”
Coles also revealed it has the mighty plan to covert another 100 stores into ‘grocerants’ before Christmas, which is rather soon. Cain said the company’s keen to partner with local independent retailers in areas where Coles, uh, “struggles” AKA where people may or may not prefer Woolies.
