Coles Supermarkets

George Coles learned the retail trade working for his father's "Coles Store" business from 1910 to 1913. The store continued operating as "The Original Coles" at Wilmot, Tasmania, until it was destroyed by fire on 24 January 2014.^[5] Coles itself was founded when George Coles opened the Coles Variety Store on 9 April 1914 on Smith Street in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood.

Coles expanded into food retailing in 1958 when it acquired the 54-store John Connell Dickins grocery chain. It then acquired the Beilby's chain in South Australia in 1959 and the 265-store Matthews Thompson grocery chain in New South Wales in 1960.^[6]

In 1960, Coles opened its first supermarket in the Melbourne suburb of North Balwyn.^[7] In 1962, the first Coles New World supermarket opened in Frankston, Victoria.^[6] Coles' supermarkets were subsequently branded Coles New World, with accompanying Space Age-themed imagery.^[8] By 1973, Coles had established stores in all Australian capital cities.

In 1991, the stores were rebranded Coles Supermarkets and, from 1998, simply as Coles.

In 2004, the liquor division office (Coles Liquor Group) was moved from Chullora in Sydney to the company headquarters in Hawthorn East, Melbourne. Coles Myer CEO John Fletcher said the move would improve efficiency between the food and liquor divisions. The move also resulted in the retirement of Craig Watkins, a 35-year company veteran and director of Coles Liquor.^[9]

From mid-2006, many Bi-Lo supermarkets were rebranded as Coles supermarkets. Newmart, the Western Australian supermarket chain acquired by Bi-Lo in 1996, had seven stores rebranded as Coles in 2002. Newmart stores located near existing Coles stores were sold to Foodland and rebranded as the now-defunct Action Supermarkets chain. The Bi-Lo conversion program was put on hold at Easter 2007.^[10]

In July 2007, Wesfarmers agreed to acquire Coles Group for $22 billion. The purchase was completed in early 2008.^[11] In August 2007, as Wesfarmers foreshadowed its plans for the restructuring of Coles Group following its anticipated takeover, it stated that one of three planned divisions would comprise supermarkets, liquor and convenience stores.^[12]

From 2008 to 2014, Coles was led by British retail executive Ian McLeod.^[13]

In February 2011, Coles acquired National Australia Bank's 50 per cent interest in Australia's largest loyalty program, Flybuys, giving it full ownership.^[14] In September 2011, Coles commenced stocking private-label clothing in its stores, with several stores receiving refits to accommodate the range.^[15]

In 2018, Wesfarmers announced its intention to demerge the Coles business while retaining a 20 per cent interest.^[16] Steven Cain was appointed chief executive of the Coles supermarkets business as part of the demerger.

Coles deployed its first electric truck in April 2022.^[17] The first fully electric delivery vans followed in August 2023.^[18]

In April 2023, Coles opened its first Witron-powered automated distribution centre in Redbank, Queensland.^[19] In the second half of 2024, Coles opened two highly automated 87,000-square-metre (940,000 sq ft) customer fulfilment centres powered by Ocado technology in Truganina, Victoria, and Wetherill Park, New South Wales.^[20][21]

A second Witron distribution centre opened in Kemps Creek, New South Wales, in August 2024,^[22] and construction of a third in Truganina was announced in October 2024.^[23] In the same month, Coles deployed its first fully electric prime mover.^[24]

The early Coles variety-store chain used the slogan "Nothing over 2/6", referring to its policy of selling goods for no more than two shillings and sixpence.^[7]

In the 1960s, Coles sponsored a general knowledge quiz show, Coles £3000 Question (later Coles $6000 Question and Coles $7000 Question), which aired on Channel 7.^[8]

The slogan "Save everyday" was later changed to "save every day".^{[25][better source needed]}

In June 2010, Coles introduced its "Down Down" program as a longer-term price-discounting campaign.^[26] The campaign used a version of Status Quo's 1975 song "Down Down".^[27]

In May 2017, the "Down Down" campaign was refreshed with Australian Idol contestant Casey Donovan, who appeared in a disco version of the advertisement.^[28] In March 2018, Coles moved away from "Down Down" as its central advertising platform in favour of "Good things".^[29]

In October 2020, Coles launched the "Value the Australian Way" brand platform.^[4]

Coles Radio was launched in January 2014 as an in-store radio service in partnership with DMG Radio Australia, now Nova Entertainment.^[30]

• Coles historically offered fuel discount vouchers through Coles Express, including an ordinary four-cent-per-litre discount linked to supermarket spending. Competition-law expert Frank Zumbo criticised fuel-discount schemes on the basis that the discounts could be cross-subsidised by higher grocery and petrol prices.^[36]
• Customers can collect Flybuys points at Coles.
• Between 1991 and 1993, Coles ran the "Apples for Students" promotion with Apple Inc. and 12 major suppliers. Students collected grocery receipts for participating schools, which could exchange them for Macintosh computers once specified spending thresholds were reached. Seventy per cent of Australia's schools and kindergartens participated, receiving more than 25,000 computers, equipment and software worth $13.6 million.^[37]
• In 2010, Coles ran a similar program called "Sports for Schools", in which customers collected coupons for participating schools to exchange for sports equipment. The program was run again in 2011, 2012, 2018^[38] and 2020.^[39]
• In 2018, Coles ran a collectibles promotion called Little Shop featuring miniature grocery items. Competitor Woolworths said that the success of the promotion had reduced customer visits to its stores.^[40] Coles subsequently revived the promotion, with the collectibles returning for the Christmas period.^[41]

Coles publicly supported the Yes campaign in the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum.^[42]

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  A Coles supermarket in Canberra
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  A Coles store in Glenfield Park, New South Wales
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  A Coles store in Boorooma, New South Wales
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  A Coles store at a shopping centre in Hawthorn, Victoria
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  A Coles store in Engadine, New South Wales
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  A Coles supermarket in Springvale, Victoria
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  A Coles store in Chadstone Shopping Centre, Malvern East, Victoria
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  A refurbished Coles supermarket in Berwick, Victoria
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  The inside of the refurbished Coles supermarket in Berwick, Victoria
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  Coles Bentleigh was still sporting the Newmart fit-out in 2017
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  A Coles supermarket at Kurralta Central, Adelaide

• List of supermarket chains in Oceania
• Pick n Pay Stores