Coles Supermarkets are an Australian supermarket chain owned by Coles Myer Ltd. With over 500 stores nationally and a staff of 60,000 people, Coles currently hold the 2nd largest market share behind Woolworths Supermarkets.
History
Coles was founded in 1914 when what was called the "Coles Variety Store" opened on 9 April in Smith Street in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood. Expansion to more stores occurred and the chain was regarded as the leaders in providing value to Australian shoppers.
In 1960, the first supermarket was opened in Melbourne suburb, North Balwyn, and in 1973 a Coles store had been established in all capital cities of the country.
Throughout the 1980's, stores were entitled "Coles New World" until they were renamed Coles Supermarkets in the early 1990's and given the trademark "globe" logo they use today.
Since its humble beginning, Coles Supermarket stores have expanded in size, service, and convenience.
Promotions
- 4c/litre Fuel Offer - Spend More than $30.00 in a single transaction to receive a 4c/litre fuel discount coupon at the end of the recipt for use at Shell/Coles Express service stations
- FlyBuys - Shoppers can collect FlyBuys loyalty program points throughout the Coles Myer network
- iTunes - iTunes Music Store prepaid cards are available at Coles
- In 1993, Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd. ran a promotion in conjunction with Apple Computer entiled "Apples for Students", where students collected grocery dockets and returned them to their participating school, and once a certain value had been reached the school would be provided with a free Macintosh computer.
Departments
- Bake House: The Bakery department manages baked products such as cakes, and many Coles stores have their own bakehouse with which to create products onsite. Types of bake houses include "in-store bakeries" and "bake off plus".
- Dairy: Dairy maintains refrigerated and frozen foods such as milk, other dairy products, and juices and ensures that stock meets appropriate temperature requirements.
- Delicatessen: The Deli packages meat and other delicatessen products for customers according to the customer's wishes. They may also have a Cappucino Café area serving hot savoury food, coffee, and cakes. It is important to note, however, that while the Café is structurally part of the Delicatessen, it is actually run by the Bakery department.
- Fresh Produce: The Fresh Produce department are responsible for all fruits and vegetables in the supermarket, and staff members often prepare fruit for sale.
- Grocery: Grocery carries out stock placement, ordering the aisle shelves and performing general maintenance duties such as cleaning up spillages, carrying out price checks, and sometimes retrieving trolleys. Grocery staff often assist customers with transporting difficult products around the store and car park or with general queries. They are the store rats in other words.
- Meat: The Meat department stocks pre-packaged refrigerated meat products for customers and prepares many of these packages for sale. The only exception to this is in Western Australia, where all Coles Supermarkets run a true meat room, with a full complement of butchers and apprentices. This is the only state where the meat is prepared fresh in the store, and only less common lines, such as turkey mince and ready-to-cook products, arrive pre-packed. Older stores in other states such as Victoria may still have meat rooms, but this is becoming less common as the Company refurbishes these stores.
- Service: Service workers man the checkouts and front desk, contacting appropriate department staff to assist customers where needed.
- Liquor: This department is in charge of managing alcoholic products. Note that not all stores in every state have this department due to government laws in each state.
- General Merchandise / Apparel: Non-food items such as clothing, hardware, and gardening products.
- Overhead: This department covers Point of Sale (Ticketing), Adminstration (Office Employees), and Recieving where the Stockhand is located.
Each department has a line manager of its own subordinate to the store manager, with the Grocery Manager generally regarded as second in charge of the store. In larger stores, the position of Dissipation Manager is essentially the assistant Store Manager. The Fresh Foods Manager is in charge of the Delicatessen, Meat, Bakery, and Fresh Produce departments; however, he or she usually will take on some responsibilities in other departments.