Woolworths Metro to take over groceries from Kemeny’s Liquor Bondi
Legendary liquor store and grocer Kemeny’s will soon share their sprawling Bondi Road land holdings with a Woolworths Metro. FIND OUT ALL THE DETAILS.
Wentworth Courier
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Kemeny’s on Bondi Road will cease offering their boutique delicatessen and grocery items from mid-January to make way for a Woolworths Metro.
It’s understood Woolworths, who purchased the site from Kemeny’s, will begin construction on their half of the 1000 sqm store in February ahead of a projected Easter opening.
The legendary eastern suburbs liquor retailer will continue to provide their vast selection of alcoholic beverages from the other half of the equally shared site.
The decision marks an end of an era for the iconic store which was established in 1960 as L and E Kemeny Delicatessen by Hungarian migrants Emma and the late Leslie Kemeny.
The Bondi Road store is the second Woolworths Metro in the works for the eastern suburbs.
The old Caltex site on the corner of Old South Head Road and Albemarle in Rose Bay is also earmarked for a store by the supermarket giant – albeit at a much earlier stage of planning.
A spokesman for Kemeny’s confirmed they were liaising with Woolworths to ensure many of their sought after specialty food items would be stocked at Woolies.
“Kemeny’s is excited to be working alongside Woolworths who we are sure will offer the local community a fantastic grocery offering, including many of the niche grocery items that Kemeny’s are known for,” he said.
“Kemeny’s liquor will remain open throughout the construction of Metro.”
Woolworths confirmed the Metro grocery offering would be focused on fresh fruit and vegetables, innovative dinner solutions, and a range of grocery items including key essentials and gourmet products from local producers.
The supermarket has already put up signage in the windows urging locals to scan a QR code and nominate which items they would like to see stocked.
The Metro will share the existing Kemeny’s carpark and is working with the family to provide employment opportunities to staff impacted by the downsizing of the liquor store.
Woolworths Metro General Manager, Justin Nolan said Kemeny’s is a much loved retailer with a proud 60 year history in Bondi.
“We’re very excited to be sharing the site with Kemeny’s and working alongside such an iconic business,” Mr Nolan said.
“We will take great care to ensure the new Metro store is designed to meet the needs of the Bondi community, with a focus on quality fresh and healthy food at affordable prices.
“We look forward to welcoming customers into our new look Metro neighbourhood food store in 2022.”
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