High-end ‘fancy’ Coles supermarket with dog treat station, refillable eco products opens
A major supermarket is trying something different, with a new store featuring Australia’s first shampoo refill station and a pet food pick-and-mix bar.
Another high-end Coles Local store has opened, and with more on the way as part of an expansion of the supermarket’s new local format.
The grocery giant has opened the doors to the new outlet in Chatswood, Sydney, which includes the first refillable eco products station in the country and a pet pick-and-mix bar.
A spokesperson from the supermarket told news.com.au that the Coles Local format will soon be coming to Queensland, with a brand new Coles Local store due to open mid-next year in Brisbane.
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The Chatswood store is the first Australian supermarket with a beauty and cleaning product refill station, which is stocked with eco-friendly Ecostore products.
Cutting down on the need for single-use packaging, shoppers can choose a small or large bottle and fill it up with shampoo, conditioner, body wash or laundry liquid.
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The boutique store also has a pick-and-mix bar for pets and a range of pet food ice cream, meeting the needs of Chatswood residents who spend an average of 10 per cent more on their pets compared to the national average, according to Coles.
The new store features a coffee and orange juice station and a macaron, mini gelato and Japanese mochi ice cream parlour.
It also has the largest Asian product range in a Coles in the country.
Tailored to the needs of the local Asian community in Chatswood, 25 members of the team are bilingual, making life easier for customers who speak a first language other than English.
More than 200 plant-based food items are stocked in the new store, along with 800 ready-to-eat meals for the busy working professionals in the area.
Even though the Ecostore refill station is an Australian-first, there are already more than 80 across New Zealand stores.
“People are used to bringing in their reusable supermarket bags. Now they can also bring in their reusable Ecostore refill bottles to conveniently refill their home and personal care products at the supermarket,” Ecostore managing director Pablo Kraus said.
Coles chief sustainability, property and export officer Thinus Keevé said the supermarket is on a “mission to be Australia’s most sustainable supermarket”.
The Coles Local stores have trolleys made from recycled plastic milk bottles and REDcycle plastics, free recycled carry boxes available instead of plastic bags.
Unsold food that can’t be donated to food charities is diverted to organic composting and green energy generation.
The first three stores opened progressively over the past two years in the Melbourne suburbs of Surrey Hills, St Kilda and most recently in Hawthorn.
The first boutique store to open in Sydney is in the city’s eastern suburbs of Rose Bay and a third is expected to open in the city’s popular beach haven Manly later this year.
“We see potential in these smaller format stores in other parts of the country, where it makes sense for the local community,” a Coles spokesperson told news.com.au.
The Chatswood store has partnered with 35 local butchers, bakers and cafes on product ranges, including Pasta Pantry, Sonoma and Field to Fork, supporting the local community.
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