Beloved gourmet supermarkets in Kew and Heidelberg to close

It’s 8 degrees and raining, but Aleks Owczarek has braved the elements and driven eight kilometres to Leo’s supermarket in Kew from his home in Northcote.

He emerges with two jars of mustard. Not just any mustard, but Marcel Recorbet-branded goodies, imported from the French Alps.

A must for mustard: Aleks Owczarek drove from Northcote to shop at Leo’s in Kew, which will close next year.Credit: Joe Armao

Stocking up on gourmet treats at Leo’s has been a much-loved ritual for him for 20 years, but Owczarek and fellow shoppers were shocked and saddened to learn on Wednesday that Leo’s supermarkets in Kew and Heidelberg will close.

In response to questions from The Age, Le Max Group, owner of Leo’s, confirmed rumours that both upmarket supermarkets will cease trading late in 2026. The company also revealed that both properties have already been sold.

No mention was made of selling or closing the Leo’s outpost in Glen Iris or the Le Max Group-owned Maxi Foods in Upper Ferntree Gully.

“I’m disappointed, and slightly shocked,” said Owczarek, a keen home cook who finds that supermarkets near his home don’t always cut the mustard for the foodstuffs he’s after.

He likes how Leo’s has no self-service checkouts and fewer queues than the big retail chains, “but the main reason” he comes is for the brands. His favourite products include Ortiz anchovies and Peter Watson peppercorns.

Dee Fielding, who often travels 11 kilometres from her home in Eltham to shop at Leo’s in Heidelberg, said “it’s just very sad” that the supermarket is closing.

“I hope people will make enough fuss around here that somebody will keep them open.”

Fielding said she started shopping there after friends called it “the most beautiful supermarket in Heidelberg”.

‘It’s sad’: Dee Fielding pictured at Leo’s supermarket in Heidelberg.Credit: Joe Armao

“I love coming here,” Fielding said. “It’s got a variety of things that you can’t get anywhere else.

“Their quality is fantastic. I tend to get unusual things. I bought lamb straps the other day, you can’t seem to get lamb straps anywhere. I cook them in oil and garlic.

“I like their Kyneton Olive Oil. It’s beautiful and very hard to get.”

John Thornton, from Bundoora, said that lately the Heidelberg outpost seemed to have less stock and fewer staff than in the past, but that “a lot of people will be sorry” to hear that it’s closing.

Leo’s supermarket in Heidelberg, with Scintilla cafe at left.Credit: Joe Armao

He said that apartments might go up in its place.

Helen Cunning of Macleod likes shopping at Leo’s Heidelberg as a treat. “Not all the time – it’s very expensive – but just once in a while, to buy things that you can’t get in other places.”

Leo Blake and his wife Rose Blake, who owned Le Max Group under the company Le-Rose Nominees , purchased the Kew site at 26 Princess Street in the mid-1980s.

In 2001, the Kew Leo’s was described in The Age Espresso column as “innovative and food-literate”.

The Blakes bought part of the supermarket site at 133 Burgundy Street, Heidelberg in 2000 for $232,870. It has a large car park and includes a deli and liquor store.

The Heidelberg block that has been sold also includes a licensed cafe, Scintilla, whose fate is uncertain.

No buyer or price has been disclosed for either of the Leo’s sites. Other supermarket operators are likely to be interested in Leo’s business, said a source in supermarket property sales who declined to be identified because of business confidentiality.

Sign of the times: The Leo’s sign in Princess Street, Kew.Credit: Joe Armao

The Leo’s in Heidelberg is likely worth more than $30 million, while the property and business in Kew is worth about half that, they said.

The Age has learned through a source who is not authorised to speak to the media that employees at the Heidelberg supermarket were told of the site’s sale and the store’s upcoming closure in a note put up in a staff area earlier this week.

Pino Paolucci, general manager of Le Max Group, confirmed the sale of the Kew and Heidelberg properties to The Age in an email.

“Leo’s Fine Food & Wine will continue to trade at both Kew and Heidelberg until the end of 2026,” Paolucci said.

Leo’s did not respond to questions about why the supermarkets were closing, why the sites were sold, and how many employees would be affected.

Rorey James, a commercial real estate agent with Stonebridge Property Group, said few supermarket properties have sold in Victoria over the past two years because of turbulent property conditions.

Stores that are leased to blue-chip tenants like Coles or Woolworths are tightly held because they provide owners with regular income. High land and construction costs have also slowed the development of new supermarket premises, James said.

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