Coles opens first supermarket in the Sydney CBD in 15 years

The Coles Local store in York Street, is the first supermarket opened by the retailer in the Sydney CBD in 15 years.

Coles opens its first supermarket in the Sydney CBD in 15 years

Antony Lawes|May 19, 2021

Coles has opened its first supermarket in the Sydney CBD in 15 years, a smaller-format store with a tailored selection of products including a ‘kombucha wall’ and a wide variety of vegetarian food.

The store in York Street is the fourth smaller “Coles Local” store in Sydney, following the opening of similar outlets in Rose Bay, Chatswood and Manly. The company plans to open two more of these stores – in Ascot in Brisbane and Melbourne’s Fitzroy – in the coming months.

coleslocalyorkst — The 'kombucha wall' in the York Street store.

Coles opened its first ‘Local’ store in Surrey Hills in Melbourne in 2018, and the Sydney CBD store brings to seven the number in Australia so far.

Coles’ chief sustainability, property and export officer Thinus Keeve said the strategy behind opening these stores was to better tailor products to the customers in each area.

“The [York Street] store has a bespoke layout focused on products that are most in demand among CBD customers, complemented by innovations customers wouldn’t expect to find in an ordinary supermarket,” he said.

This included a “kombucha wall” and a wide range of vegetarian options. Coles Local data showed CBD customers buy 13 times more kombucha and twice as much tofu compared to a typical Coles customer.

Other features in the York Street store include a coffee and fresh-juice station, a macaron, mini gelato and Japanese mochi ice cream parlour, and more than 500 lunch and dinner options – one of the largest ready-made food ranges in the country – tailored to the busy CBD office worker.