Coles is opening its most innovative and tailor-made supermarket yet, inspiring customers with Australian-first sustainability features and a product range personalised to meet the needs of the Chatswood community.
Opened on November 11, the store is part of an expansion of the popular Coles Local format in Sydney, following the successful launch of the concept in Rose Bay in May – with Manly set to welcome a new Local store to the neighbourhood later this year. Coles Local Chatswood is uniquely personalised to the community that it serves, featuring more than 200 plant-based food products, ice cream just for dogs, a premium coffee and orange juice station, a macaron, mini gelato and Japanese mochi ice cream parlour, and a dedicated aisle with the largest Asian range in the country.
Pet treat bar display at Coles Supermarket (Photo by Hanna Lassen/Getty)
In an Australian supermarket first, Coles Local Chatswood debuts a range of refillable ecostore shampoos, conditioners, body washes, and laundry liquids available for customers through a new in-store refill station using bottles made from recycled and sugarcane plastic, eliminating the need for single-use bottles.
Coles Chief Sustainability, Property and Export Officer, Thinus Keeve, said each Coles Local supermarket is uniquely tailored to the specific needs of the local community.
“Coles Local Chatswood is a brand-new neighbourhood supermarket destination with new products sourced from 35 small Sydney suppliers, and innovative features that customers may not have seen before,” he said. “As we make progress on our mission to be Australia’s most sustainable supermarket, we’re increasingly looking at new and inventive ways to reduce packaging on certain products.
“This new ecostore station is a first for an Australian supermarket, which we hope will resonate well with customers,” Keeve added.
Mochi Bar at Coles (Photo by Hanna Lassen/Getty)
Ecostore Managing Director, Pablo Kraus, said this was the first time the company had installed a refill station in an Australian supermarket to help reduce packaging waste.
“After successfully launching over 80 refill stations across New Zealand, we are thrilled to bring the first in-supermarket ecostore refill station trial for home and personal care products to Australian customers, at the new Coles Local Chatswood store,” he said. “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.”
Supporting a sustainable circular economy, the trolleys at Coles Local Chatswood are made from recycled plastic milk bottles and REDcycle plastics, free recycled carry boxes are available in place of bags, unsold food that cannot be donated to food charities is diverted to organic composting and green energy generation, and team member name tags and uniforms also feature part-recycled materials.
Local not just by name, Coles Local Chatswood will create jobs for 35 locals and has partnerships with more than 35 local Sydney-based butchers, bakers and cafés, including restaurant-quality pasta, salads and meals from Pasta Pantry, artisan sourdough bread, muffins and sweets from Sydney bakery, Sonoma, and premium meats from eastern suburbs butcher, Field to Fork.
Tailored to the needs of local Asian community, Coles Local Chatswood includes a full aisle with more than 600 Asian products from well-known brands including, Samyang, Lotte and Haitai, and 25 bilingual team members, making life easier for customers for whom English may not be their first language.
International aisle – Asian Food at Coles Supermarket (Photo by Hanna Lassen/Getty)
And because Chatswood residents spend an average of 10% more on their pets compared to the national average, the new store includes features to make sure Chatswood pooches are the envy of all other doggies in town, with a pick-and-mix bar just for dogs; and in a Sydney Coles supermarket first, a range of frozen pet food ice cream.
The new store has customer lunch and dinner plans sorted, with more than 800 ready-to-eat products designed for Chatswood residents – 87% of whom are busy working professionals whom are more likely to grab ingredients for dinner on the way home from work, compared to a typical Coles customer.
The redevelopment also supports the local artistic community including an iconic wall mural by local artist Nancy Liang, paying homage to Chatswood’s rich history and culture.
