Supermarkets and Retail

ShadowDan · October 4, 2018, 8:03am

im judging the coffee and hot chocolate that i tried there. Big difference. and it comes down to who made it whether it was weak, watey or strong.

mubd · October 4, 2018, 9:37am

I don’t really get the allure of these chocolate places.

There’s Oliver Brown, San Churro, Max Brenner, Lindt, Guylian, Cloud 9 and countless other independents. The sweetness of all those foods is just sickening.

They’re popping up like those frozen yoghurt shops in Sydney in 2013, which all went bust 6 months later.

Radiohead · October 4, 2018, 9:48am

I totally agree.

A Tim Tam or small bar of Cherry Ripe, Twirl or Flake is enough to satisfy my choccy cravings.

JBar · October 4, 2018, 10:06am

A few of the Oliver Brown shops have already closed. Max Brenner had shut a few too before this announcement.

I haven’t noticed a Cloud 9 anywhere.

Troiboi · October 4, 2018, 10:44am

Guylian didn’t last long in Perth cbd.

ElCapitanCranky · October 4, 2018, 11:02am

I was at a gaming event a few weeks ago, and was introduced to taiakyi - fish-shaped ice cream with red bean paste. Delicious! Get some into ya!

Squee · October 4, 2018, 11:09am

If you ever find yourself in Japan try a Crossiant Taiyaki… such a great snack… friends and I got a whole box of them for the last couple days breakfast when we were over there last.

ElCapitanCranky · October 4, 2018, 11:13am

I’ll keep it in mind.

I found a convenience store in Ashfield that sells them. Same brand as the one they were giving away at the gaming event. I think it was a Korean brand.

Herb · October 4, 2018, 12:07pm

Ooh, they are quite nice. Had quite a lot of them when I was in Vietnam earlier this year, they were from Korea as well.

shadowmask · October 4, 2018, 1:14pm

One of these. Standard fare here in Korea, as well as red bean paste in just about everything else that’s “sweet”
They won’t let you go through summer without a shaved ice, milk and bean paste concoction.

TV.Cynic · October 5, 2018, 10:20am

Courier Mail:

“The remaining 17 stores in the Max Brenner network will stay open and it will be business as usual in these stores. These stores are profitable and will be offered for sale or recapitalisation.”

Stores at Newstead, Hamilton, Milton, Townsville, Toowoomba, Southport, Rockhampton, Coolangatta and Carindale will all close. Meanwhile, Surfers Paradise, Robina and South Bank outlets will remain open.

JohnsonTV · October 5, 2018, 11:00am

AAP reports:

Nine (Max Brenner) stores will remain open in NSW, four in Victoria, three in Queensland and one in the ACT.
The company is pulling out of Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory entirely.

Rupert · October 5, 2018, 1:49pm

Max Brenner closures:

Stores to be closed

Kingston ACT
UNSW (Kensington) NSW
Wollongong NSW
Central Park (Chippendale) NSW
Newtown NSW
Parramatta NSW
Casuarina Darwin NT
Gasworks (Newstead) QLD
Portside (Hamilton) QLD
Milton QLD
Townsville QLD
Toowoomba QLD
Australia Fair (Southport) QLD
Rockhampton QLD
Coolangatta QLD
Carindale QLD
Rundle Street (Adelaide) SA
Woodgrove (Melton West) VIC
Joondalup WA
Whitford City (Hillarys) WA

I’m surprised there was one at UNSW.

littlegezzybear · October 5, 2018, 2:05pm

The Max Brenner at Parramatta has huge passing foot traffic being right at one of the bus stations and upstairs from the entrance to the train station at Westfield. It’s always been busy. That they can’t make a success of that store tells you how incompetent the owners have been.

In contrast, Pie Face is downstairs from Max Brenner right near the train station entrance and gets the passing foot traffic into/out of the Westfield lower level and upstairs to the buses. Despite Pie Face going bust a couple of times with multiple stores closing, the Parramatta outlet has never been in trouble (it appears) as it does a roaring trade from 5:00am to 7:00pm.

TelevisionAU · October 5, 2018, 2:33pm

I’m way out of the loop. I’ve never even heard of Max Brenner

ShadowDan · October 5, 2018, 2:50pm

Neither did I, until I went to Sydney in 2014. I tried the one at Manly Beach. It was really good, but I guess the one at Joondalup which i have been on a few occasions, the people who made the coffee didn’t really do a good job. I ordered a latte, I got a cappuccino, went to take it back i re-ordered a latte, and when i got that it was so watery. Not saying all Max Brenner’s were bad, just the Joondalup was never that great. Poor workers, not much foot traffic on most days (even though it’s right next to Joondalup Train station).

ando9185 · October 5, 2018, 8:31pm

Same here, so many brands that have never made it to Tassie that we’ve never heard of.

Has this one closed yet? Is it likely to still be open in a couple of weeks? We’ll be on holiday then and I’ll try and go to check it out if I can.

JBar · October 5, 2018, 9:01pm

The story says all those stores will close on Monday.

ElCapitanCranky · October 5, 2018, 10:18pm

I think that’s their problem.

ando9185 · October 6, 2018, 12:02am

Oops, missed that bit!