Supermarkets and Retail

Most things are more expensive at IGA compared to Coles and Woolies but I have noticed that when they have specials, they are quite competitive and can be lower sometimes.

If something costs 50c or $1 or $2 more at IGA thatā€™s not enough to make me drive to Coles or Woolworths but even then itā€™s usually around the same price in my experience

But if you buy 50 items thatā€™s an extra $50- $100 on your weekly shop. Alright for some but I wouldnā€™t do that. Iā€™d rather spend that on a luxury than everyday groceries.

Maybe there are some more competitive IGAs around but not in Sydney city or suburb locations.

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Itā€™s mostly because they have a lot of different brands to Woolies/Coles and they are generally a bit pricier (although often better quality).

Yes to this. If I stop at the IGA on my street itā€™s usually just to quickly grab something (like a drink or a snack on the go) and Iā€™ll always go straight to the marked down stuff.

You might be right although Iā€™ve never had the need to buy 50 items in a single shop so maybe itā€™s less noticeable to me. I still donā€™t see them being that expensive but Iā€™ve got no basis for that other than my own personal experience.

I only buy groceries for myself and Iā€™ve never really needed to buy more than 15 items in a single shop so in my case I feel the difference is negligible.

I wouldā€™ve thought in a big market like Sydney the smaller shops would have lots of competition all around them which would keep prices down. If you live there you might know more about it drawing on personal experience.

The way it usually works in Sydney is that Coles and Woolies are in all the shopping centres and regional hubs. Whereas, the IGA supermarkets are usually in the smaller suburbs where there isnā€™t a big supermarket and more likely to be out in the high street.

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Here in Canberra as a planned city every suburb (almost) gets an IGA and every three or four suburbs gets a Coles or Woolworths. Every district (9-12ish suburbs) gets a shopping centre or Westfield etc.

Feels very contrived and in some areas it seems like thereā€™s too many IGAs which canā€™t keep up. I still like to give them my support and for me itā€™s more convenient

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IGAs are extremely variable here in Perth depending on your location - some of them are filthy and sell out of date merchandise, others are 24/7 and are higher end than a David Jones foodhall.

The local IGA to me falls into one of the latter, and the pricing is all over the place - most grocery items and fresh produce are more expensive than Coles and Woolies, yet meat and everything in the deli is on average cheaper.

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Problem is that most of the IGAs are far too small to have competitive pricing outside of their catalogue, and the low turnover means average fresh products. Having them in almost every suburb has seen them slowly die off over the years too

Supabarn was the best alternative to the majors until they sold off several stores to Coles. Aldi is pretty decent for staples and some of their versions of brand items.

Speaking of IGA, the Blackburn store in Melbourneā€™s east will close at the end of this month. Itā€™s located at Blackburn Village but in a cul-de-sac, west of train station entrance, which means itā€™s not easily seen from the shops up the road but can be seen from railway tracks. According to Whitehorse Leader, Blackburn IGA has been losing heavily since the level crossing removal at nearby Blackburn Road, which meant less foot traffic from the train station.
So in a space of 10 months, Blackburn has gone from two IGA stores to none after the supermarket at Blackburn North shopping centre closed its doors in January.

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Yeah I liked Supabarn in Civic quite a lot. I was very disappointed when it became a Coles.

(I hope nobody from my work is reading this) There has been some cases where theyā€™ve mixed in Express Satchels with normal parcels which does pose some timing issues (generally our express items are flown up rather than go linehaul, main exceptions being for Monday deliveries processed on a Sunday morning or Tuesday deliveries arriving on a truck on Monday morning). Hopefully there wonā€™t be confusion later in the month as the volumes increase (and I generally sort them).

Which reminds me, if you have overseas parcels to send get them in quickly. The folks in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney are expecting to be just about overworked this Christmas.

Spot the error :wink:

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Is it the two Eā€™s in week?

The wrong Coles logo?

I hadnā€™t noticed those before, thatā€™s odd :thinking:

ding, ding, ding, thatā€™s it, itā€™s interesting that the old Coles orb logo still seems to pop-up from time to time years after it was officially dropped in some advertisements.

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Thanks, whereā€™s my prize :grin:

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Here it is, a replica orb :red_circle::stuck_out_tongue:

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$300,000,000.00!!

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I guess if you have a team of store management on the same wage, one does Monday to Friday, one does Tuesday to Saturday and one does Saturday to Wednesday, the last guy is owed a bit of cash compared to the other two. In fact with all the recent EBA updates, Salaried staff would probably earn less than a EBA team member on Weekends or late nights. Clearly not right.

Affects average salary 73000, and $5000 a year was quoted. So quite attractive for those who have been in the same job for a bit.

I guess itā€™s more Department Managers they are talking about, who usually work a whole range of shift work hours. Store Managers would be $100k plus normally