Wish I’d had the opportunity to take one last walk through. I made a point of doing that before the Grace Bros. Broadway store and Gowings closed
I second that. The Woolworths Vevelle Luxury Soft TP is pretty good, too.
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I think it’s only NSW and SA that enforce retail closures on Easter Sunday. I assumed NSW had loosened the rules since they permitted trade on Good Friday.
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Myer have chosen to close, nothing aside from lack of customers forcing them too.
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Kleenex Tissues are the best & their Viva Paper Towels are excellent, their Toilet Paper is ordinary to say the least.
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Both Good Friday and Easter Sunday are restricted trade days in NSW (normally) what the State Government should have done is explain why they allowed trade a little more clearly - a lot of people have been upset that the shops are open on days that are traditionally non-trade days.
It may have also helped by encouraging people to not need to crowd supermarkets in order to participate in the great Australian tradition of bulk-buying because the shops are closed
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I always get the recycled one usually from Coles. I don’t like the really soft ones as they just break up.
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Yes, Quilton
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I managed to get a 8 pack of ALDI Confidence 4ply Toilet Paper for $3.99 on Thursday morning, it was the first time since the start of March, that I have seen 4ply on the shelves. Confidence toilet paper is very good, not quite as good as Quilton, but better than Kleenex & it’s cheap enough.
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At least it’s 4ply 
I was thinking the other day how different the Retail landscape could look in the aftermath post COVID. It’s clear it’s going to be a more digital world.
I don’t think people are going to spend. Saving and not wasting will be the new norm. Talk around the market about depression instead of recession. Long term there is obviously going to be tax increases, early to mid this decade could pose some pressure.
Myer/DJ and Target are two businesses that come to mind if there is a spending slowdown. Highly reliant on Apparel sales and are all broken businesses prior to the Virus.
Target was going upmarket. They were planning on launching this concept in July/August when all the new ranges start coming. Was a highly risky move when they announced this about a year ago, going after Myers share. Launching mid late through the Virus, then launching Xmas in the recovery phase, might cost them.
I think BIGW will cut another 30 stores.
Kmart- Same
BIGW- 30 more stores cut
Target- Logic says close. But could hold 100 Mainline stores.
Myer- Reduce to 20-30 stores. Digital focus
DJ. They won’t do anything. Management are in denial and keep just tweaking and will hope on a sales boost from a dead Myer.
I wonder how David Jones owner Woolworths South Africa is doing over there?
I think your predictions are pretty spot on.
Woolworths and Wesfarmers have very similar issues with Big W & Target - they are both too liability burdened to be viable to be sold to other parties, but are still too large that shutting them down would cause billions of dollars of cash impairments. Therefore I expect both will survive, but the respective parent companies will more aggressively close loss making locations and attempt to better streamline distribution. I expect that some of the Big W / Target store footprint may be used to trial some new formats - It would not surprise me if we see Wesfarmers trial Catch branded bricks and mortar stores in former Target locations. I also feel like if the economy stays weak that Woolworths could use Big W floorspace to trial downmarket grocery stores, as Woolworths has a long-held perception of been more upmarket than Coles. They are lucky they don’t have the problem that Myers / DJs has in relation to excessive floorspace.
Myer I see as a business that can sustain flagship CBD locations and destination shopping centres in the 5-city metro, but that’s it.
It’s hard to follow what DJs is actually doing. They’ve made such a song and dance about focusing on food pretty much since Woolworths South Africa took over, yet they seem to have done almost nothing in the space past a couple of concept stores. They seem to be catching up, and arguably started to get to Myer’s level in relation to having a cohesive loyalty program and online presence so it seems like shit is happening behind the scenes but very little physical evidence of it in storefronts.
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Just as they’ve finally killed off the Food for Less and Flemings brands! I like your idea though - an Aldi-style selection of house brands plus a small number of name brands and a stripped back fresh offering could do well. A lot of stores seem to have already ditched in store butcheries, and moved to pre-packaged deli items, so they’re pretty much halfway there already.
I’ve heard suggestions that Woolworths may consider at some Big W sites moving Woolworths in and relinquishing their supermarket lease - especially where the supermarket is on the smaller side.
I dont think Coles and Woolworths are immune to changes post-Coronavirus either - these extended delays being able to get stock on shelves will have long term impacts on how their supply chain and logistics work.
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Wow, I had the opposite impression (not that I think it’s a big difference).
In some locations (e.g. Manuka) the Coles has been noticeably more expensive than the nearby Woolies (I can’t say if this is still the case as I haven’t been there in years).
Logical; the old Super Kmart-style, I wonder what branding WW would use.
I don’t believe that at all. I think they’re both on the same level. It really depends on the supermarket and how new it is.
If I go to the Woolies that has been around for about twenty years at Rockdale, I feel like it’s below par. If I go to the newer one at Wolli Creek, it looks and feels flash.
Same with Coles. The ones around my area in Earlwood and Brighton-Le-Sans are cramped and feel old. A couple of newer ones I have been to at Clempton Park and Zetland are flash.
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That would depend actually on the area and store but I think you’re commonly right.
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I think the overall disaster on the horizon is Target going upmarket. We have heard essentially nothing since they announced it. Apparently all the new stuff and concept was meant to start July/August. The stock is already on the way.
I just don’t see how upmarket stuff will sell in those 100 odd ‘Target Country’ stores. Those Aussie battler country areas.
I’m not sure how upmarket they are talking and remains to be seen. I assume $30 Vases, $100 Quilt Covers, $50 blankets, $100 dinnersets etc…
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That’s probably why they are so successful.
Coles, in my mind, has never been seen as the upmarket option…yet, with the exception of the early 2010s, it’s always been regarded as generally more expensive to shop there.
They clearly do not know what to do with these rural small format stores at this stage, especially as they’re slowly getting rebranded minus the “Country” moniker. The last time I walked into one was a couple years ago and the product mix was strange - they were clearly trying to cram a little bit of every product line in (though was of course predominantly clothing) and it just came across as cluttered and out of place.
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