Jeez that Safeway sign had seen better days. Westfield Geelong recently updated the Target logo on the exterior to the newer one used in advertising.
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Yeah! The Target sign is starting to rust too. The Target still has the old logos but it will probably be updated soon.
Bought a bottle of Coke âNo Sugarâ, certainly not noticeably closer to Coke than Zero is - which is to say, still quite a long way from tasting like Coke. The biggest give away is the metallic aftertaste.
I donât have any Coke Zero in the house for a direct comparison, but I donât think anyone who currently drinks Zero would find this to be offputting.
If anything the closest point of comparison - and indeed how I expect they will do a lot of their public taste tests - is regular coke with ice in it that has been left to sit for a bit to let it water it down a bit.
I tried some too. Was shocked to see Coles full of it so soon.
I am a Zero drinker and could taste the difference immediately. It is more like original Coke. Its not bad though and I think regular Zero drinkers will adjust easily.
It does have a weird after taste particularly from the can. Bottle in glass was better.
David Jones today revealed its food strategy in which CEO John Dixon plans to spend at least $100 million in the next three years building a world-class retail food business. Under a three-pronged strategy overseen by celebrity chef Neil Perry and head of food Pieter de Wet, David Jones plans to open food halls in all of its stores and small stand-alone stores in high density locations. The flagship food halls will have cafes and restaurants, butcher shops, bakeries and seafood counters.
Rant alertâŚ
Has anybody else noticed Woolworths supermarkets switching to âwinter trading hoursâ in the last few weeks? All the stores near me now close at 10pm rather than the usual 11pm or midnight.
Fortunately there are still plenty of Coles supermarkets within a short drive open past 10pm but it doesnât exactly endear me to shop at Woolworths (even during ânormalâ hours) when their cost cutting has direct negative impacts on my life. If the stores had been empty late at night then fine but they always had people in them when I was there in the last half hour before closing.
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So theyâre trying food, againâŚ
In Melbourne apart from the city which mostly does the lunchtime rush, DJâs is hardly a destination. How long did the food hall at Chaddy last?
All but two of the Woolworths near me are year round 6am-10pm for the last 4 or so years.
Woolies does this with many, if not all of its business units now between May/June and Oct/Nov.
Noticed it last year after going to a Dan Murphys to find it closes 1 to 2 hours earlier on the weekend during winterâŚ
Since Woolies pulled the plug on Thomas Dux (and Harris Farm isnât really all that premium in comparison), no nationwide business focuses specifically on premium/luxury groceries and food. We donât really have an equivalent to UKâs Waitrose or North Americaâs Whole Foods in Australia. No doubt there are some smaller groups or standalone stores in major Australian cities that somewhat fill the gap (here in Perth there are a handful of IGAs that pull it off extremely well) , but nobody has managed to pull it off on a national scale before. Will DJs succeed⌠itâll come down to how they implement it. I have no doubt they could make it work in Flagship stores or by opening standalone food locations, but most suburban stores will need some significant remodelling / restructuring to showcase the food offering properly. Itâs not something they can just chuck where electronics used to be, for example.
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The Glen is undergoing a three-year expansion with David Jones moving from northern part of the complex (right next to High Street Road) to southern part (closer to Glen Waverley Secondary College and retail precinct), so it may see a new food hall as well.
My local one is currently closing at midnight, but it did have 10pm closings for a while last year before changing back, I never made the connection to winter - so maybe itâs about to again.
My closest Coles is always a 10pm close - so they arenât any better.
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Sits over here in Perth where everything is closed at 9pm 
Irony of that is with 6 24/7 Spudsheds and a significant (and ever growing) number of 24 hour IGAs we probably have more 24 hour grocery options in Perth than most of the other capitals now. The days of 24hr Coles and Woolies is long gone with only a tiny handful of exceptions. growing up in the 90s in Victoria it seemed that most standalone Coles and Safeway stores back then were 24/7, now it clearly must cost them too much for it to be viable.
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Hmm I always forget the Spud Shed is 24 hours. I dont have any 24 hour IGAâs near me though.
Got one two blocks or so away, and god damn it is way too convienent when you are craving some terrible food at 3am to just pop down there and get it.
Which is why Kmart should open up small fresh food sections in their 24 hour stores. So many of them are right near a Coles that shuts at midnight.
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So theyâre doing a Marks&Spencer?
Shocked to learn Topshop is shutting its doors in the Perth city store this Sunday.
This comes as Plaza arcade is closed for upgrades which will include a new UniQlo store. Due to open next March.
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Very disappointing⌠I was sure at the very least that the flagship capital city stores would be saved and bought out by the parent company but obviously not.
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