As expected, Coles and Wesfarmers went into trading halt before the market opened on Monday, and by late afternoon, we had the announcement.

The previous Friday, three partners in the Wesfarmers bid withdrew. Unlike the earlier withdrawal of members of the consortium formerly known as KKR, the exit of Macquarie Bank, PEP and Permira appears to be related more to debt and financing issues and US money markets than nervousness about Coles after examining the books.

Wesfarmers has fewer reasons to be frightened. Their experience with Bunnings gives them an understanding of what can be achieved with Coles.

The WES offer for the whole company triumphed over the Woolworths offer for Target and Officeworks. There was a story of a mystery late bidder, but nothing more surfaced.

Coles had few options. Anything other than a quick sale and the exit of the current leadership would have been treated with scorn by the market and the institutions.

Most of the leadership group at Wesfarmers have not had a day off in the last forty and are unlikely to get one soon. The real journey begins now.

As you will read below, the senior group at Coles glimpsed a simple but compelling example of life in a new culture. As a consequence, the mood is shifting to euphoria.

Coles, like Myer, is an Aussie icon. Coles has a status in the zeitgeist that other retailers and Woolworths in particular, have struggled to achieve.

The Australian public have a love hate relationship with Coles. It is a very large employer and has a huge shareholder base – one of the largest. The public seems to want Coles to do well, but are very critical when the managers pro tem muck it up.

This week Brandish looks at what the new Coles might look like and the implications for customers, suppliers, the people who work there and other retailers.

The news that Wesfarmers has almost certainly triumphed in its tilt at Coles has been greeted coolly by the stockmarket but warmly almost everywhere else, although we won't really know the result or the final price until Spring.

At Monday's presentation, Coles chair Rick Allert said the Wesfarmers price of $17.25 justified the board's decision not to engage KKR last year. That argument is now in tatters. The price was based on invalid assumptions. The market had traded WES up last week, assuming it would only be buying part of Coles. Once it became clear that WES was going solo, risk was factored in, pushing their share price down 7%.

The final price will be known in October. It is possible that the WES share price could fall enough to trigger an exit clause, with Coles having the option of calling the whole thing off.

It is hard to imagine that Coles would walk away and return to its previous failed management and strategy.

Effectively Wesfarmers has this deal stitched up for a price of $4.25 plus 28.43% of whatever price WES is trading at later this year. If WES trades down to any price lower than $38.70, Coles will have little choice other than to sell the company for less than KKR offered a year earlier.

The market reaction is to be expected. Hedge funds are punters, and the price for CGJ dropping below the WES bid, reflects the market's level of doubt about whether this deal is truly done and dusted.

Analysts look at numbers – it's their job. They took a negative view of the scrip based bid by Wesfarmers. However, as Allan Kohler reports, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and Wesfarmers can see what Coles can become. Few analysts seem to understand the potential in Coles.

Success in retail involves numbers, but is driven by flesh and blood; hearts and minds. Wesfarmers know they can bring about the change through the thousands of good people within the various Coles moieties who will soon work in a culture that frees them to succeed.

Like the boy with the barrow, Wesfarmers have the job ahead of them. While fixing Coles is a mammoth task, it is difficult to imagine a company more able to meet that challenge successfully than Wesfarmers.

Since the news broke, the media and commentators have been talking about how Wesfarmers will fix the ranging and supply chain issues at Coles. While there is no doubt that Wesfarmers' retail arm Bunnings has a sound, well understood and well executed retail strategy, its success is based on a solid workplace culture.

The culture at Bunnings sets it apart. Repairing the damaged culture at Coles will be the first priority.

Since 1995, Orex has recruited more than 500 managers for Bunnings, right across their business. Quite a few came from Coles and this has given us a window into the two retail giants.

No real understanding of retail is needed to perceive that as a workplace, Bunnings is very different from Coles. Any shopper can recognise that Bunnings is different.

A few years ago, we interviewed several people who had moved to Bunnings from other retailers. Most were from Coles companies. We wanted to know the difference between Bunnings and their old gig. One ex Target guy was struggling to articulate the difference. He eventually blurted out: “If anyone wants to know what it's like here, tell them to come and spend ten minutes in a lunchroom”.

He went on to say that Target people used the lunchroom to hide from their job, often being bitchy and political about the company and those absent. At Bunnings, he found an energised lunchroom with people sharing ideas and experiences and eager to get back out amongst it.

The lunchroom is where you take the pulse of a business. Coles fails the test.

When describing the current culture at Coles, suppliers and staff use words like toxic, political, intimidating and autocratic. While customers might not use the same terms, their store experience, the public face of the internal culture, is consistent.

If Wesfarmers can convert the Coles culture into something akin to the Bunnings culture, they will take a giant step toward turning around this once and future great retailer.

Coles is not just bricks and mortar. It's the flesh and blood of tens of thousands of good people who are capable of doing a great job, but with a long history of being frustrated and hamstrung by a lousy culture. It will be hard to build trust, but Bunnings will set about leading by example, demonstrating understanding, fairness and consistency and with honest and accurate feedback.

Coles people know something of the Bunnings culture, and I suspect a real or imagined Mexican wave went round Battlestar Galactica (recently known as Fort Fumble) yesterday afternoon.

Orex is unlikely to recommend expensive press advertising.

We believe your ideal candidate is probably not scouring the papers. And we don't want to use your dollars just to promote our name.

The best candidates are generally not even looking for a new career. They are happy, doing a great job, well recognised and rewarded – and that's exactly why you want them on your team.

Orex gives you access to by far the largest pool of potential stars. We have the largest databank of retail managers – more than 60,000 - and we know how to get them interested in a move.

Orex knows how to find and attract those passive candidates.

Call Rob Lake or Christine Sturgess on 03 9349 8989.

On Monday, Wesfarmers chief Richard Goyder addressed the senior Coles managers, and gave them a glimpse of life in a new culture.

When he called for questions, Coles people asked about Pacific Equity Partners. Goyder answered by saying that he suspected they were really asking about former supermarket chief Steven Cain. The frankness produced a laugh. Goyder said it was early and he didn't really know what Cain's role would be.

With one answer, the Coles people realised that in future, the unspoken issues will be squarely on the table and questions will receive frank answers with the best information at hand.

After the meeting, Goyder's act of openly and honestly answering the unaskable question was the hot topic among those leaving the meeting. The way he handled the issue, and the contrast with the old regime, made a huge impression.

The first changes, and the most important, will focus on the workplace culture. It had already begun.

A decade ago, when Bunnings set about building their east coast hardware empire, they went back to first principles, and therein lives a glimpse of how they might tackle Coles.

The leaders developed a picture of what Bunnings Warehouse would be like to shop at, work for, supply to, and have as a member of the community. They created a place where integrity, respect, achievement, teamwork and innovation were key values in all parts of the company.

These values seem like universals, but are rarely practised by Australian retailers.

The development and communication of the values was not a top down process. As each store opened and each department set up, each team defined its own vision and values. This built real ownership. It is hardly surprising that there are common threads running through the vision and values that each team established for their own area.

The real Bunnings difference is that values were not just hung on signs around the company, they were lived and breathed at all levels.

Bunnings understands that organisations with great cultures outperform those with inferior cultures and that happy team members perform better and deliver a better customer experience. Bunnings refused to compromise on recruiting and retaining aligned team members, recognising this as a key driver of the strategy.

They also understand that they will never get it right and that, in retail, perfection does not exist.

The first planks in the Bunnings leadership model are “challenge the status quo”, “focus on the future” and “vividly paint the picture”. Bunnings involves the team, at all levels, in designing the broad structure and meaning of the culture and found ways to give real meaning and ownership at all levels.

Coles, indeed most retailers, have a habit of centralised command and control - a bureaucracy. Wesfarmers will reduce complexity and bureaucracy and devolve decision-making, pushing it closer to customers and the shop floor.

While I don't believe the politics free company exists, Bunnings is pretty close. Backstabbing is extremely rare. People are encouraged to take risks, and can do so unafraid of political consequences. With the freedom to risk stumbling comes the risk of triumph. Decisions are less likely to be stuck in a committee process, with no-one risking their reputation. Coles is highly political, and pays a high price for this.

Bunnings Warehouse has grown from scratch to become a $5bn company in little more than a decade. Largely, because their early growth was faster than their ability to develop their own, they hired like-minded leaders, the cream of Oz retail, from across the industry.

The scale of Coles means that hiring in the right talent will be much more difficult. The challenge of fixing the workplace culture must necessarily be met by turning round the people already there; and that is much harder.

I am not privy to the plans, but I suspect the first step will be include some exits at the top. Coles is very top-heavy with people who will not be a good cultural fit. The good thing for Wesfarmers is the number of great Coles leaders who will blossom in the new culture. Many of these managers didn't fit the Coles culture, and have been held back.

Coles people at Monday's meeting with Goyder began to realise that things will be very different, and most are feeling a touch of euphoria.

There are only five things that a retailer can do well. They are range, price, service, location and shopping experience. Bunnings runs with range, price and service. We can expect each business within Coles to more clearly define how they will attack their market. Greater clarity will lead to better execution.

Coles has a highly centralised and somewhat bureaucratic, command and control leadership model. Their decision-making suffers, being somewhat remote from the customer base. It also suffers because few are brave enough to risk the back stabbing that is part of the internal politics. The cultural change that Wesfarmers will drive will spill through to the retail strategy and its execution.

Decision-making will be devolved, pushing it closer to the customer. The new Coles will hear the voices of the team members who are closest to the market. This is likely to produce new tactics and strategies.

Suppliers will now find themselves in partnership with Coles. Unlike the current Coles, Bunnings does not view their supplier relationships as confrontational. Citigroup retail analyst Craig was quoted saying that profit improvement will come from Wesfarmers using its financial muscle to cut supplier costs. I think not. Bunnings relationships with suppliers are more about partnerships. An improved relationship will result in Coles getting earlier access to the best deals.

Coles has good sites, well spread across the country. I think this appealed to Wesfarmers. Commentators are saying that we can expect co branded sites, but I doubt if this will occur. Bunnings tends to attract a fleet of fellow travellers who set up nearby to leverage the customer traffic generated by the big green box. They include Super Cheap Auto, Snooze and sometimes Officeworks. There is a divide between shopping centre based retailers, such as Coles, Kmart and Target and the big boxes. This will continue.

Coles will become leaner. Bunnings understands low cost retailing. While their Melbourne head office (Bunnings, although always described as West Australian is really run from Hawthorn) is hardly spartan, it is nothing like the edifice on the hill known as Battlestar Galactica.

I think we can expect Coles and Kmart in particular to become less blokey. Bunnings has long recognised that their business, that looks like a toyshop for grown men, is highly female driven. Women can expect a stronger voice at the new Coles.

Bunnings is not perfect, but one of the perfect things about them is that they freely admit they are flawed, and will always remain so. Expect Coles to enter a new phase of self-examination and a willingness to improve. No more sticking rigidly to a failed strategy.

Again, the cultural change will impact on the offer and retail strategy.

The Australian Centre for Retail Studies one day course Driving Retail Profitability will be held in Melbourne on 24 July and Sydney on 6 September.

The program is designed to improve the financial competence of those within retail organisations who have responsibility for achieving financial outcomes, but who may not have a background in finance. The program provides participants with a better understanding of the impacts their decisions have on productivity and profitability.

Driving Retail Profitability is ideal for buyers and planners, store and department managers, trainee managers, and those who want foundational understanding of retail finance. It is apparent that many retailers have to look overseas to find competent planners. The solution is for retailers to develop planning competencies for their existing staff. Details here.

Retail Operations Management Forum

The Retail Operations Management Forum is being offered for the first time in 2007. This is a parallel program to our the Store Management Forum and will debut on 26 July in Melbourne.

This forum is a unique personal development opportunity for operations, logistics and support managers to learn about key trends and perspectives in areas including customer-focused supply chain management, workforce scheduling and task management, stock management and shrinkage, environmentally responsible operations initiatives, and property leasing trends. It is aimed to increase the professional understanding and industry awareness of operations and support managers, and provide a wider context for their operationally focused activities.

The forum is ideal for those in supply chain, stock management and operations roles, including: operations managers, logistics managers, despatch managers, supply chain managers, distribution managers, store or department managers, line managers in related support office roles including HR, logistics, property, security, operations, finance, administration and IT.

This half day seminar is designed to provide participants with a contemporary insight into key themes and trends within the operations management arena, and act as a source of development and inspiration for further career planning. Details here.

For further information call the ACRS on 03 9903 2455 or visit the ACRS website.

What the Coles sale means for other retailers

The easy ride for some other retailers is about to end. Coles was big, but in recent years had the fighting ability of a beached whale. In the grocery sector Woolworths, Franklins, Aldi and the wholesaler Metcash (supplier to FoodWorks and IGA) will need to lift their game. Other retail sectors will soon feel the heat of an invigorated Coles.

Coles will lift, and I suspect it will begin soon. The speed with which Myer changed is our best recent indicator. Myer was regarded as a greater basket case than Coles – it was the gangrenous leg. The new leadership team, by listening to the team members and painting a vivid picture of the need for change, quickly turned the company around. Myer is on a mission to lift returns from 2% to 12%.

The simple fact of new ownership will have a similar effect at Coles. Freed from the previous leadership, a refreshed mindset will quickly prevail.

In the last decade, the best stories in Australian retail have been

• JB Hi-Fi (very steep growth)
• Super Cheap Auto (reinvented a category from petrol head to leisure)
• Officeworks (modernised a sector and did it better)
• Bunnings (who created a special workplace and a new type of store)
• Myer (turning around a falling star and much loved retail icon)

Coles will now join that group.

The formula for a great management job is simple. It always involves transition, and there are really only four – rapid growth; new products or services; a change of culture or keeping something off the rocks. Provided at least one of those transitions is present and the manager feels they can positively impact on the transition, and be recognised and rewarded for their role, the job will be fun.

Coles will grow and develop a new culture. It may have new products or services and it might just need to be kept off the rocks. For the next five to ten years, the transformations at Coles will be one of the journeys of choice for the best people in Oz retail.

At a time when there is an up skilling of retail management and a looming talent shortage, Coles, Bunnings and Myer will present a threat to other retailers.

The threat is not because of their size, it is about the excitement of the journey providing the best career opportunities in the retail sector. Coles, Bunnings and Myer will be giant sponges soaking up the better candidates – the cream of retail.

That is the real threat to other merchants.

Disclosure: I have an interest in a small parcel of Coles shares.

The biggest retail launch ever?

Wedged between other hyped retail launches of 2007 (Harry Potter VII and Stella at Target) is Apple's new wonder widget the iPhone.

Thousands of extra staff were hired for the 29 June launch. We read reports of students being paid to stand in the queue and of a scalping market developing, seeking up to US$4,000 if we exclude the loon who is asking US$26,000. The retail price was closer to $600. A search of eBay completed items indicates a sales premium of $50 to $150.

There are a handful listed on the Australian eBay site, but buyers will need to find a crack to enable use on a local network rather than the AT&T network to which the phone is locked. It would be an expensive paperweight.

Apple blew the predictions apart, with some analysts indicating that 700,000 units were sold in the opening weekend and many stores selling out of stock.

The reviews are mixed.

Dream jobs

Planners and Merchandisers

Orex currently has a number of major retailers asking us for Planners. If you have a very good understanding of the planning process and the role it plays in category management, you should call. We have several opportunities across hardgoods and softgoods. If you're already playing with the big boys but not getting the recognition you think you deserve then perhaps we need to talk. Call Rob Lake on 03 9349 8989.

Area Manager

This mid-sized homewares retailer has carved a niche in the retail landscape over the last fifteen years. As an importer and retailer it offers a unique, quality product in a competitive, popular marketplace.

Your role will be to assume the operational responsibilities of ten plus stores. You are a ‘grass roots' retail manager who gets your hands ‘dirty' and enjoys it. Working closely with the business owners and the store teams, you are budget and customer service focused. There is room for you to grow as, although initially Melbourne based, this role will ultimately require interstate travel. Your responsibilities will increase in line with your understanding and knowledge of the business.

For further information or expressions of interest in this position please speak to Tracey Horton on 03 9349 8989

Progress Your Retail Management Career

• Change your job, change your life
• Fantastic $$$ and locations
• Dynamic and well-loved retailers
• Reinvigorate your life with new challenges

At Orex, we know "The Secret". We specialise in Retail Management and cover roles from Assistant Managers through to General Manager level across all products, groups and sectors of retail.

We have numerous roles available and need to find Store Managers and Assistant Managers immediately who know "The Secret".

If you are an experienced retail manager, who can achieve results through building a great team, stay positive in a high pressure environment and have a background in fashion, homewares, jewellery, cosmetics, telco or fast food, then we need to talk to you as you know the answer to "The Secret"

Be quick, as these roles won't last. Call Laura on 03 9349 8989 to express your interest.

Also worth a look:

• Chief Operating Officer DIY & Trade
• Buyer - Kitchen and Cooking Appliances

Here are some other retail management opportunities

Pharmacy sector takeover targets

Pharmacy players Sigma and API are not having a good time.

Having missed out on buying Symbion, Sigma this week downgraded their results guidance. The bad news was matched by API when they issued something similar. API also announced that some of their non pharmacy brands are on the market.

The share price of both tumbled.

Sigma, after attempting to buy API and Symbion recently downplayed a report that it had renewed interest in API.

The share price of both has fallen to a point where either could be a takeover target.

kikki-K kicks

Melbourne fashion stationery label kikki.K has been named Victorian State Finalist in the 2007 Telstra Business Awards following a year of tremendous growth.

In 2006/2007, the business grew from five to seventeen boutiques and successfully entered the New Zealand market.

The Telstra Business Awards program was introduced by Telstra in 1992 to recognise the achievements and enterprising spirit of small businesses across Australia.

Swedish born kikki.K founder Kristina Karlsson is thrilled to be recognised as a State Finalist. “The entry process made us stop and reflect on what we have achieved, especially in the last 12 months,” she says. “It's been an exhilarating journey and to be recognised like this is wonderful.”

kikki.K Swedish Home/Office Style first opened in Melbourne in 2001, immediately striking a chord with Melbourne 's design conscious consumer. In the years that followed, the Scandinavian stationery and gift boutiques expanded across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland.

Along the way, kikki.K has been named Melbourne 's Most Innovative Retail Store in the Lord Mayor's Awards, Best Newcomer in the Swedish Business in Australia Awards and Best Small Business in the Ethnic Business Awards. Karlsson has twice been a finalist in the Telstra Businesswomen's Awards.

kikki.K will open on Lt Collins Street, Melbourne in mid July.

Victorian Presentations in the Telstra Business Awards will be made on August 24th 2007.

Retail Numbers Watch

Warm weather and petrol are being blamed for weaker retail sales number released this week by the ABS. Retail sales were down 0.1% and the April number was revised down from +0.1% to -0.3%

Brandish has set up a retail stock watch, following the fortunes of a parcel of listed retailers, to take the pulse of retail investments.

It includes Angus & Coote, Billabong, Coles, Clive Peeters, Country Road, David Jones, Fantastic, Furniture, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, Metcash, Noni B, Oroton, Reece, Specialty Fashion, Super Cheap Auto, Symbion Health, The Reject Shop, Wesfarmers, and Woolworths.

The first half of the financial year saw our unscientific and unweighted index of retail shares is up 23% for the year, mostly in the first four months. Retailers are outperforming the total market.

The stars are Oroton, and JB Hi-Fi both rising about 56%, with Reece and Super Cheap Auto not a long way behind at better than 40%. Early star The Reject Shop has slipped a little. Metcash (in which I own a small parcel) and Noni B have fallen a little. Clive Peeters has fallen a lot – down 25%, largely attributed to their stumbling attempt to enter the NSW market.

Interest rates remain on hold, but the market is factoring in a 50% probability of a rise by August and near certainty by year's end.

Make sure you can be fired

The best way to be promoted is to make sure you can be replaced.

But does this happen with chiefs? HRE Online reports that a CEO often fails to develop and implement effective succession plans. That's when HR executives need to step forward to work with - and guide - the board of directors through the steps needed to identify, develop and position the best candidates.

In the UK, it appears that chiefs are departing sooner. Big changes in those leading the UK 's top companies over the last year are underlined by the latest Cantos FTSE leadership survey. Average tenure across all three senior positions – chief executive, chairman and finance director – has dropped year-on-year. One-third of the chief executives from last year's list have either left their jobs, seen their companies drop out of the FTSE100 or have announced their intention to retire.

How retailers can capitalise on cashed-up consumers

Australian retailers need to be aware of consumer trends and attitudes in order to capitalise on a predicted ‘champagne year' due to tax cuts, low unemployment and a hold on interest rates, according to Bernie Brookes, CEO, Myer, and Mark McCrindle, Director, McCrindle Research, who will feature at the National Retail Forum, 14-16 August, Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

“Long term, strong financial management by the current government has again provided a tremendous foundation for successful retailers to become even more so,” said Brookes.

“Low interest rates and a low unemployment level have helped consumer confidence, and the associated benefit is retailer confidence. Such an environment will only ever benefit good consumer-led retailers. It does not matter how buoyant the economy is, poor retailers who do not respond to the consumer will not survive.”

Brookes will present Customer Strategies – How to win your customers back, which asserts that reacting to consumer demands is essential for success, especially if retailers want to increase predicted profit margins.

Mark McCrindle, who will present Retail Demographics, advises that the key is for retailers to be aware of demographic shifts and generational differences of the society they are retailing in.

“Baby Boomers are working longer than ever and therefore are remaining active as consumers for longer,” said McCrindle.

“Whilst Generation X – today's parents and householders – are in the most expensive stage or their lives as they provide for children and/or pay mortgages, Generation Y – the 20 somethings – are largely responsible for an expectation inflation – where retailers are more empowered with knowledge than ever before, and therefore have higher demands of the retailing industry”.

Brookes and McCrindle will feature at the National Retail Forum alongside an impressive line up of speakers including Peter Alexander, Founder, Peter Alexander Pyjamas and Pierce Cody, Director, Macro Wholefoods, who will each share their respective industry expertise about how to tackle the dynamic market and succeed in the retailing world.

National Retail Forum will be held concurrent to Retail Expo Australasia, Australia's premier retailing exhibition.

For more information or pre-registration, visit www.retailforum.com.au 

Recently in Brandish

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• Capturing the youth dollar
• Experiential retailing and individuated consumption.

FoodWorks continues strong growth

The official opening last week of the entirely revamped, purpose-built FoodWorks Bunyip, the only supermarket in the regional Victorian town east of Melbourne, caps off a sensational financial year for one of the country's leading independent supermarket groups.

Following the recent announcement that FoodWorks had exceeded their capital raising target of $10 million, which was two years in the making, the new Bunyip store aptly represents one of the areas of the Company's growth strategy plans where funds raised will be invested.  

Previously operating from a different location, the old FoodWorks Bunyip was not able to adequately satisfy the needs of the local community, with the new stand-alone 1,359 sqm FoodWorks Bunyip, now on High Street, considerably larger, and internally expertly designed and laid out, enabling it to stock a significantly greater selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meats, frozen, dairy, liquor, delicatessen and general merchandise.

Peter Noble, FoodWorks Chief Executive Officer, said the opening of the new supermarket on 25 June was perfectly timed to the extraordinary results of the Company's capital raising, coming in line with their plans to invest the raised funds in growing and strengthening the brand not only into new regions, but through either undertaking major refurbishments or moving a number of their current stores to new purpose-built sites.    

“While in recent times the FoodWorks Group has really started to make a strong impact on a national scale, having just won 26 new WA stores for instance, we've always had a strong presence and standing in Victoria, particularly in regional areas, and the opening of the new FoodWorks Bunyip heralds in many ways the new, intensified attack of a properly resourced FoodWorks in this state.

“Generating the minimum of $6 million in the capital raising would have alone been an incredible milestone for the Company after the blood, sweat and tears that went into formulating the correct path required to accelerate our growth well into the future, then carrying it through to the end of the Prospectus closing date.  Yet to have exceeded our target of $10 million, it is not only a truly historic event for the FoodWorks Group, but we believe for the Australian supermarket industry as a whole,” Mr. Noble said.

While the key growth initiatives outlined in the Prospectus are in the process of being finalised before implementation, the Company's growth has already commenced with 30 new stores from competitor brands joining FoodWorks over the past 12 months in addition to 16 new-to-industry stores, and plans are secured for a further 49 new stores over the next six to 12 months.

A series of competitions, giveaways and red hot specials were enjoyed throughout FoodWorks Bunyip's opening week, 25 June until 1 July 2007, with a plasma, DVD player, golf clubs and bag, only a few of the terrific items up for grabs.

Michael Hamilton, FoodWorks Bunyip store owner and manager, is arguably one of the largest employers in town, with around 80 local residents on his books.

Hamilton said he was thrilled to open the new Bunyip supermarket to the community, having been a long time Gippsland resident.

“I'm a part of this community and knew the people needed a better grocery offering locally so they didn't have to be forced to travel outside the area just to do their weekly shop. 

“I feel confident the Bunyip community will appreciate this amazing new, quality supermarket and they truly deserve everything it has to offer them now and well into the future,” Mr. Hamilton said.

FoodWorks Bunyip shares the purpose-built new site with a newsagent and café, and offers 83 off-street parking spaces, making shopping even easier for its customers.

For more information about FoodWorks, visit the website at www.foodworks.com.au

Briefs

• iTunes is now the number three music retailer in the US
• The top ten toys for Christmas
• Real fashion – the off runway menswear look in Paris
• There appears to be an early payoff for the PE group that acquired Myer and the associated real estate