Coles

A Sutherland shire Coles is set to be the centre of a major development opportunity with the supermarket giant listing the property with bold plans.

Private investors targeting retail assets have snapped up a Bunnings and two Coles-anchored shopping centres in regional Victoria for almost $80 million in total as sales activity ramps up.

A regional Victorian Coles and a smaller-format Melbourne Woolworths have fetched record prices as investors target “pandemic-proof” supermarkets.

Woolworths is making a $100 million bet on a new hi-tech robotic warehouse in Sydney’s west to turbocharge its home delivery business.

Coles Group is selling one of its supermarkets in a Victorian tree-change town as the coronavirus pandemic increases the already-strong investor appetite for standalone supermarkets.

Some investors have taken stocking up on essential items to a whole new level by buying entire “pandemic-proof” supermarkets.

Bunnings and Officeworks could ditch warehouse outlets and shift to smaller city stores in the aftermath of COVID-19, commercial property agents predict.

Melbourne-based Pelligra Group has acquired two major regional distribution facilities, one in Goulburn, NSW, and the other in Warwick, Queensland, from a Melbourne-based private investment group for about $70 million.

German supermarket discounter Kaufland’s shock decision to abandon the Australian market – quitting before opening a single store, after devoting almost $500 million to the launch – is a positive for the grocery sector, with Coles and Metcash the biggest winners as they were viewed as most likely to lose market share to the foreign entrant.