Coles’ First Choice Liquor Market has been awarded Best Store Design and Fit-Out at the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) Retailer Awards.
The award recognises retailers who are progressively developing their retail offer to meet evolving customer trends and behaviour with a particular focus on efficiency.
Coles launched the retail liquor brand, Liquor Market in 2016, and since then it has been converting a number of First Choice stores into the First Choice Liquor Market model. At present, 33 First Choice stores have been converted, which is one-third of the total fleet, and a further 12 stores are set to be converted before Christmas.
The First Choice Liquor Market model offers a broader range of products while retaining a low cost operating model. In its third quarter sales figures, Coles showed solid sales growth and detailed a strong performance by the stores it had converted into the First Choice Liquor Market model.
In 2018, Coles decided to combine the best of the Liquor Market offering with First Choice to create First Choice Liquor Market, offering a hand-selected range of wines, beers and spirits sourced from some of the best producers across Australia and around the world, including exclusive products not available from any other Australian retailer.
Cathi Scarce, Coles Liquor’s Acting CEO, said: “I am extremely proud that First Choice Liquor Market has taken out this prize. It’s a brilliant acknowledgement of the outstanding work of the team over the past two years.”