The food magazines made freely available at checkout counters of Coles and Woolworths are excellent publications, far superior today than was was available even a couple of years ago.

Looking at the Christmas edition of the Coles magazine custom published for Coles by Bauer.  This is a publication they proclaim is Australia’s No. 1 food magazine – I can see why people would be satisfied with this as their Christmas food magazine. For free they get access to recipes from Curtis Stone and others, baking tips, presentation ideas and plenty more. Someone on a budget wanting inspiration for Christmas food ideas will get it with this title.

That they can pick up the title for free at Coles could give shoppers reason to not visit their local newsagency to browse a broader range of food titles. There’s no point in complaining since Coles is doing what they need to do to drive sales. The magazine does that well through ads and editorial content. The consequence for newsagents, I think, is less of an appetite for the everyday food titles we sell.

Coles is rolling out what it’s calling next-generation supermarkets in some of its supermarkets that borrows from the Whole Foods model in the US and also from tesco in the UK. They are also a bit like the Thomas Dux model from Woolworths.

The new look is a major change for the business in terms of look, shopping experience and product range.

I got to spend time in the Bondi Westfield store yesterday. This is an evolution of a model at Westfield Southland in Victoria. Inside Retail has more on the roll out and plans.

While these new-look Coles stores provide a new experience for Australian shoppers, The Whole Foods model in the US is streets ahead in my view but I am not an avid Coles shopper. For example, the Coles produce, fish and meat sections at Bondi pale when compared to what I saw at several Whole Foods stores earlier this year.

But I don’t want to detract from the new experience Coles is rolling out in Australia. This new experience is all about getting more of the food and grocery spend here and it should certainly achieve that.

Also part of the new model is fresh investment by Coles in their magazine department. This is placed at the front of the store to drive sales. You notice it as you enter and when you head to the checkout from the market area. It’s very shopper friendly. I think this will drive magazine sales.

This supermarket refresh is not the only work being done by Coles to drive market share. They are working in the local shop/ petrol / convenience spaces from what I understand.

The investment by Coles in a fresh retail offer is another reason newsagents with older shop-fits need to consider their investing in their own businesses. We are competing in a tough climate with aggressive ricks and mortar retailers and equally aggressive online retailers. Not investing in a relevant looking shop encourages shoppers to shop elsewhere.

I encourage newsagents to visit one of the new Coles shops. It needs to be seen live to get the full scope of what they have done and to see their commitment to growth. It’s impressive.

Click on the images to see larger versions.

I found a copy of The Girls of Zoo in our kids magazine section Tuesday and was frustrated that the person reading this had placed it in this kids space and not back where it belongs. It’s not a title to put in front of kids.

I know, there’s not much we can do about this other than regularly checking the magazine department.

But it is frustrating seeing this lazy and ill-considered action by someone who wanted to look at the titillating photos in Zoo.  This placement magazines away from their usual location is almost always only done with adult titles. I suspect it’s because they are to embarrassed to take a few steps back to the home location for the magazine.

If only they’d think before they put a title like this in our kids section.