Anne Simmons
Fifty staff members at retailing giant Coles’ Mid Valley store which closed permanently on Sunday have relocated to Morwell’s George Street supermarket.
“The good news is every team member from that store has been redeployed in the area – not a single job loss, not a single person redundant,” Coles Morwell store manager Jeff Spiers said.
“There’s over 50 that have come from here and the rest have been redistributed to Moe, Traralgon and [elsewhere].”
The Morwell store is in the process of hiring 20 further team members to support its multi-million-dollar refurbishment which officially opened on Thursday.
Mr Spiers said it was great to see the investment in Morwell and its main street becoming more vibrant.
“I think everything up here tends to build around the supermarket because it’s central to everything else,” Mr Spiers, who started at Morwell Coles aged 15, said.
“It’s just good to see a company sticking and spending, you know, millions on a store in Morwell that’s going to maintain and service the community for the next 10, 15, 20 years.”
In response to staff concerns about their safety around the Morwell store, Mr Spiers said the supermarket had been working with local police who conduct regular “walk-throughs”.
To manage safety concerns the store has adopted a policy so no staff member is ever alone in the store or leaves for their car on their own after a shift.
Coles announced it would close its Mid Valley store in March, only days after fellow retailer Target announced it would leave the shopping centre.
