Woolworths commits to ‘concerning’ store change despite customer fury

A Woolworths has been transformed into a Metro store despite concerns that inflated prices and fewer private label options will “further alienate people on low incomes”.

In Sydney’s south, Alexandria residents have demanded answers from the supermarket giant after the store’s conversion despite backlash from customers.

Metro stores specialize in ready meals, grab-and-go snacks and other products.

The Alexandria Residents Action Group (ARAG) hosted a community meeting last week attended by Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and Metro Director Justin Nolan.

Alexandria local and ARAG member Ofir Zeevi said Woolworths Metro stores had been associated with troubling trends in the past.

“We have seen concerns about the tendency of metropolitan supermarkets to raise prices, use more plastic packaging and expand the range of gourmet products while removing cheaper offerings,” they said. Yahoo.

“Our residents have made it clear to Woolworths that they are not asking for this change, especially given the many years it has taken to open a large local supermarket in the area.”

Ms Moore said the nearest supermarket was now located in Mascot or Marrickville, raising accessibility issues for elderly shoppers and those without cars.

In a letter to Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci, the mayor wrote that low-income residents could be affected by a reduced range of house brands and fresh produce.

“In the current cost of living crisis, I fear that replacing a supermarket with a store selling more ready meals, rather than a wide range of own brands and fresh food, will have a direct impact on already increasing levels of food insecurity,” she said. wrote.

A Metro spokesperson confirmed the supermarket has been converted to a Metro store with no change to the “store size or footprint”.

They said the on-shelf price would remain the same, with customers able to scan a QR code to request products that were removed during the transition.

“In some smaller supermarkets where we cannot easily expand the store, Metro conversions allow us to adapt the local range by introducing new product ranges based on what the local community wants,” the spokesperson said.

The number of “general merchandise” products such as batteries, globe lights and stationery was reduced where sales had been lower.

“There is no one-size-fits-all format for our Metro stores and this gives us the flexibility to ensure we have the right products that customers want and respond quickly if there is something they would like to see in store,” the spokesperson said.

“We were then able to reuse this shelf space to put more products to meet our customers’ needs, generally increasing the range of food products.

“An example in Alexandria is the significant increase in our range of Asian food products, requested by local customers. »

The “Picked By You” program will allow shoppers to request restocking of an item by scanning the QR code in-store and sharing its details.

A community information session was held at the store on Saturday.

Woolworths’ 2023 end-of-year report found sales at Metro stores jumped 21.6 per cent, while sales at larger supermarkets rose just 4.7 per cent. Metro’s sales accounted for 2.5 per cent of Woolworths’ total turnover.

The Woolworths group, which includes supermarkets and discount store Big W, posted a profit of $1.62 billion in the year ended June, up 4.6 percent from $1.5 billion. dollars based on total operations.

The company behind 995 supermarkets admitted this happened as customers faced a cost of living crisis in the 2023 financial year.

“While the Group’s overall operating environment improved in FY23 compared to previous years, global and local inflationary impacts have created a new challenge as our customers’ household budgets become increasingly more tense,” he said.

Revenue rose 5.7 percent to $64.3 billion for the year ended June 25.