{"id":57115,"date":"2026-07-23T21:24:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/57115\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T21:24:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:24:18","slug":"coles-to-vacate-melbourne-cbd-store-as-retail-crime-surges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/57115\/","title":{"rendered":"Coles to vacate Melbourne CBD store as retail crime surges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coles will shut down a store in Melbourne\u2019s CBD as Victoria is branded a \u201cnational hotspot\u201d for surging theft and violent assaults against retail workers. <\/p>\n

The Elizabeth St store will pack up at the end of its lease in mid-2027, the supermarket giant confirmed to The Herald Sun<\/a>,<\/a> maintaining it was a commercial decision. <\/p>\n

The property is located on one of Melbourne\u2019s busiest CBD thoroughfares and has been listed for lease on commercial property sites. <\/p>\n

A Coles spokesperson said the company was \u201cconstantly evaluating our store network to ensure we are delivering the best shopping experience for our customers\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of this process, we are currently exploring opportunities for a potential new supermarket location in Melbourne\u2019s CBD,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Elizabeth St supermarket will continue to trade as normal until mid-2027. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll keep our team members and customers informed as soon as we confirm plans for a new location.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Australian Retail Council (ARC) spokesperson said retail crime was at elevated levels across the country but Victoria remained the \u201cnational hotspot\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cMany retailers are repeatedly targeted and simply can\u2019t sustain the ongoing impact on their teams, their stores or their products,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s all simply overwhelming for business and they choose to relocate or remove a store entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herald Sun columnist Steve Price recently described the Elizabeth St corner as \u201clike a Third World country\u201d and a \u201cblight\u201d on the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho could blame Coles for leaving, why would they want to put their staff at risk?\u201d Mr Price wrote.<\/p>\n

It comes after Coles released shocking CCTV footage in May showing a staff member being attacked and dragged across the floor by her hair, along with thieves leaving with trolleys full of food. <\/p>\n

Coles State Manager Chris McKellar said last month that the Victorian team \u201ccontinue to face unacceptable levels of abuse, aggression and threatening behaviour\u201d.<\/p>\n

In August, the Aussie retailer also singled out Victoria as the state where it saw the \u201chighest proportion of organised retail crime by individuals who pay no attention to the law\u201d.<\/p>\n

In 2023, Coles introduced body cameras at some of its most high-risk stores <\/a>as it tried to fight back against shoplifting and threats against staff. <\/p>\n

Read related topics:Melbourne<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coles will shut down a store in Melbourne\u2019s CBD as Victoria is branded a \u201cnational hotspot\u201d for surging…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[58340,43720,38039,58358,58337,58351,58347,58370,58328,58327,58324,58344,58353,58357,7943,58335,58336,32831,6466,58365,323,11862,58374,58355,57105,251,58350,58330,38157,58334,58371,36872,24346,58345,58339,260,58356,58367,58373,58369,58325,9859,58332,51036,58329,58363,58366,3121,33714,6028,58349,40829,58343,58346,37511,7738,58352,58333,58354,58326,36676,36759,37024,58348,58361,38263,38609,5606,34680,58362,37445,45954,37964,58360,58331,18149,58342,58359,58364,58368,58372,15931,37517,58341,58338,68],"class_list":["post-57115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-s-busiest-cbd-thoroughfares","tag-s-cbd","tag-38039","tag-a-blight","tag-a-national-hotspot","tag-a-coles-spokesperson","tag-a-commercial-decision","tag-a-new-location","tag-a-potential-new-supermarket-location","tag-a-staff-member","tag-a-store","tag-a-supermarket-giant","tag-a-surge","tag-a-third-world-country","tag-abuse","tag-aggression-and-threatening-behaviour","tag-an-australian-retail-council","tag-arc","tag-august","tag-body-cameras","tag-business","tag-coles","tag-coles-state-manager-chris-mckellar","tag-commercial-property-sites","tag-elevated-levels","tag-food","tag-her-hair","tag-herald-sun-columnist-steve-price","tag-individuals","tag-its-lease","tag-its-most-high-risk-stores","tag-last-month","tag-lease","tag-many-retailers","tag-melb-store","tag-melbourne","tag-melbourne-cbd-store","tag-mid-2027","tag-mr-price","tag-no-attention","tag-one-aussie-cbd","tag-opportunities","tag-organised-retail-crime","tag-our-customers","tag-our-elizabeth-st-supermarket","tag-our-store-network","tag-our-team-members-and-customers","tag-part","tag-plans","tag-retail-crime","tag-retail-workers","tag-risk","tag-shocking-cctv-footage","tag-shoplifting-and-threats","tag-spokesperson","tag-staff","tag-the-highest-proportion","tag-the-national-hotspot","tag-the-aussie-retailer","tag-the-best-shopping-experience","tag-the-city","tag-the-company","tag-the-country","tag-the-elizabeth-st-corner","tag-the-elizabeth-st-store","tag-the-end","tag-the-floor","tag-the-herald-sun","tag-the-law","tag-the-ongoing-impact","tag-the-property","tag-the-spokesperson","tag-the-state","tag-the-supermarket-giant","tag-the-victorian-team","tag-theft","tag-theft-and-violent-assaults","tag-their-products","tag-their-staff","tag-their-stores","tag-their-teams","tag-thieves","tag-this-process","tag-trolleys","tag-unacceptable-levels","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}