G. Coles Outlook Much Brighter

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31275, 23 January 1967, Page 10

G. Coles Outlook Much Brighter

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) MELBOURNE, Jan. 20. After a buoyant Christmas season, G. J. Coles and Company, Ltd., one of Australia’s largest retail chains, will spend 12 million dollars on development in the next six months.

This will Include new stores and supermarkets. In an interview with the “Australian,” Sir Edgar Coles, chairman and controlling managing director, said sales for the Christmas period had been considerably more buoyant than in 1965. The period between Christmas and the New Year had also been ahead of 1965. Optimistic Note Sir Edgar Coles struck ah optimistic note when he said that if this confidence kept up the outlook for retailing in the coming year appeared to be much brighter. This optimism was in contrast to the less favourable outlook so vigorously expressed by. Sir Edgar Coles during the early part of 1966. With its Australia-wide network, the Coles group was among the first to publicly recognise the severe eSect

the drought was having on the economy. Expressing confidence in the future, Sir Edgar Coles said that the group was not slackening in its development of new stores and supermarkets.

He also commented on the decimal currency situation. The proposal that the use of pounds, shillings and pence should be eliminated at an earlier date posed a very special problem for chain stores. Until such time as all stores in all zones were fully converted it was necessary for advertisements to carry both prices. Reduce Size “Our policy has been to gradually reduce the size of pounds, shillings and pence and increase the size of dollars and cents,” Sir Edgar Coles remarked. He added that the Coles group was in full accord with early conversion and the use of decimal prices. However, the final elimination of the old currency was controlled by the zoning and the capacity of the machine companies to complete the enormous bulk of conversions.