MAJOR CHANGE to trading hours at Coles deli counters

Retail giant Coles has announced a massive change to reduce the trading hours of its deli counters.

The deli counter, which offers customers a wide range of premium cheeses, meats, olives and antipasto, will in some cases now close at 8 pm, effective immediately.

This decision was made after it was flagged by the supermarket that customers don’t tend to make deli purchases at night.

“We know that most of our customers prefer to shop at our delis before 8 pm,” a Coles spokesman said.

“As a result, we are tailoring the opening hours of some of our delis to when our customers shop the most.”

The change will not impact all stores and trading hours will differ on a store-to-store. However all stores nationwide will continue to offer these products to customers in pre-packaged ranges rather than over-the-counter services.

“Customers will still be able to buy their deli favourites including sliced meats, cheeses and antipasto as part of our convenient pre-packaged range often located near the deli department,” a Coles spokesman said.

“Customers are urged to check with their local store if they are unsure of their deli opening hours.”

The decision to reduce deli trading hours follows Coles’ decision to permanently close all of their in-store butchers in October 2021, with Woolworths recently making the same decision regarding in addition to reducing their deli trading hours last August.