Months after devastating floods rocked the town of Lismore, residents can look forward to the opening of a brand-new Coles store in just two weeks' time.
The opening of the new store comes months after the original Coles store, built in 1979, was destroyed in the Lismore floods earlier this year.
In response, Coles continued serving the community from a pop-up tent in the city's central business district. More than 65 pallets were trucked into the local community twice a week, ensuring Lismore locals would not have to go without their daily essentials.
Over the past few months, Coles Lismore team members rallied in support of their local community, hosting regular sausage sizzles at the Lismore Showgrounds as well as donating bread and sausages to the Lismore Lions Club to help raise much-needed funds for the affected community. Team members also volunteered their time at the evacuation centres in Lismore and Ballina.
The brand-new store will feature a large fresh produce section, as well as an extended range of ready-made meals. The new deli section will include delicious hot roast chickens, an extensive range of gourmet cheese, and seafood options behind the counter.
Coles Lismore's impressive new offering also includes fresh flatbread flipped daily, as well as patisserie favourites and celebration cakes. Also featured is a frozen dessert bar housing gelato, macarons and mochi. Local pups have not been overlooked either, with a Scoop&Weigh pet treat bar full of delicious puppy snacks on offer in store.
Click&Collect concierge is also on offer, allowing shoppers to drive through dedicated lanes to have their online grocery order delivered straight to the car.
Coles Lismore Store Manager Cheryl Muirhead said that although the past few months had been challenging, she couldn't be prouder of her store team in rallying behind the local community, all while keeping a smile on their faces.
"We are so excited to be opening a brand-new store for the Lismore community. It has certainly been a challenging few months, however, it has been so heart-warming to see everyone in Lismore put their hand up to help others, including our incredible store team," she said.
"Seventeen of our team members lost everything. Every single team member has been impacted in some way, big or small.
"The whole store team couldn't be more excited to get back into the store, which includes more than a dozen team members who have been at Coles for over 20 years. It is home to us, and we can't wait to return to helping and serving our customers."
As part of Coles' ambition to become Australia's most sustainable supermarket, Coles Lismore will help work Together to Zero Waste and Together to Zero Hunger, through community partnerships with soft plastics recycler REDcycle and food rescue organisation SecondBite.
Coles Lismore is located at Lismore Square, McKenzie St, Lismore and will officially re-open to shoppers on Friday 15 July 2022 from 9am. The store will be open 7am – 9pm Monday – Friday, 7am – 8pm on Saturday and 8am – 8pm on Sunday.
L-R: Coles Lismore Store Manager Cheryl, with Carli, Narenea and Cooper helping get the brand new store ready ahead of July 15 opening date
