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STORE PROFILE NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE CUSTOMER Drakes Supermarkets recently opened a rebuilt store at Salisbury North in South Australia, revealing the unexpected ways in which the customer can be surprised. Drakes Salisbury - Store Manager George Thomas and Assistant Store Manager Adam Jones with their team. DBy Nerine Zoio. rakes Supermarkets Director John-Paul Drake tells Retail World that the expansion of what had been “one of the worst Drakes supermarkets ever” was “quite some logistical feat”. “From this tiny box we built a 2000sqm store, with trading taking place right up until the day before we converted everything to the new site,” he said of the 12-month construction of the new Salisbury North supermarket. Mr Drake says efforts to bring a new store into being were initially hindered because the property’s landlord would change his mind about a deal or lose interest in it. “The landlord died, which enabled us to deal with the family and form an association with Emmett Property, which started the build,” he said. “The store started with nothing and now it has a little kitchen range, with pre-prepared meals that customers can select for breakfast, lunch or dinner. People can get anything from a roast or fried rice to schnitzels, dumplings and curries. We also have a rotational menu that keeps changing. And of course, there’s the salad bar where customers can put together their salad of choice.” Mr Drake says many naysayers believed the kitchen range wouldn’t work, in that it was a “tall order” to expect people from the surrounding lower socioeconomic areas to pay $16 for a pre-prepared roast. “They were clearly wrong because people are quite happy to pay that amount for a roast lamb meal with potatoes or gravy, or their culinary food of choice,” he said. “It’s really been fantastic.” Many features from the Drakes Wayville store in Adelaide’s inner south have been replicated in the new store, including the offer of three different hot soups on a rotational basis. “Customers can warm up their pies in our pie warmer and there’s even a popcorn machine for customer use,” Mr Drake said. “The mini bread slicer is also popular with customers, not to mention a coffee machine that produces barista-style coffee. “I’m a coffee connoisseur and I say our coffee is better than 90 per cent of the barista coffees in Australia. We’re not competing with McDonald’s coffee, either, so our coffee isn’t cheap. It’s just amazing that it’s possible to get such good coffee from our machine. And it’s nothing like the coffee you get in a Qantas Club or anything like that – it turns the milk into a froth. So, at the end of the day, people are happy to pay for such quality coffees too. 16 RETAIL WORLD NOV, 2020 The vibrant fresh fruit and vegetables are impressive.