Costco to create 200 jobs in Melbourne

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1011667 [headline] => Costco to create 200 jobs in Melbourne [abstract] => Cut-price international grocery warehouse Costco set to open in Melbourne, creating 225 jobs and denting the market for supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths.
[keywords] => costco, grocery, supermarket, jobs [content] =>

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths will have have a new kid on the block to go up against later this year with cut-price international grocery warehouse Costco set to open in Melbourne.

Costco will open its first Australian outlet at Melbourne's central Docklands precinct in July, offering everything from greenhouses to diamond rings and fresh strawberries to toilet paper, at discount prices to both wholesale and retail customers.

The store will create 225 new full-time and part-time jobs which Victorian Industry and Trade Minister Martin Pakula said was a "statement of confidence" in Victoria's economy.

Sydney store in the pipeline

The US-based Costco also planned to open a store in Sydney, and was looking "all over" the city for a suitable site, Costco Australian manager Patrick Noone told reporters at Docklands today.

The $60 million Melbourne store will be Australia's first, joining a stable of 535 Costco outlets across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

Following the inroads made by no-frills grocery chain Aldi in Australia, Costco warehouses will offer wholesale prices to small and medium enterprises and also allow retail consumers to buy goods at wholesale prices, for an annual $60 membership fee.

Commenting on the new central Melbourne Costco site, Mr Noone said he hoped people would travel "a long way" to shop there.

"We think they will take to it like ducks to water," he said.

Competition good for consumers

Australian Retailers Association executive director Richard Evans said consumers would take some time to come around to the Costco way of shopping, but the wholesaler was a welcome addition to the retailing mix.

"Australian consumers are very set in the their ways, it's very difficult to get them to change their style of shopping," Mr Evans said.

"Retailing is very competitive but the more competition, the better it is for consumers."

Stranglehold 'ending'

Last year the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ran an inquiry into the competitiveness of grocery prices in Australia, amid public concern over a perceived stranglehold on the market between Coles and Woolworths.

In its July 2008 report, it found price competition between Coles and Woolworths was limited by high barriers to entry for new competitors combined with limited incentive for Coles and Woolworths to compete aggressively.

But it found Aldi had been a "vigorous price competitor", forcing Coles and Woolworths to lower prices on many products.

Docklands retail and restaurant owners, still reeling from the closure of the heat-buckled Southern Star Observation Wheel, welcomed the announcement, saying it would attract people and bring good flow-on business.

 

[start_date] => 13 March 2009 | 04:55:02 PM [comments_allowed] => 1 [source] => AAP [commentCount] => 0 [video] => [image] => Array ( [caption] => A customer shops in a Costco store in California (Getty Images) [useRegularImage] => 1 [media_library_id] => 66586 [site_id] => 1 [media_library_group_id] => 0 [media_usage_id] => 0 [filename] => site_1_rand_2129379564_costco_sign_1303_b_getty.jpg [title] => costco_sign_1303_B_getty_2129379564 [description] => file:site_1_rand_2129379564_costco_sign_1303_b_getty.jpg [type] => [height] => 338 [width] => 450 [source] => [video_hi] => [video_lo] => [section] => [display_order] => 0 [create_date] => 2009-03-13 16:57:43 [active] => 1 [media_usage] => Article Large [usageWidth] => 300 [usageHeight] => 225 ) [imagePath] => http://media.sbs.com.au/news/upload_media/ [audio] => [reporter] => [relatedLinks] => Array ( [2] => Array ( [id] => 1011675 [label] => Major job losses of 2009 [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [1] => Array ( [id] => 1011500 [label] => Global recession hits Aussie jobs: govt [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [0] => Array ( [id] => 1001152 [label] => Woolies 'cheapest' on grocery website [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) ) [relatedArticles] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [article_id] => 1001152 [headline] => Woolies 'cheapest' on grocery website [abstract] => Woolworths is the cheapest supermarket across most regions of Australia, according to the government's latest price comparison survey. [content] =>

Woolworths is the cheapest supermarket across most regions of Australia, according to the government's latest price comparison survey.

The latest GROCERYchoice survey shows that for a total grocery basket, Woolworths is cheapest in 45 of 61 regions surveyed.

This compares to the previous survey published in November which showed Woolworths and Coles were cheapest in 30 regions each.

The latest survey shows independent retailers were the cheapest in the eastern-central Queensland region for the second straight month.

Surveys are conducted on a monthly basis with results issued on the first business day of the following month.

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 2 December 2008 [articletime] => 2 December 2008 [display_order] => 0 ) [1] => Array ( [article_id] => 1011675 [headline] => Major job losses of 2009 [abstract] => More than 8,000 jobs cuts have been announced this year already. Below are some of the major losses.
  [content] =>

More than 8,000 jobs cuts have been announced this year already. Below are some of the major losses:
    
March 13 - 400 workers at a Hans Continental Smallgoods meat processing plant in Blacktown to lose their jobs when the plant closes down next month after failing to attract a new buyer.
    
March 11 - West Australian meat exporter Harvey Beef cuts 120 full-time and 40 contract positions from its plant south of Perth.
    
March 6 - Bank of Queensland announces 150 job cuts, primarily at the head office in Brisbane.
    
March 3 - Aviation company Boeing says it will cut up to 90 jobs, mainly from its Brisbane operations.
    
March 2 - Miner Anglo Coal Australia lays off 650 staff and contractors - 60 voluntary and 120 other redundancies among company staff, and a reduction of 470 contractor positions.
    
March 2 - Car parts maker Robert Bosch axes up to 170 jobs in Melbourne, blaming the cuts on the global financial crisis.

February 26 - Property developer Lend Lease cuts 1,700 jobs - 20 per cent (about 340) of which will come from Australia, the remainder from offshore.
    
February 25 - Clothing manufacturer Pacific Brands cuts 1,850 jobs in Victoria, NSW and Queensland, and moves production of its iconic Australian brands including Bonds and King Gee to China.
    
February 25 - The receivers of Drivetrain Systems International lay off 229 workers at the firm's gearbox factory in Albury, NSW. Another 167 workers are guaranteed contract work for two months, which will then only continue if a buyer is found.
    
February 17 - The world's largest nickel producer, Russia's Norilsk Nickel, cuts about 330 jobs as it suspends its two nickel operations in Western Australia - Black Swan and Lake Johnston.
    
February 9 - PMP Printing cuts 76 jobs in South Australia and Queensland due to a downturn in demand for heat set printing.
    
January 29 - Whitegoods manufacturer Electrolux cuts 40 jobs in Australia as part of a global restructure in response to the economic downturn.
    
January 29 - Australia's biggest luxury boat builder Riviera cuts 117 staff on the Gold Coast. In 2008 the company cut more than 300 staff from its Coomera headquarters in response to the downturn.

January 21 - Mining giant BHP Billiton announces big cuts to its global workforce, with a heavy impact in Western Australia and Queensland.

- In WA, 1,450 jobs go when BHP closes the Ravensthorpe nickel mine, while another 300 workers are laid off as production is reduced at the Mount Keith nickel mine near Kalgoorlie.

- In Queensland, more than 1,000 positions are to be phased out from BHP's metallurgical coal operations across the state, while as many as 400 jobs are cut from the Yabulu nickel plant near Townsville.

January 21 - David Jones sheds 150 head office staff as the retailer is hit by the slowing economy.
    
January 19 - Contractor Thiess cuts up to 40 jobs from the Burton Downs coal mine, west of Mackay.
    
January 13 - Mining giant Xstrata lays off 150 workers at its Handlebar Hill lead and zinc mine near Mt Isa. In December 2008, the company shed 230 workers at its Oaky Creek No 1 coal mine at Tieri, in central Queensland.
 

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