SectorsSupermarkets

Coles shuts store on crime-stricken Melbourne CBD street

Coles has previously spoken out about crime in Victoria.

By Harry Booth July 27, 2026

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Supermarket giant Coles is planning to shut a store on Elizabeth Street in Melbourne, a location notorious for its challenges with crime and antisocial behaviour.

The street – which has once again become the focus of outcry after witnessing two separate machete attack incidents over the weekend – sits opposite Melbourne’s Flinders Street station. The Coles Central store on it is just a few doors down from a Woolworths Metro.

A company spokesperson told The Daily Telegraph that the decision to exit at the end of its lease in 2027 is strictly commercial. The move would see the supermarket operate just one site in the CBD, at Melbourne Central.

Coles recently announced the extension of its partnership with Crime Stoppers Victoria to combat retail crime. “Across the retail sector, rising incidents of theft, abuse, and aggression are creating increasingly challenging environments for frontline workers,” a supermarket spokesperson said in a statement.

Martin Smithson, Coles’ GM of supermarket operations, added: “The growth in retail violence is absolutely unacceptable, and our partnership with Crimestoppers is just one of the ways we’re addressing it. Industry, retailers, government, police, we all need to work together.”

Victoria, especially Melbourne, has been at the centre of Australia’s growing retail crime problem. In 2025,



95,181 criminal incidents in retail locations were recorded in the state, a 25.7 per cent increase over the past decade.

“The trend is explicit. Retail crime unfortunately continues to escalate in Victoria. It is persistent, it is widespread, and it continues to put frontline workers and customers at risk,” said the Australian Retail Council’s CEO, Chris Rodwell.

ColesRetail crime

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