After much anticipation, some renovation, and some COVID challenges, the Woolies Metro store in Anderson street Yarraville is well and truly firing on all cylinders. We wanted to find out more, and sought out Store Manager Matt Davis, who was happy to answer a few questions!
So Woolies Metro has landed in Yarraville – what can customers expect if they haven’t visited the store yet?
With a focus on fresh and healthy food options at affordable prices, Woolworths Metro Yarraville has an expansive selection of Aussie fruit and vegetables, barista-made coffee, an instore bakery and an extended Macro range. Tailored to local customers looking for a convenient walk-up offer, the store also offers breakfast to go, tasty sandwiches, salads and sushi, and innovative dinner solutions.
For those wanting to top up a grocery shop, there are more than 5,000 products available across the store.
How will you approach the “village vibe” a lot of locals are used to?
We have taken great care to ensure that Metro Yarraville meets the needs of the local community from both a store design and range perspective. Inside the store, no structural changes were made and the exterior complements the existing streetscape of Anderson St. The store also offers a great range of Aussie and Victorian sourced products.
It’s important to us that Metro Yarraville continues to play an active role in the local community. We sponsored the Yarraville Festival back in February and we work with OzHarvest to redistribute surplus food from our stores.
We’re also proud to partner with “Cooking for Community” Westgate Baptist Community Garden and Kitchen, who prepare frozen meals for those isolated or vulnerable (and will open for meals Monday night at the local church once COVID-19 restrictions lift).
Previous stores in this location were known for gourmet, vegan and other harder to find items. How will you cater to them?
We know that specialty and health food items are important to local customers so we’re really excited to offer local favourites like gourmet Boscastle Pies, Irrewarra bread and granola, Phillippa’s Bakery, Pure Peninsula Honey, Yarra Valley Gourmet Foods, Loving Earth Chocolate, Clipper’s Tea (from Kadac) and cakes delivered fresh by Ribbons & Bows… and that’s just a handful of our local Victorian suppliers! In addition to this we have over 100 vegan and plant-based fresh products such as Fable, Bean Supreme, Unreal Co, The Vegan Factor and Moving Mountains, as well as an extensive range of vegan and health food options throughout the aisles.
What ‘point of difference’ changes will customers notice?
Our in-store cafe is supported by SKIP – an app where you can pre-order a barista-made coffee or toastie for speedy collection on the go. We also offer a Pick Up service, where you can shop online and pick up your order in store.
A lot of young locals rely on supermarkets for their first jobs, how many employees will be from the immediate area?
Over a quarter of our team are from local schools and almost all of our team are from the local Yarraville area. It was something that I felt strongly about, I wanted to employ a team that reflected our community. They’re a lively bunch, full of personality and are committed to excellent service. We couldn’t be more proud of our team and the customer feedback we’ve received so far.
Many people may not realise there was previously a Woolworths in Yarraville in the late 1960s and 1970’s?
Yes! There was a Woolworths supermarket on Anderson Street, which originally opened in 1965. We’re excited to be part of the community again, this time with a Metro store, which is more food focused and tailored to local customer needs.
Woolies Metro Yarraville is located at 4-6 Anderson St, Yarraville, is open 7am-10pm daily and can be reached on 9258 8417. Come and say hello when you’re in the area next!
Photo of team featured left-to-right, Nicole Inia (Customer Service Team Leader), Matt Davis (Store Manager), Basit Hussain (Assistant Store Manager), Maharshi Thakore (Fresh Team Leader).
