German supermarket giant Kaufland has begun showing the scale of its ambition, submitting plans for a ‘hypermarket’ and hotel in Queensland with Toowoomba Regional Council.
Eyeing the Australian grocery and liquor markets, Kaufland has begun bold moves this year, including recently beginning construction at Mickleham, in Victoria, on what will be the largest distribution centre in the country.
In recent months the company has also received planning approvals for three stores to open in Victoria, and go-ahead for the first store in South Australia.
Measuring opportunity in Queensland, Kaufland plans to build a mixed-use site in Harristown anchored by a large-format supermarket, offering local and international brands and a product line said to be beyond that of competing supermarkets, plus a range of associated speciality retail.
The centre will include a liquor offering, and a hotel, courtesy of the state’s laws requiring bottleshop licences be associated with a nearby pub. It is suggested these will be “integrated” with the grocery offering, although the hotel occupies a stand-alone structure on the extensive site.
It is proposed the centre will operate every day from 6am – 10pm.
Kaufland is a division of massive global conglomerate Schwarz Group, and comes with intentions to carve out a niche for itself, aiming to capture around six per cent of both grocery and liquor markets in Australia.
“These impacts are highly likely to be experienced primarily by the two largest supermarket and grocery store chains in Australia – Woolworths and Coles,” Drinks Trade reports Anthony Dimasi explaining for Kaufland Australia.
“Both of these groups are very large, highly successful and very well placed to counter any competitive intensity that will result from the entry of Kaufland into the Australian market.”
The third supermarket giant to look toward the hotel market follows Coles’ $200m pub partnership with Australian Venue Company earlier this year, and as Woolworths weighs up its options on divesting its majority share of Australia’s largest pub group, ALH.
