Newtown IGA is no more… (2)

(Follow up to Newtown IGA is no more…)

I visited the ‘new’ store tonight. The new opening hours sign is up, and the times are the same.

The supermarket in Newtown was once a Franklins, but when Woolworths bought the chain in 2001 it divested its interest in some of the stores[1]. The ACCC ruling[2] says “To promote competition, Woolworths is required to divest its stores at the following locations“, which included Newtown.

So if Woolworths bought Franklins how has is Newtown IGA becoming a Franklins?

Well it seems that when Dairy Farm was getting out of the supermarket business it didn’t sell all the stores to Woolworths. Some of the Franklins stores in NSW, and the name, got sold to Pick ‘n Pay[3, 5]. Who retained the name and what remained of the chain.

So it appears that the owners of the supermarket in Newtown have swapped franchise, from IGA to Franklins. As far as I can tell all the staff are the same, and the store hasn’t been dramatically rearranged, just rebadged.

References

1. Woolworths’ Acquisition Of Franklins Stores (10 July 2001)
2. ACCC Gets Legally-Enforceable Undertakings From Dairy Farm, Franklins and Woolworths (7 June 2001)
3. Franklins – About Us
4. Franklins risks takeover bid: analyst (SMH, 24 April 2007)
5. Franklins – Wikipedia