Coles will discontinue its Vintage Cellars and First Choice brands following a four-month trial of Liquorland Cellars and Liquorland Warehouse.

All Coles Liquor stores will be unified under the overarching Liquorland banner, with three formats: Liquorland, Liquorland Cellars with a more premium selection and Liquorland Warehouse for large format stores. The changes will be rolled out from next month, spanning 984 stores. 

The company described the rationalisation of brands as one of the “most significant milestones” in the business’s history. 

“This is the biggest transformation in the history of Coles Liquor Group, and we believe it will have a meaningful impact on how we serve customers the drinks they want, when they want them, and how we partner with suppliers to deliver value,” said Coles Liquor CEO Michael Courtney. 

According to the company, around 160 Vintage Cellars and First Choice Liquor Market stores will be completely transformed by the end of this year. The program will extend Liquorland’s footprint by 25 per cent, with many stores positioned near or adjacent to a Coles supermarket.

“The results of the pilot program exceeded our expectations across all measures. We were pleased to see brand awareness improve by 16 per cent and found customers visited our stores more frequently, and 30 per cent of customers who shopped at our pilot stores said they plan to shop with us more often compared to before the rebrand,” Courtney added. 

Coles started the trial in November, converting 14 stores to Liquorland Cellars and Liquorland Warehouse formats, including nine stores in SA, three Vintage Cellars stores in Victoria and two First Choice Liquor Market stores in Queensland.