Coles and Woolworths announce new curfew trading hours under Stage 4

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have introduced new trading hours during Melbourne’s Stage 4 coronavirus restrictions.

With metropolitan Melbourne now under a nightly curfew running from 8pm to 5am, the supermarkets will close at 7.45pm every night – 15 minutes before the curfew begins.

German chain Aldi will also close at 7.45pm.

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In a statement, Coles says there will be no last-minute dashes into its stores, while stores that traditionally close before 7.45pm may continue to do so.

“To ensure we are following government guidelines, the last customer will be allowed to enter our stores at 7.30pm every night and all our stores will close at 7.45pm, unless a store’s existing trading hours already specify an earlier closing time,” Coles says.

The change in opening hours comes after Woolworths earlier announced three of its Melbourne stores would temporarily close and become online delivery hubs in a bid to meet demand for online grocer shopping.

Woolworths’ Dandenong Plaza, Watergardens South and Mountain Gate supermarkets will be closed to the public from 7.45pm on Tuesday evening and will solely serve online delivery customers.

It is unclear when the stores will reopen, with Woolworths saying they will be closed “until further notice”.