March 1st, 2026Coles celebrating and giving back
Naome McDougall has worked for Coles her entire career. She started with Bi-Lo in Swan Hill in 1999, and at 43 is in her 27th year with Coles.
Many of those years were spent in Melbourne but she jumped at the chance to return to the country when the position of manager at Daylesford came up last year.
Her first day was May 26 and as Naome describes it herself: “I got dropped into a half-constructed store – a full knockdown rebuild while we were still trading.”
“But it just wasn’t the right thing for our local community to close the store so we worked through the disruption and the concrete dust and everything else that was going on.”
Naome said, after the official launch of the store on February 12, main image above, that all was going to plan.
“I think the extension, adding four grocery aisles, the extended dairy range, the entertaining range is all fantastic. And we put the deli back in, something we have not done in any other Coles Local, on the back of customer feedback.
“It is a smaller deli than what we had previously, but we’ve still got the range for the customers and it also means the product is fresher. And we brought back stras – that was something we didn’t have when we first opened and there was feedback that it was wanted – so that went back in that week.”
Naome said chatter on social media, mostly Daylesford Grapevine, had also alerted her to the need to always have roast chickens ready to go. “Chickens are clearly a big thing and are always in the warmer.”
Naome said she was always listening in person to locals when she was in the store and responding to requests for products when possible. “There’s been quite a few of those conversations, which has been really good.”
The added self check-outs were giving customers quicker access to registers with more team members in that area on hand to help out when needed. And thanks to feedback, both doors were now for entrance and exit.
Coles employs more than 80 people, one of the bigger employers in the region, and while tourists are a big part of the business, Naome says she is all about her local team and the community.
To that end the store has partnered with the Daylesford Football Netball Club, the Good Grub Club and Phoenix@TheRex.
“I grew up in a local footy community so I know exactly what a local club means. I even told them if they need a spare player, I have two arms and a heartbeat…
“And we have a donation station for the Good Grub Club and they can give me a shopping list and we can change the donations they need any time.”
Naome is another local who is keen to see the return of the Daylesford community cinema.
“It’s a really cool thing to lean into and a huge thing for the community. It will be terrific when it gets up and running again. And I think with (David) Bromley heavily involved in that, it works in well with his mural in the store. It ties in nicely with the community.
“I am very proud of the store and our team.”
Words: Donna Kelly | Images: Martin Keep
