Liquorland is an Australian liquor store chain. It is one of three liquor brands within the Coles Group,[2] along with the larger discount format First Choice Liquor and more upmarket orientated Vintage Cellars. The Liquorland chain comprised 743 stores as of March 2023.[3]
History
Old Liquorland logo
Coles Supermarkets established interests with its expansion into liquor in 1981, with the acquisition of Liquorland and Vintage Cellars.[4][5] In November 2007 Wesfarmers acquired the Coles Group and as a result the separate Coles division was formed, but was again demerged on 21 November 2018.[6]
Most Liquorland outlets are adjacent to or within Coles Supermarkets, except in Queensland, where legislation forbids this practice. In order to maintain a presence, Liquorland operated the Spirit Hotel chain, which comprised 87 hotels as of March 2019 (76 in Queensland, seven in South Australia and four in Western Australia).[7]
Wesfarmers had long expressed discomfort about the poker machines in Spirit Hotel's pubs and had been trying to sell its hotel portfolio while retaining its lucrative liquor store business.[8][9] In March 2019, Coles established a joint venture with Australian Venue Co. (AVC) where AVC would take over operations of the hotels and receive its profits while Coles would run the liquor stores and receive its profits. If AVC purchased further hotels in Queensland, Coles would also have the right to operate existing liquor stores attached to the hotels or open new stores using the hotels' liquor licenses. Coles received $200 million from AVC as part of the deal.[10][11][12]
Beginning in 2020, Liquorland began transitioning stores to a new, more upmarket visual identity.[13][3] In August 2022, the first Liquorland store was opened in Tasmania.[14] In February 2024, Coles Liquor reached an agreement to acquire all 20 of Federal Group's 9/11 liquor stores in Tasmania.[15] The stores were subsequently rebranded as Liquorland.[16] In September 2024, Liquorland announced it will rebrand some First Choice Liquor Market stores to Liquorland Warehouse and some Vintage Cellars stores to Liquorland.[17]
Sub-brands
Liquorland Express — drive-through and compact Liquorland stores.
Liquorland Warehouse[18] — a larger, 'big-box'-style format promoting higher-volume purchases.
Liquorland Direct — Liquorland's online and mail/phone order business.
Steamrail Brewing Company
In January 2013 Coles released a range of beers under the brand Steamrail Brewing Company.[19] The beers, 'Ghost of Eyre' Pale ale, 'Gold Digger' Golden Ale and 'Lucky Amber' Amber Ale, were stocked in First Choice Liquor and Liquorland outlets. All the bottles bear the company name, Steamrail Brewing, and the address of the Coles Supermarkets' headquarters.[20][21] The Steamrail Brewing Company range is brewed at the Asahi Breweries plant in Laverton, Victoria.[22]
Liquorland exclusive beer brands also include Hammer 'N' Tongs, 3 Pub Circus and Lorry Boys.[23][24]
