A bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to the body; it can also be used to restrict a part of the body. G. J. Coles opened the 'Coles Variety Store' on 9 April 1914 on Smith Street in the Melbourne, Victoria suburb of Collingwood. Further expansion occurred and Coles' interest in food retailing was spurred in 1958 when it acquired 54 John Connell Dickins grocery stores. It then acquired the Beilby's chain in South Australia in 1959 and 265 Matthews Thompson grocery stores in New South Wales in 1960 .In 1960, the first supermarket was opened in the Melbourne suburb Balwyn North, at the corner of Burke and Doncaster Roads where a modernised version continues to operate. By 1973, Coles had established stores in all Australian capital cities. From 1962, its supermarkets were branded Coles New World with accompanying rocket imagery. In 1991, the stores were re-branded Coles Supermarkets and from 1998, simply as Coles. George James (G. J.) Coles learned the retail trade working for his father's 'Coles Store' business from 1910 to 1913. The store continued operating as "The Original Coles" at Wilmot, Tasmania until it was destroyed by a fire on 24 January 2014. An unused, 1 inch ( 2.5cm ) x 6 yards ( 2metres) cotton, ‘open wove’ bandage in a cellophane wrapper sold by G.J. Coles Pty Ltd Variety StoresCellophane wrapper top: WHITE OPEN WOVE / BANDAGE / 1 X 6 YDS. / SPECIAL QUALITY / G.J.COLES * pharmacy, medicines, bandages, wounds, early settlers, market gardeners, moorabbin, bentleigh, cheltenham, cotton, gauze, coles g j pty ltd., variety stores, supermarkets, smith street collingwood, retailers, shops

After the extension of the Railway line from Caulfield to Mordialloc 1880's the shopping centre moved from the Tucker Rd end to around the East Brighton (Bentleigh) Station area of Centre Road. A variety of shops, forges, estate agents, Coles' and Fossey's variety stores, a Hoyts picture theatre, butchers, traded in Centre Rd. Crofts was one many grocery stores along the strip. Crofts Stores was established by Archibald Crofts (1875-1942) as a single grocery store in South Melbourne. It eventually expanded to include 137 branches throughout Victoria, trading as Crofts Stores. The Lees family had established a Seedling Nursery in Thomas St that has continued until the land sold 2018 for housing development.Crofts Grocery Store was one of the shops in the Centre Road Bentleigh shopping strip that were established after the arrival of the train line 1881Black & White photograph of 3 men outside Crofts Grocery Store 395 Centre Rd Bentleigh c 1937 Mr Jack Lees is centre.Handwritten informationcrofts grocery store bentleigh, lees jack, mordialloc railway line, centre road bentleigh, smith j l, smith mary ann, stanley helen, smith vic, smith harry redvers, chaff cutter, horse drawn carts, toll gates brighton, motor cars 1900, steam engines, early settlers, bentleigh, parish of moorabbin, city of moorabbin, county of bourke, moorabbin roads board, shire of moorabbin, henry dendy's special survey 1841, were j.b., bent thomas, o'shannassy john, king richard, charman stephen, highett william, ormond francis, maynard dennis, market gardeners, vineyards

Post Card Valentines c 1950. Main Street Stawell looking West. The view show cars parked at an angle down Main St. and shops mainly along one side. The town hall clock can be seen above the building with the Coles sign, Macrows and Geo on the right hand edge.Valentine's Post card of Main St., Stawell looking West. The scene is of many 1950 cars parked along the street with Coles Variety Store, Macrows and Geo stores dominating to the right of the photo."VII" "Main Street, Stawell" (on the front) "Valentine's Post Card sending you greetings" (on the back)stawell business streetscape

This photograph depicts the interior of the Coles Variety Store within Bentleigh's Centre Road shopping precinct in 1956. Signage represents the pre decimal currency era. The Record Bar advertises the availability of standard and microgroove vinyl records.In this era, the Centre Road Bentleigh shopping strip provided consumers with access to many of the major retail outlets and provided for a wide range of shopping needs. By the 1960s, Chadstone Shopping Centres (opened 1960) and Southland (opened 1968) had been established which created changes to the way in which people shopped.Black and white photograph of interior of Coles Store in Centre Road, Bentleigh displaying prominent signage predating decimal currency. Other signage includes the Coles Record Bar indicating the sale of standard and microgroove vinyl records.Handwritten in blue ink: Coles Bentleigh Sep 1956 B Black printed text on white round adhesive sticker: 202 Handwritten in red ink: 80%shopping strip, strip shopping, bentleigh, city of moorabbin, coles stores