Noel is the Assistant Store Manager at Woolworths Mowbray, and he’s seen 18 different stores during his 29 years with Woolworths. But this June he got to do something he never expected - setting up a mini supermarket in a classroom, alongside Store Manager Eddie.
So far, we’ve built 40 Mini Woolies stores at specialist schools and organisations to help young Australians with disabilities become more confident in shopping environments and learn new skills that might help them work in retail one day. That means turning 40 classrooms, gyms or even storerooms into brand new spaces that look and feel like a mini Woolworths supermarket.
We bring in shelves to stock full of groceries, fully operational Fujitsu registers with play money, baskets, price tickets and even Woolworths hats and aprons for when the students practise scanning items and serving customers.
For Eddie and Noel, this involved delivering and stacking 600 grocery items, fresh fruit and chilled produce in the store at Northern Support School in Launceston. They also hosted two groups of students and staff for register training, helping them learn the ins and outs of the checkouts to make the most of their Mini Woolies setup.
