Coles Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers ( Coles Group before it was taken over on 23 November 2007 ) . With over 750 stores nationally and more than 60,000 employees , Coles currently has the second-biggest market share behind Woolworths Supermarkets . In 1991 the stores were rebranded Coles Supermarkets and from 1998 simply as Coles .