And they would never have experienced the good old-fashioned customer service of which the Coles women are still so proud.

Once a year, the women who worked at the old Coles Variety Stores catch up for a reunion.

They have been doing it for 30 years now.

“We couldn’t say exactly why it started. The original organisers aren’t here today,” Yvonne Easton, who worked at “store 22” for nine and half years, said.

“I think the store closed in the early 70s, so it might have been like a 10-year reunion that hasn’t stopped for another 30 years.

“There were two Coles Variety Stores in Ballarat – one in the Bridge Mall and the other next to where Myer is, which we used to call the Top Shop.”

At 70 years of age, Ms Easton was one of the youngest at Tuesday’s reunion at the Western Hotel on Sturt Street. The oldest was 86.

Most believe something has been lost over the years as retail has become cost rather than service driven.

“I miss the old store,” Wendy Furlong, 75, said.

“I liked the personal service. We worked on counters and knew all about our own departments. A bit like (classic British comedy) Are you Being Served?”

Ms Easton agreed.

“It’s not the same,” she said. “No one serves you any more.”

There were no men at the reunion. “They had a different role at the store,” Ms Easton explained.

“They didn’t work on a counter. 

“They were usually store walkers – a bit like Captain Peacock.”

Each year the Coles Variety Store reunion raises money for charity.

This year’s lunch raised $150

for Ballarat boy Aron Siermans, whose mother was murdered last year.