Roelf Vos

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roelf Vos (died 1992) was a wealthy Tasmanian businessman who, amongst other achievements, established a supermarket chain carrying his name initially in Launceston, but later expanded throughout the whole of northern Tasmania. The equivalent in the south of the state was Purity Supermarkets.

Vos initially purchased a corner milk bar and store in Launceston, Tasmania. From this humble beginning he went on to introduce self service shopping to northern Tasmania, and the business grew into a chain of ten supermarkets, employing over 500 people.

In the early 1990s, Roelf Vos Supermarkets were sold to Woolworths. Although they retained the Roelf Vos branding for some time, they were eventually rebranded as Woolworths in the early 2000s.

At the time of the final loss of the Roelf Vos name, the stores in Launceston included a city store, as well as Newstead, Kings Meadows, Prospect Vale, Riverside and Newnham. The city and Newstead stores are now Coles' stores; the Newnham one is a City Mission charity store.