Coles Quiet Hour – Expanding Autism Friendly Shopping
Autism Spectrum Australia helped Coles to develop the Coles Quiet Hour program. It is designed to create a shopping environment that is more suitable for people on the autism spectrum. It aims to achieve this by providing a low-sensory shopping experience that is autism-friendly. The participating stores make changes such as dimming the lights as well as reducing in-store noise and distractions. Participating stores offer Coles Quiet Hour between 10.30 am and 11.30 am every Tuesday.
Coles rolled out an initial trial of the Coles Quiet Hour program in November 2017 at 70 supermarkets across Australia. Two of the stores in the initial trial were located in Victoria, at Ringwood and Balwyn East.
PARTICIPATING AUTISM-FRIENDLY STORES CREATE A LOW-SENSORY ENVIRONMENT BY DOING THE FOLLOWING:
Reducing store lighting
Turning off the Coles Radio
Reducing the register and scanner volume levels
Removing trolley collections or roll cages from the shop floor
No PA announcements except in the case of emergencies
Offering free fruit at customer service
Additional team members are available to support customers
CURRENT PARTICIPATING STORES:
A full list of the over 400 national participating stores can be found on the Coles website.
If you need supports getting out and about to the shops, we’re always here. Contact us today.