Wild scenes as shoppers queue up at Coles stores around the country – to swap Little Shop minis 

If you thought your shopping centre was a little busier than normal for a Saturday morning you were probably right. 

Crazy scenes were captured at a number of locations including Westfield Bondi Junction, in Sydney, on Saturday as eager parents and children flocked to Coles supermarkets to swap Little Shop miniature collectibles.

Thirty-seven Coles stores across the country braced for four hours of consumer chaos as they held a ‘swap day’ for people to complete their set of 30 products.

Australians have been going wild over the miniature collectibles Coles have been giving out

Crowds gathered at Westfield Bondi Junction for the 'Little Shop Swap Day' in hopes to complete their set of 30

Crowds gathered at Westfield Bondi Junction for the ‘Little Shop Swap Day’ in hopes to complete their set of 30

People are desperate to complete their mini set of collectibles in the promotion

People are desperate to complete their mini set of collectibles in the promotion

The Little Shop promotion gives away a miniature plastic toy, in the shape of a popular product such as Nutella, Vegemite and toothpaste, with every $30 spent.

The promotion has sent people across the country mad, with parents and children going into a frenzy to collect the 30 toys. 

The swap was set to take part between 10am and 2pm at locations across all states and territories.  

The Little Shop promotion gives away a miniature plastic toy, in the shape of a popular product such as Nutella, Vegemite and toothpaste, with every $30 spent at Coles

The Little Shop promotion gives away a miniature plastic toy, in the shape of a popular product such as Nutella, Vegemite and toothpaste, with every $30 spent at Coles

The promotion has sent people across the country mad, with parents and children going into a frenzy to collect the 30 toys

The promotion has sent people across the country mad, with parents and children going into a frenzy to collect the 30 toys

The swap was set to take part between 10am and 2pm at locations across all states and territories

Coles threw the swap meet at selected stores to help customers reach the goal of having a full set.

Workers were armed with buckets full of the tiny products that customers were allowed to swap their duplicates for.

The scenes captured showed the lengths that customers are willing to go to across the country, to complete their set of collectible minis.

There are Facebook groups with 11,000 people popping up across the country in an aim to complete the full set

There are Facebook groups with 11,000 people popping up across the country in an aim to complete the full set

People went prepared to the ‘Little Shop Swap’ day with lists at the ready, hoping to come out successful 

There’s even a Facebook group dedicated to swapping the mini collectibles gaining lots of traction with already close to 12,000 members.

Many customers took to social media to showcase the mayhem that was seen at many of the stores, with mixed reviews of how the day went.

‘Little shop swap day at Chadstone in Victoria was very poorly organised with the team members refusing to swap certain items. It should be a one for one swap and no swap should ever be turned down,’ one customer posted to Facebook.

Coles threw the swap meet at selected stores to help customers reach the goal of having a full set

Coles threw the swap meet at selected stores to help customers reach the goal of having a full set

The Little Shop consists of 30 toys customers collect when they spend $30 at Coles

The Little Shop consists of 30 toys customers collect when they spend $30 at Coles

‘There were more customers swapping with each other in the line that with that actual coles team members.’

Not all people responded to the day with negativity, with one woman praising the helpful staff: ‘I went to the swap day today at Southland. I just want to say the staff where more than helpful and very friendly. They are all a credit to the company.’

‘Thanks Coles for arranging a super organised Swap Day at Westfield Marion,’ another customer happily posted.

Many customers took to social media to showcase the mayhem that was seen at many of the stores, with mixed reviews of how the day went

Many customers took to social media to showcase the mayhem that was seen at many of the stores, with mixed reviews of how the day went

The promotion has been a hot-topic across the country since their launch last month, with a full set being posted to Ebay for $1,000, just 48 hours after it was launched.

Individual toys have gone for as high as $15, with many in a desperate need to collect the full set before the promotion ends at the end of August.

While thousands flocked to their local Coles on Saturday, environmental groups have slammed the supermarket giant for sending a mixed message on plastics.     



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