Sir George James "G.J" Coles, CBE (28 March 1885 – 4 December 1977) was an Australian entrepreneur.
[4] Coles's father married Ann Cameron "Annie" Topp of Buninyong on 20 August 1902[5] and sold his shop, measuring 20 by 18 feet (6.1 m × 5.5 m),[6] in the Victorian country town of St James to eldest son George in 1910 for £4500,[7] he then moved to Wilmot, Tasmania (around 30 km south of Ulverstone), where he opened yet another shop.
He took trips to the United States of America and Britain to learn about the American and British methods of retailing.
[8] In 1914, with brothers Jim and Arthur and capital of £2000, he opened his first shop in Smith Street, Collingwood[9] with the slogan "Nothing over a shilling", which in the early 1930s became "Nothing over 2/6d"[6][10] Brother Arthur enlisted with the AIF shortly after Australia joined the "Great War" (World War I).
He expounded on his philosophies in an interview in the January 1966 issue of their newsletter Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
Because of quarantine restrictions, these events were held in Stockholm, Sweden rather than the Olympic host city, Melbourne.