What a difference a decade makes. Woolworths’ announcement during the week that it will move to rid itself of its liquor and pubs businesses means the market has done what politicians and competition regulators could not.

The great big Aussie behemoth has turned into the incredible shrinking retailer - something that was highly improbable in 2009.

Woolworths says it planned to combine its drinks and hospitality business, Endeavour Drinks and ALH Group, with the idea to eventually demerge it. Credit:Virginia Star

First, a quick stroll down memory lane. By the end of the noughties, Woolies and Coles were under political pressure because of their dominance. Kevin Rudd had sailed into power on a populist platform that included Grocery Choice - a $4 million folly … sorry … website that would help consumers find the cheapest supermarket items. Updated monthly, and therefore unable to keep up with the dynamic nature of supermarket retailing, the site was shut down shortly after launch. And having also promised voters relief at the bowser, Rudd’s FuelWatch was set up, but didn’t even make it out of the legislative gates.

Then there was an inquiry into the supermarket sector by the competition regulator, the premise of which was that prices were too high because of the dominance of Woolies and Coles. After a look under the hood, the sector was found to be “workably competitive”. (Ironically, it was just a few years later that there was an inquiry based on the premise that prices were too low because of the dominance of Woolies and Coles.)