Thomas Dux food chain listed for sale by Woolworths

Woolworths is looking at a sale of its Thomas Dux gourmet food store chain, The Australian Financial Review  reports.

The company has reportedly sought expressions of interest from trade buyers and private equity investors.

It is asking between $10 million and $20 million for the 10-store chain, according to the report which suggested potential buyers could include South African retailer Woolworths Holdings, which purchased the upmarket department store chain David Jones.

The first Thomas Dux store opened in 2008 in Sydney's lower north shore suburb of Lane Cove, with the second in Paddington.

In 2009 Dux opened is recently closed store on Crown Street, Surry Hills.

The company bought leases on eight Macro Wholefoods sites, including Crows Nest and Hornsby.

Tim Morris, from New Zealand-based Coriolis Research, advised in 2008 that no "middle market" retailer in the world had ever been able to make a success of an upmarket small-format store.

The 10-store gourmet food chain became profitable last year.

Thomas Dux was pitched as not quite as fancy as upmarket rivals Simon Johnson or Jones the Grocer, but taking on Norton St Grocer and Harris Farm Markets in the middle ground of specialty grocer-cum-deli with an emphasis on fresh foods.

It was pitched as selling niche brands which Woolies didn't stock in its then 777 supermarkets nationwide.