Best Store in Their Town

Supporting Local Suppliers

Mt Evelyn, Victoria

Mt Evelyn IGA is a family run supermarket that has been proudly part of the local community since 1972. Their primary focus is on fulfilling the community’s needs and supporting locals wherever possible.

Tony Ingpen has been stocking Melbourne local Chris Barlotta’s That’s Alotta Donuts in his store for the last couple of years. Chris started the business at 23, after a career-ending basketball injury, with some help from his parents. The business nearly failed during COVID but working with Tony and selling his products through the Mt Evelyn IGA helped not only keep the business afloat but to grow to where it is today. He started selling 100 donuts to the Mt Evelyn IGA every two days, growing quickly to 200 per day. It wasn’t long before That’s Alotta Donuts were being stocked in multiple IGA stores and Chris was selling 2,000 donuts a day through the network. He now sells 8,000 donuts a day – through the family’s own two shops, online, and through the IGA network in Victoria.

Supporting Local Communities

Swanbourne, Western Australia

Swanbourne IGA’s mission is to support local. Since taking over the store 15 years ago, Steve and Kirsty Carre have focused on providing quality fresh produce, sourced locally from WA producers where possible, delivering exceptional customer service and giving back to the community.

Not only has the store more than doubled in size over the past decade, it has played a significant role in the community. Stock that would otherwise have gone to waste is donated to St Patrick’s Catholic Church to feed the homeless, and through the Community Chest program the store provides financial support to local community and sporting groups, events, not-for-profit organisations and schools. The store also supports new and emerging businesses to commercialise their products for sale throughout the country. Steve was awarded an OAM for his service to the community in 2022.

The store won IGA’s Award of Excellence in 2022, and has previously received IGA’s small format innovation award in recognition of outstanding customer service, operational excellence, pride in its community and the value it places on its brands. Swanbourne is recognised as one of IGA’s most awarded stores in Australia and it’s a place where locals matters.

Supporting Local Businesses

Southern Highlands & South Coast, NSW

Nick Gubbins and Steve Pulbrook have been serving trade customers in the Southern Highlands and South Coast region for over a decade, with Moss Vale Mitre 10 recently celebrating its 10-year anniversary. They’ve also recently opened a Total Tools store in Mittagong.

The pair came together to create the Gubbins Pulbrook Mitre 10 Group in 2018 when IHG approached them with an opportunity to purchase additional sites in the area and Nick and Steve saw benefit in joining forces. Initially attracted to the strength of the Mitre 10 brand and model, Gubbins Pulbrook now operates five stores in the Southern Highlands and South Coast region, with their successful expansion spurred on by the Sapphire program.

Completing the Sapphire store upgrade program in their Milton and Moss Vale stores was a ‘no brainer’, as they knew with a tried and tested model their stores would be at a standard that would guarantee they were the ‘Best Store in Their Town’.

Supporting Local Tradies

Torrensville, South Australia

K & B Mitre 10 Trade Centre opened its doors in 2021. The team are experts in helping local tradies pick up everything they need for their build and get back to site as quickly as possible. From store design and range through to customer service and early opening hours, the K & B Mitre 10 team really have thought of everything to fulfill their customers’ needs including regular free breakfasts. The new store features a large multi-lane undercover drive-through pick-up facility, as well as a wide range of products, services such as a special orders desk for spare parts and custom products, access to a Mitre 10 Trade Account Manager, and bulk delivery direct-to-site services.

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Supporting Community Sport

Rouse Hill, NSW

Hudson Mitre 10 Trade Centre at Rouse Hill, New South Wales, has a longstanding relationship with their local soccer club the Quakers Hill Tigers.

In addition to sponsoring the Under 13 Division 1 side, there are strong links with the Hudson Trade Centre team. Site Manager Craig Makcey’s sons have all played for the club, and he has personally been involved as a coach. Daniel Mangion and Jacob Addison are in the all ages side, while rep Keith Houghton is a regular on the sideline watching his grandson.

Supporting Local Producers

Cellarbrations, Croydon, VIC

Earlier this year, Fiona Duan and her husband, Leon Wang, opened their first Cellarbrations store in Croydon, Victoria after spotting an opportunity in the local market for a high-quality liquor store. Locals to the area, they chose the Cellarbrations banner because of its alignment with the quality image they wanted for their store and for their community.

Committed to supporting local producers, they have included offerings from Coldstream vineyards and plan to expand their local range, given their proximity to the Yarra Valley wine region. The community response has been overwhelmingly positive, with shoppers appreciating the presence of a new, independently-owned liquor store in their area, that not only looks great but also supports the local economy.

Encouraged by their initial success in Croydon, Fiona and her husband are already looking to expand their operations with a second store in Elsternwick set to open later this year.

Supporting Local Economies

Blue Mountains, New South Wales

Murray Croft and Charlotte Burns own three Porters Liquor stores in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales at Glenbrook, Blaxland East and Warrimoo. Their entry and then rapid expansion, in the region has made a positive impact on the local economy, as an employer and distributor for local suppliers, as well as the ripple effect on surrounding stores who have benefitted from the increase in foot traffic.

Murray’s stores specialise in craft, including local brewer Mountain Culture, voted Best Beer in Australia in the 2022 GABS (Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular) Hottest 100, premium spirits and boutique wines. Porters Glenbrook won the NSW Porters Liquor Store of the Year in 2021.