38
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
NATIONAL QUEENSLAND VICTORIA
Western Downs stores looking to improve sustainability
Travel 2 hours west of Brisbane through the Toowoomba shire, and you will arrive in the Western Downs Regional LGA. A Shire which amazingly covers an area the size of Switzerland, thrives with its primary industries being Agriculture (beef, sheep and goats), forestry, broadacre grain and cotton and fishing. The growth in the general population comes with the challenge of the large national retailers moving in on the space of the local Independent Grocery store. One of the ways to handle the challenge is to band together and face the task head-on. Around 70 years ago, a group of Dalby locals formed the Western Downs cooperative that is still alive and trading today. The first acquisition for these 600+ shareholders was a grocery store known as the Dalby Foodworks located opposite a McDonalds with an Aldi store directly behind. A town of around 13,000 people, the independent store also has competition from both Coles and Woolworths. The Western Downs cooperative is known for supporting the local communities and purchased a second store in Tara. The outlet, recently updated in 2018 with a purpose-built state of art 2000 sqm building behind the existing site. Sales from this $5m
mga.asn.au | September 2021 | Edition 5
investment have been exciting. The local community supports the bold move to develop a greenfield site in a community of fewer than 2500 people with an ageing demographic.
The latest group acquisition was 12 years ago in the township of Milmerran at the southern end of the shire. This site was previously a hardware and produce building and features murals
