35 South Gippsland Supermarket Stalwarts – A story of two brothers

South Gippsland Supermarket Stalwarts

Chris O’Leary

As young blokes growing up around the beaches of Dromana, Brendan and Chris O’Leary earned their coin in the local supermarket – like so many other teenagers. But they’ve since forged decades-long careers out of their afterschool jobs and are now welcoming the next generation of the O’Leary family into the retail fold in South Gippsland.

The pair now head up supermarkets in Leongatha and Inverloch, and remain steadfast brothers in arms as they navigate one of the most challenging times for retailers.

Ironically, Brendan and Chris started their retail careers working for brothers – Michael and Tony Lorenz. The Lorenz brothers owned the Dromana IGA, or Festival as it was known in the 90s, where Brendan, the older of the brothers, began working as a cashier.

“I started off when I was 15 as a casual in the supermarket in Dromana so I was there as a casual when Michael and his brother bought the store,” Brendan explained. “I think I’d been there for four or so years by then. I got my Bachelor of Education but at the time the Kennett government had just got in and were cutting back on the jobs, so I initially didn’t get a placement and Michael offered me fulltime work at the supermarket and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

Meanwhile his brother Chris was looking for work, and the Lorenz brothers took him under their wing. “I sort of walked off the beach one day and Michael pulled me into the office and said he didn’t realise I was looking for work,” said Chris. “I used to wash his car in the carpark for a bit of cash in hand back in the day, and I pretty much started the next day fulltime. Been there ever since.” A year later, the Lorenz brother sold the store to Ritchies and dissolved their partnership. Michael Lorenz purchased supermarkets in Korumburra and Leongatha, and eventually convinced Chris and Brendan to come and work for him at Michael’s SUPA IGA in the towns.

“I think I started off as an assistant manager at Leongatha and Chris was working at Korumburra,” said Brendan. “I worked there for four years and after about six months I became manager of the store in Leongatha and then I left there in 1999 to come and work for Dom and Tracey down here in FoodWorks Inverloch at the old shop. It used to be where Paul the Pieman is now.”

While the O’Leary brothers no longer work under the same roof, they still rely heavily on each other’s advice.

“I know Brendan and I try and have the same weekends off, because we’re pretty close, we socialise together. Unfortunately, we talk a bit of shop when we do get together.”

Brendan agrees: “We are pretty close, and when we get together, we’re talking shop a fair bit.”

The close relationship has never been more important than during the pandemic, as both brothers deal with stock uncertainty and staff shortages.

Keeping It In The Family

Words by Anita Butterworth

Brendan O’Leary

“This summer has probably been our hardest one ever in that, we’ve lost a few staff having to isolate or actually catching Covid,” explained Brendan.

“The supply of goods is very erratic and it’s still nowhere near what it should be. Our warehouse is still three days behind where they normally would be. We’re usually waiting for stock while we’re doing orders for more stock and there’s a lot of ‘out of stock’ as well at the moment.”

And it’s a similar story for Chris.

“We get a lot of our groceries out of the same warehouse, he being Foodworks and myself being IGA. So, all the suppliers, groceries and cold goods all come from the same place pretty much. So, we’ve had to talk with each other over the journey, especially over the last couple of years and say, ‘Have you got any communication that you’re able to get stock?’.

"There’s been occasions when we’ve had stuff delivered to each other’s store and I’ll give him a buzz and say, ‘Do you realise you’ve got this here?’ so we work in with each other.”

While Brendan and his family initially lived in Korumburra, they recently built a home in Inverloch. He says while the coastal town’s supermarket has its unique challenges, it also has a loyal customer base. “When I was at Leongatha, it’s pretty much week in week out, same sales pretty much except for Christmas and Easter. Whereas down here in Inverloch it’s all over the place. Quiet in winter, busier when the weather’s nicer. Flat out at Christmas and summer and then you’ve got your peaks of Easter and long weekends, so the challenges are staffing and ordering.

“But I think we’ve gained a bit more loyalty because of the pandemic, I think probably a lot of people were doing their main shopping in Wonthaggi, going to the chains I think they’ve decided that it’s just as good for them to do their shopping with us, so we have gained a bigger basket size since the pandemic began. And we haven’t really seen that drop off even when things are relatively normal.”

Both Chris and Brendan are keeping retail in the family, with their wives and children taking up positions at the various stores.

And as to whether Brendan and Chris will ever be working under the same supermarket roof again? Never say never.

“I’d love to work with Brendan again, we had a great working relationship.”