Community Matters with Roz White

28 YEARS and counting

WITH ROZ WHITE // WHITE'S IGA

Congratulations Vickie and Magic for celebrating their 100th issue of Matters Magazine. This is a wonderful milestone to celebrate.

White’s IGA will be celebrating 28 years in October and what an honour it is to serve our community. Michael and I started in retail with a small convenience store selling confectionery, milk, bread and basic goods. We brought in a small range of fruit and vegetables from Natoli’s produce wholesale and Bushie from Maroochydore News delivered papers and magazines for us to sell. Michael ran a confectionery delivery van for a couple of years to make a few extra dollars and we bought our second convenience store one week after our son Harrison was born. The Mooloolaba NightOwl, which we onsold to new operators in 2009 (or thereabouts), recently closed its doors. The first two stores we owned are now closed, which is sad to witness. Both stores were in busy areas, which highlights how hard it is for small business to keep competing. White’s IGA stores located at Peregian Beach, Mt Coolum, Bli Bli, Baringa and Mooloolah feature hundreds of locavore products, created by local families. Each Sunshine Coast producer, maker, supplier and farmer has a story to tell and milestones to commemorate. Our locavore program celebrates their stories, highlighted instore with our signature tractor logo to make it easy for shoppers to select local products. This is what makes us a community; supporting each other and celebrating the nuances which make us different. We are proud to share many significant milestones with our team members who are celebrating 15 and 20+ years working with Michael and I at White’s. An achievement worth honouring. Milestones help us to reflect on where we have come from and look to the future with hope, positivity and gratitude in our hearts. ca

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roz and her husband Michael, commenced their retailing journey on the Sunshine Coast in 1993. Currently the White's IGA Group consists of the Supa IGA Bli Bli, IGA Mooloolah, IGA Peregian Beach, IGA Mt Coolum, and IGA Baringa. The unique 'locavore' culture guarantees you to always spot a local in store, because they are locally owned, they employ locals and it's where the locals shop.