CARSON ERA

THE CARSON ERA 1984

Peter

Carson was made managing director in Barry’s stead.

From left to right: Peter Carson Liz Cameron Mal Cameron

Cathy Carson James Cameron Barry Cameron

In 1985, Ritchies switched from Foodland (Foodmaster) to SSW. Mornington, Footscray and Thompson Street would now be known as Ritchies SSW, and on the liquor side, Hallmark Cellars. In the 1980s further stores were opened at Balnarring, Narre Warren, Langwarrin and Wonthaggi, and Towerhill received a makeover. A computer was purchased for the business and front end scanning began.

In 1987 Ritchies helped to form the wholesale collective warehouse, Victorian Grocery Distributors. The iconic Thompson Street store closed.

1993

A company called Pretlock was formed in May 1987 to buy the freehold of the existing Mt Eliza store. The liquor licence at Mt Eliza was tied to the premises, so Ritchies bought the freehold, thus owning and controlling the liquor licence. Ritchies was then able to move the Mt Eliza supermarket to improved premises. A recession set in across Australia, bringing three years of successive losses for Ritchies Stores. The wider industry suffered. SSW reduced its rebate to Ritchies by 50% due to its losses. In 1991 SSW merged with VGD. This was the point at which the ownership of the company widened as the Cameron family bought out the Parsonage interest and retained the majority holding. In 1994, Peter Carson retired.

Following the economic recession and looking for a point of difference from the chains, in 1993 Ritchies introduced the Community Benefit Program, a loyalty program where clubs, schools and charities could be the recipients of donations based on the number of shoppers who nominated them. No other supermarket chain had embarked on such a scheme. The card was tentatively trialled and soon more than $100,000 had been donated to the community. It boosted staff morale and motivated customers. By 1998, the two million dollar mark was reached.

David Welsh, a solicitor for the Cameron family since 1972, negotiated the purchase of Ritchies from Nelson Morris. David was involved with the incorporation of Ritchies in February 1974, and became company secretary. He took up the position of director of Ritchies in 1988 and later became chairman of the Ritchies board when Elisabeth Cameron Boyle stood down from the role. David oversaw much of Ritchies' growth through the late '90s and early 2000s, covering a dual role as Ritchies' chairman and also its company solicitor. David received an AM for his community work. He died in January 2014.