STORE REVIEW
A SHOWCASE IN INNOVATION
From a shipping container during COVID to a high-end café design, Bowser Bean Strathfieldsaye is constantly evolving.
T
he Bowser Bean concept was launched in 2017 as a way to call out the popular takeaway food and coffee being offered by family-owned business Vantage Fuels. The original location at Strathfieldsaye showed such success, that now four years later, there are 16 Bowser Bean locations across regional Victoria and NSW. Located on the outskirts of Bendigo, Bowser Bean Strathfieldsaye has been constantly evolving its brand and concept, including enhancing its coffee offer through training and technology, developing its menu, and incorporating highend café design elements.
“The refurbishment provided the opportunity to bring our food, coffee, in-store dining, and convenience up to an industry leading standard. We improved the store layout, food displays, coffee visibility and workflow. “The café area is a standout allowing customers a pleasant setting for a quick relax and recharge or caffeine charged group catchup. We have also added a hydration station with on demand sparkling and still water. For the kids we have installed a CocaCola FCB dispenser.”
Haydn Tierney, Managing Director, Bowser Bean/Vantage Fuels, said that during lockdown the Strathfieldsaye site was a standout for the network, with many locals discovering the café and getting behind the food and coffee offer.
While completing the latest refurbishments, Bowser Bean came up with an innovative way to continue trading during the renovations process – by deploying a temporary 40-foot, purpose-built shipping container, which enabled Bowser Bean to continue serving its food and coffee to customers while they filled up at the bowsers.
Given the site’s increase in popularity, the decision was made to refurbish the store, with the help of Two-Fold Projects, and create a high-end café and purposeful convenience store.
Tierney said not only did the container allow Bowser Bean to continue to trade, but also took the pressure off the build team, ensuring the refurbishments were completely accurate and on time.
10 December 2021/January 2022 | C&I | www.c-store.com.au
Bowser Bean’s purpose is to make our customer’s day that little bit better.” – Haydn Tierney, Managing Director
