Best Store in Their Town

Food

Supporting Local Suppliers

Mt Evelyn, Victoria

Mt Evelyn IGA is a family run supermarket that has been proudly part of the local community since 1972. Their primary focus is on fulfilling the community’s needs and supporting locals wherever possible.

Tony Ingpen has been stocking Melbourne local Chris Barlotta’s That’s Alotta Donuts in his store for the last couple of years. Chris started the business at 23, after a career-ending basketball injury, with some help from his parents. The business nearly failed during COVID but working with Tony and selling his products through the Mt Evelyn IGA helped not only keep the business afloat but to grow to where it is today. He started selling 100 donuts to the Mt Evelyn IGA every two days, growing quickly to 200 per day. It wasn’t long before That’s Alotta Donuts were being stocked in multiple IGA stores and Chris was selling 2,000 donuts a day through the network. He now sells 8,000 donuts a day – through the family’s own two shops, online, and through the IGA network in Victoria.

Supporting Local Communities

Swanbourne, Western Australia

Swanbourne IGA’s mission is to support local. Since taking over the store 15 years ago, Steve and Kirsty Carre have focused on providing quality fresh produce, sourced locally from WA producers where possible, delivering exceptional customer service and giving back to the community.

Not only has the store more than doubled in size over the past decade, it has played a significant role in the community. Stock that would otherwise have gone to waste is donated to St Patrick’s Catholic Church to feed the homeless, and through the Community Chest program the store provides financial support to local community and sporting groups, events, not-for-profit organisations and schools. The store also supports new and emerging businesses to commercialise their products for sale throughout the country. Steve was awarded an OAM for his service to the community in 2022.

The store won IGA’s Award of Excellence in 2022, and has previously received IGA’s small format innovation award in recognition of outstanding customer service, operational excellence, pride in its community and the value it places on its brands. Swanbourne is recognised as one of IGA’s most awarded stores in Australia and it’s a place where locals matters.

Supporting Local Small Businesses

Bli Bli, Queensland

Supa IGA Bli Bli, owned by Roz and Michael White since 2004, has a reputation in the local community for good food and wonderful customer service. The Whites’ passionate support for local community groups, charities and small businesses makes them more than just a service provider, they’re an integral part of their community.

The Whites have been working with local chef Chris Sell, stocking his range of The Hatted Chef ready-made meals. With the same ethos and passion as the Whites for supporting local producers. The Hatted Chef uses high quality ingredients, sourced locally where possible.

Hardware

Supporting Local Tradies

Torrensville, South Australia

K & B Mitre 10 Trade Centre opened its doors in 2021. The team are experts in helping local tradies pick up everything they need for their build and get back to site as quickly as possible. From store design and range through to customer service and early opening hours, the K & B Mitre 10 team really have thought of everything to fulfill their customers’ needs including regular free breakfasts. The new store features a large multi-lane undercover drive-through pick-up facility, as well as a wide range of products, services such as a special orders desk for spare parts and custom products, access to a Mitre 10 Trade Account Manager, and bulk delivery direct-to-site services.

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Supporting Community Sport

Rouse Hill, NSW

Hudson Mitre 10 Trade Centre at Rouse Hill, New South Wales, has a longstanding relationship with their local soccer club the Quakers Hill Tigers.

In addition to sponsoring the Under 13 Division 1 side, there are strong links with the Hudson Trade Centre team. Site Manager Craig Makcey’s sons have all played for the club, and he has personally been involved as a coach. Daniel Mangion and Jacob Addison are in the all ages side, while rep Keith Houghton is a regular on the sideline watching his grandson.

Liquor

Supporting Local Economies

Blue Mountains, New South Wales

Murray Croft and Charlotte Burns own three Porters Liquor stores in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales at Glenbrook, Blaxland East and Warrimoo. Their entry and then rapid expansion, in the region has made a positive impact on the local economy, as an employer and distributor for local suppliers, as well as the ripple effect on surrounding stores who have benefitted from the increase in foot traffic.

Murray’s stores specialise in craft, including local brewer Mountain Culture, voted Best Beer in Australia in the 2022 GABS (Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular) Hottest 100, premium spirits and boutique wines. Porters Glenbrook won the NSW Porters Liquor Store of the Year in 2021.