IGA Blairgowrie

good range of French wines, especiallyChampagnes, which go down well.”Holidays & seasonalityBeing situated very much in the heartof a holiday area, the Blairgowriestore is, of course, very seasonal.“In many ways it really is like two differentstores depending on the time of year,” saidWal. “You often get three times as manycustomers through the door on a busysummer’s day as you would during thewinter.”During the busy months of Decemberand January, Wal naturally needs to expandhis staff by employing casuals to copewith the holiday influx. While the store isopen from 8am-8pm seven days a week inthe summer, it is open from 8.30am-6pmMonday to Thursday and 8am-7pm Fridayand Saturday in the quieter months, andfrom 8am-5pm on Sundays.“It really is a highly seasonal businessbut over the years you just becomeaccustomed to it and you deal with it,” Walsaid. “Obviously in the off season, your staffwill take their holidays and then, as soon asthe AFL Grand Final is over in Septemberand the first visitors begin appearing, youstart gearing up again.”In the two decades that Wal and wifeSally have run the store, they have mademany changes and expanded both thetrading and storage areas many times. Theyhave also overseen the introduction of suchfeatures as air conditioning, electronicdoors, a sound system and customerfriendlycheckout screens.However, back in those early years, itwas a steep learning curve for Wal – whogave up a career as a schoolteacher to takeover the store – and for Sally, who gave upa hairdressing business.“I loved teaching and the day I resignedwas one of the saddest days of my life,” saidWal, who just felt he was ready for a newchallenge and a new career. “But, on theother hand, taking the keys to the shop wasone of the happiest.”Right from the start, Wal and Sally weredetermined to make a go of their newventure and they loved what they did.“We were a good team then and we stillare now,” said Wal. “I had absolute faiththat we would make it work because we hadthe right attitude and we both wanted totake the business from where it was thento where it is now … although I must sayI never dreamt we could win a nationalaward.”The couple’s two daughters, Emma andKate, of course grew up around the shopand although both are now married withchildren of their own, they still live locallyand are heavily involved in the running ofthe store.“We all get on tremendously well andwork very well together,” said Wal. “This isvery much a family-run business and wealso have three or four core members ofstaff who have been with us so long thatthey are like extended family members aswell.One of these ‘extended family members’is Store Manager Kiah Nicholson, whostarted as a casual member of staff as aschoolgirl 15 years ago and then, aftergoing off to university, came back to takeon a more senior role. Her contribution isgreatly valued by the Bernal family.The secret to successClearly then, the Blairgowrie store is anincredibly happy place to work and a happyplace for customers to shop. Even after somany years, Wal treasures the time he canspend with his customers offering adviceand sharing a joke.“We are very much part of the communityhere,” he said. “Not only as a place wherepeople come to shop but we also try to putsomething back and give to local causesand charities.”Wal’s enthusiasm and love for what hedoes is infectious.“This may be our livelihood but in manyways it is also our hobby,“ he smiles. “Sallyand I love good food and wine and we lovedealing with our customers and having abit of fun with them ... and so that makescoming to work easy.”Nonetheless, Wal is gradually scalingTell us about your storeand what makes it special.back his involvement in the business thathe helped to build and hopes that one dayhis daughters will take over the running ofthe family store. But that doesn’t mean hehas stopped planning ways to improve it.“We are always thinking of the future,”he said. “We have run out of land so thereare no more extensions in the pipeline butwe never stop looking for ways to makeimprovements, to tweak things here andthere, and to keep finding ways to lift sales… that should never stop.”And that, perhaps, is the real secret tosuccess.Include some images and send tomagazine@c-store.com.auOctober 2009 | C&I | www.c-store.com.au 9