For local grocers, it’s all about the community
“My first reaction? I was scared I’m going to lose 25 years worth of work we’ve put into the neighbourhood.”
Ask Sam Abouchrouche, proprietor of the Annandale IGA on Booth Street, what he thinks about the proposal to introduce a Woolworths to Annandale, and his response is naturally unequivocal. But perhaps surprisingly, his concern is less for himself personally, than the community as a whole.
“It’s a nice, quiet, peaceful village,” he says. “The future is uncertain when such a corporation comes to town.”
Uncertain prospects are something Sam and wife Katia know a little about. Arriving in Australia as migrants from Lebanon in 1977, they purchased their current business in 1985. Over the years, they have invested significant sums in two major extensions of the business, garnering a loyal base of local customers along the way. Interviewing Sam in his shop, our conversation is interrupted numerous times by regular customers exchanging pleasantries. As someone who routinely uses the big retailers for everything from celery to cereal, the experience is eye-opening.
Serving around a thousand customers a day, Sam and wife Katia work hours to make even the most hardcore work-obsessive wince. “We live on the premises, work seven days a week – we start work at four in the morning and finish at 10.30,” Sam says. “We do nothing else.” He’s not joking – especially when you consider that, three days out of every seven, the start time is an even more brutal 3.15am, necessary to procure the freshest produce at the Flemington market.
Like any good independent retailer, Sam knows his customers personally. “I just want to be delivering what I can for my customers – the more you can deliver the more they appreciate,” he says.
Surely, though, there comes a point when one must ask whether the ridiculous hours and stress are worth it. “It’s not easy,” Katia concedes, “but I love what I’m doing. I love my customers – you see families grow, and share their problems. It’s a real community feel. You get used to working – it’s not easy for me to let it go.”
