AUSTRALIA | Spanning 4,000 sqm, Drakes Mount Gambier, South Australia, is part of a joint venture with Leyton Property, transforming a long-vacant site into Drakes’ state-of-the-art flagship and bringing renewed energy to the community.
From start to finish, the fit-out took about nine months to complete. The Mount Gambier store is Drakes’ largest to date, offering all the things Mount Gambier has been missing out on.
John-Paul Drake, Director, Drakes, said the people of Mount Gambier had been asking for a Drakes presence in their town for years, so the business has high expectations to meet.
His vision for Mount Gambier is to make it a flagship store with the best and newest Drakes offerings, an engaged community, and a fantastic team running the store. He highlighted that the Mount Gambier store is a full-circle moment for him, as it was an old Coles store that his father, Roger, used to manage.
The Coles executive team at the time told him he wouldn’t be good enough to make it in the industry, so he left and opened his very first store in Mitcham over 51 years ago.
Drake said that coming back into Mount Gambier, where the community has warmly welcomed the store and team with open arms, has really confirmed that his father had done all the right things over that time.
“It’s only early days yet, but I feel that this would be a great testing ground for new Drakes’ concepts going forward,” said Drake, who has observed a significant increase in NPD from suppliers, true innovation, and growth, primarily through the Fresh departments and on-trend offerings.
“Our fresh departments are always a standout and are undoubtedly where we have received the most feedback from our Mount Gambier customers.”
Drake mentioned that the large local European community has embraced the Service Delicatessen as they can finally find the sliced meats and cheeses they have been looking for in the area.
The new store has rolled out one of its biggest service delicatessens to date, featuring full-service offerings at Nonna’s Pasta and The Little Kitchen, where customers can grab delicious, freshly-prepared hot meals on the go.
Local suppliers like Molony’s Soft Drinks and Lake Leake eggs have been hugely popular, and they were also the most requested products from customers before the store was even opened.
At the same time, the sushi offer has been extremely popular, as has the F’Real thickshake machine, which has had a line-up after school. The store team is looking to see whether they can fit in a second one to keep up with demand.
In terms of plant-based, Drake mentioned that the market has reached maturity, while stores still offer a good selection across major categories.
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