After the early success of Woolgoolga’s Finest General Store, a new and expanded shop will greet locals later this month.
Co-owners Karen and Ian Coatsworth are taking their Market Street grocery store to a larger space in the Woolgoolga Central retail centre on Beach Street, improving their ability to meet demand and provide an alternative to the major supermarkets. “The renovations are just being completed and I’m hoping to move the General Store there in the next two weeks,” Karen told the North Coast Times. “We’re offering fresh fruit and veg, but it’s also about being able to grab a stock, salt and pepper, nibbles and dips and flour. “We’ll also be offering self-serve meat outside of hours. And we’re introducing a range of frozen vegetables and fruit. It’s all the same things that we do at the butcher and General Store, just on a bigger scale.”
Karen and Ian bring many years of experience to the new endeavour after running both a butcher and eco threads store in town, as well the now eight-month-old grocery store. In the new version of the Finest General Store the family butcher and grocery will come under one roof, while a deli, speciality chicken and fresh fruit section will also be added.
“IGA closed down here in Woolgoolga several years ago and left a gap in the community for holidaymakers and locals alike,” said Karen. “They all felt that there was something missing. “So essentially the store will become like an old fashioned Woolworths where you have a butcher on site, get good quality cuts to specification and you get all your grocery lines as well.”
After the early success of Woolgoolga’s Finest General Store, a new and expanded shop will greet locals later this month.
Co-owners Karen and Ian Coatsworth are taking their Market Street grocery store to a larger space in the Woolgoolga Central retail centre on Beach Street, improving their ability to meet demand and provide an alternative to the major supermarkets.
“The renovations are just being completed and I’m hoping to move the General Store there in the next two weeks,” Karen told the North Coast Times. “We’re offering fresh fruit and veg, but it’s also about being able to grab a stock, salt and pepper, nibbles and dips and flour.
“We’ll also be offering self-serve meat outside of hours. And we’re introducing a range of frozen vegetables and fruit. It’s all the same things that we do at the butcher and General Store, just on a bigger scale.”
Karen and Ian bring many years of experience to the new endeavour after running both a butcher and eco threads store in town, as well the now eight-month old grocery store.
In the new version of the Finest General Store the family butcher and grocery will come under one roof, while a deli, speciality chicken and fresh fruit section will also be added.
“IGA closed down here in Woolgoolga several years ago and left a gap in the community for holidaymakers and locals alike,” said Karen. “They all felt that there was something missing.
“So essentially the store will become like an old fashioned Woolworths where you have a butcher on site, get good quality cuts to specification and you all your grocery lines as well.”
Karen grew up behind the counter of the family butcher shop and says she learned the name of everybody that came in. It’s this level of personalised service the family will continue to bring to the new store.
“You knew these people and that builds business,” she said. “That’s good old fashioned customer service.”
The Coatsworth family has had plenty of good feedback about the General Store to this point and locals are watching keenly as the new build takes place.
One such local is René, a chef from Sydney originally, who is a regular shopper at the General Store as well as the butcher.
“The General Store is growing and I’m very excited for them,” she said. “I do think it’s filling a need.
“It’s a slow process [to expand] because they’re building the new shop but I think they’ll get there and when they do it’ll be pretty fantastic.”
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