Although they may have thought they might ‘slip quietly out the back door’, outgoing Maleny IGA owners, Rob and Samantha Outridge acknowledge that was unlikely to happen following news of their decision to sell. Since the public announcement, there has been an outpouring of community appreciation for their 27-year commitment at the helm of the thriving Maleny business. Settlement is set to occur on Monday August 1, with Seasons IGA network taking over ownership of the popular hinterland grocery store.
Speaking to GC&M News, Rob said that after “pouring their heart and soul and everything they owned” into the business, after 27 years he and his wife Sam felt it was time for new owners, who would have the energy to keep driving the business forward. He said the immediate plan was to take six months off to recalibrate and to put a bit of space between thirty years of retail, and then make decisions from there.
“I’m too young to retire so I’ll end up doing something. It’ll have to be something that’ll push my buttons and get me up in the morning because that’s what this business has done for the last 27 years,” he said.
Regarding the sale of their business and the ending of an era, Rob said he and Sam were feeling emotions of reflection and gratitude for all of the interactions, opportunities and community involvement over the years rather than sadness. He said like any good small business, the IGA was at its core a reflection of the local community, and it filled him with joy to see local suppliers not only provide local products and services to the store but also have the confidence to shop there.
He said the business had employed over 1,000 people over the years – sometimes entire families – and they’d seen kids who got their first job at the IGA grow up and make a go of their lives.
“It’s such a good feeling to see these kids go on to be successful and feel we played a part in that. We now employ the kids of children we’ve employed – so it’s been a generational thing and as owners we find that really gratifying,” said Rob.
Rob commented that over the years he had seen how Maleny was an unbelievably engaged community, with the IGA supporting 150 community groups.
“This community is so engaged that it rewards you when you are perceived to be doing something right which most times we do, but it can also kick you when the perception is that you are not doing something they like. Every time we have invested money into this business through renovation or expansion the community has rewarded us.”
Rob recalled that while there were many good times over the 27 years, Covid proved to be an extremely difficult period with some of the publics’ response to the pandemic disappointing.
“There was so much fear, and when people are fearful they don’t think logically and they disengage their manners. The vast majority of people were fine but there were some people that didn’t behave well and that was an eye-opener for me,” said Rob.
Rob said he was just happy over the years that he and Sam had been able to make a contribution, and he felt a great sense of fulfillment that they had been able to add value while they had been a part of the Maleny community.
“We’ve employed over 1,000 people, 10-15 per cent of our sales are local products, and for a lot of those businesses we are like an incubator for them providing them with sales. These people shop back in the store so there is a multiplier effect if we can keep people shopping in town – the whole community benefits the longer you can keep the dollars circulating within the local community.”
Rob said while the family had no plans to move from the Sunshine Coast, they had booked a five-week holiday in Croatia which they were looking forward to. He hoped he would have more time to play a few rounds of golf and planned to do a bit of local travel with Sam by hopping in the car and seeing the country – a luxury of free time they previously hadn’t had a chance to experience.
Seasons IGA Group own ten IGA’s including ones at Caloundra, Noosa and Yandina. Rob said he was very comfortable with them and felt the new owners would be a good fit for the business.
“We wanted to sell our business to them as we know they treat their people well and we know they treat their communities well,” he said.
“They are coming into Maleny with open eyes, and they’ve said it’ll be business as usual and we’ll look after the community, they just run a good show.”
Main image: Rob and Sam Outridge with John Drayton at the Maleny store opening, October 1996
