It’s with a degree of sadness, but also understanding, that after a marathon 27 years of commitment to doing good business in Maleny, that we say farewell to Rob and Sam Outridge from their Maleny Supa IGA.
From a progressive and complete rebuild of the Universal Providers building over that period (who remembers that old timber building of 30 years ago, with its various pitches of flooring that made wheeling trolleys down the aisle a full cardio work out at times), but even during all of renovations, they always kept the doors open. Talking about keeping the doors open, remember in 2013 when ex-cyclone Oswald shut down the power network for day after day and Outridge’s IGA provided access to their generator back-up power to charge phones and provided credit for purchases as the Eftpos system was down! The compassion and grace of these guys and their commitment to doing good business is outstanding and an inspiration to all.
But wait there’s more, they also founded the Community Benefit Fund, that’s pumped back close to $2 million dollars (so far) into our community over the years, through over 150 community groups and organisations. In finishing, who would have thought an IGA could be a destination! When we have friends visiting from interstate or overseas, they have often already heard about the Maleny IGA or quickly fall in love with it, the epic selection of groceries and the smiling helpful staff of all ages. Congratulations Rob and Sam for an amazing job well done and your epic contribution to Maleny, thank you.