As we celebrate the enormous contribution that the Outridge family have made to Maleny, here is an extract from the Friends of Pattemore House research about the first businesses in Maleny – and some of the evolution of Maleny’s iconic IGA Store.
It may surprise some to know that the township of Maleny was not gazetted by the Government, rather, Maleny town was developed on freehold land subdivided by the owners. This process began in 1890 when John Graves sold six acres of Portion 1282, an original selection, to Mr J. and Mr T. Lahey, who built Maleny’s first Sawmill (A). Further subdivision of Portion 1282 began in earnest in the early 1900s, with the sales of the ‘Dixon Farms Estate’ billed in 1912 as the “Opportunity of the Century”. Businesses clustered around the Obi Obi Creek as the township started to grow.
On the southern approach to the creek, Dunlop’s Butchery had been opened in 1898 (G) on the site of today’s Maleny Primary School, and the Maleny Hotel was built in 1907 (H). John Tytherleigh’s Store (E) opened in 1909, on the North bank of the Obi Obi and Tesch’s Blacksmiths opened in 1909 (F) also close to the creek. After the construction of the Butter Factory (B) in 1903, the Butter Company Store (C) followed in 1906, being the first store in Maleny proper, established by the Maleny Co Operative Dairy Association filling an urgent need in the district. It later moved to a large building in 1907 (D) where the ES&A Bank was also housed. A thriving town called Maleny was now firmly on the map!
John Tytherleigh built his first provisions store in Maple Street near the corner of Maple and Teak Streets. Mr Ben Rickaby established a saddlery business in Tytherleigh’s original store, that was followed by a real estate business. On closure of the real estate, Mr Tytherleigh moved the old building further up Maple Street, where it was joined into a new building with his second store (that became today’s Maleny IGA). His original 1906 building became the Maleny Post Office (Maleny Newsagency today).
Tytherleigh’s original building was extensively renovated in 1994 by John and Alison Frew, under the banner of Universal Providers. It housed the Maleny Supa Valu Foodmarket and Price Rite Hardware. Rob and Samantha Outridge purchased the business from the Frews in October 1995 and during 1996 undertook yet another massive renovation – on what was once Tytherleigh’s store.
