The doors to Estella's first ever supermarket were thrown open earlier than planned as an eager crowd keen to check it out formed outside the building.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The historic opening saw the Foodworks welcome its first cohort of customers on Tuesday morning when the doors finally opened after years of anticipation.
Among those to get a first glimpse of the supermarket in all its glory were residents Ashleigh Andrews and Tanya Child.
The duo work in Estella and said it is great to finally have access to a supermarket at the end of the city without having to travel too far away.
"It's lovely," Ms Child said.
"We work at CSU and we came out to get some stuff for the office and it's so nice to not have had to travel."
Ms Andrews said her first impression of the supermarket was how nice and big it is.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"It's huge," she said.
Other customers came in from out of town for the occasion, including siblings Mac Roberts, three, Hallie Roberts, six, and Charlie Roberts, eight, who came in to visit their grandparents so they could take them to see the store.
The supermarket, owned by The Reddrop Group who also owns the Foodworks at Turvey Tops, had a busy morning, with customers arriving early ahead of the opening time.
Reddrop Group chief operating officer Lincoln Wymer said they had a busier morning than they had been expecting.
"We were going to do a 9am soft opening, but we had so many people lining up outside early that we decided to start letting people in," Mr Wymer said.
"From 9am onwards it has been hectic."
Reddrop CEO Michael Reddrop said staff had been working hard in the lead-up and had worked late into Monday night to prepare for the big day.
"We're just enjoying seeing the customers coming through," he said.
"It's been six years since we first started conversations about opening this Foodworks here, so it's been a long time coming and there's been a lot of anticipation."
The supermarket will look to employ 70 staff members in total, with an already promising team on deck.
Its fruit and vegetables are sourced from markets in Melbourne and the meat comes from local butchers Lake Village Butchery.
It also has a sushi bar run by experienced staff members from Sydney and its refrigeration is run off CO2.
- Download our app from the Apple Store or Google Play
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters