IGA 40th birthday

Forty years of dedicated service

By Liz Clark

Peter and Janice Calvert and their family celebrated a ruby anniversary in March – not 40 years of marriage, but 40 years of ownership of the Anglesea supermarket and 40 years of hard work and dedicated service to our community. Along with their children Stuart, Ryan and David they have watched with pride, sometimes with anxiety, how their business has grown – from a tiny shop with a bottle department tucked into one corner and a deli, fruit and vegetable section tucked into another – to a modern, well-planned supermarket offering an enormous range of products to meet the needs of locals and visitors. Since 1982 the shop has grown and expanded with two extra shops being added to the original premises. In 1996 a new shopping centre was built in the centre of town and the supermarket moved into much larger premises. Increasing growth in population numbers and tourism meant the shop was still not adequate to meet demand, so in 1997 a smaller adjoining shop became the bottle shop and in 2000 another adjoining shop was used to enlarge the supermarket space. In 2005 more renovations were completed and 2010 major renovations and extensions were undertaken to provide a very large storage area as well. This is the shop you see today.

In the early days, trading was 9–5 Monday to Friday, 9–12 noon Saturday with no Sunday trading. How things change! There are definitely no Sundays off for the family anymore. Hours are extended as soon as summer arrives, then cut back into the winter months as required. The Calvert boys began helping out The Calvert name is in the store as soon as they were old enough, helping to weigh fruit andsynonymous with vegetables, assisting customers, and Anglesea, from doing other odd jobs. They continued employing locals, to do part-time work there for many stocking local lines, to years until starting their own volunteering and professions, and still are on call if sponsorship. required. Ryan was the first son to come back into the business permanently in 2004, with David following in 2007. Today father Peter and son Ryan oversee all business activities, together with the backup of David who works in all departments. Grandson Theodore now also works part time in the supermarket. Young people in the town (and children/grandchildren of locals) owe much to Peter’s willingness to give them a go when they were old enough to work in the store. Peter is willing to believe in the best in people, and likes to see youngsters taking their first steps on the employment ladder. In addition, he has been extremely generous and thoughtful in offering work to people in town who have been unable to find employment nearby. There are always a few spare hours for those who are willing to work well and hard. The Calverts are well known for an amazing generosity of spirit which has them deeply involved in sporting activities in the area, supporting all the local clubs – practically, financially and as members, committee members and/or spectators. They are always willing to make contributions to community groups in need, showing an amazing willingness to offer sponsorships and donations when called on, all in addition to the Community Chest program run by IGA and community benefit programs that also run through the store. The Calvert name is synonymous with Long-time employees at IGA Neville Hotchin and Kim Taylor with Peter Calvert. Anglesea, from employing locals, Photo: Deb Elliot stocking local lines, to volunteering and

sponsorship. In the eyes of the Anglesea and district community, Peter is a local hero with a family of champions. The last couple of years have been incredibly difficult for everyone. Our community would like to acknowledge the ongoing hard work of the Calvert family in making sure we had the things we needed despite the many difficulties involved in supply, management, personnel issues, new rules and regulations. This community owes a huge vote of thanks to the Calvert family for keeping us going when times have been tough, for supporting young people and many others who have been struggling to find employment. Their contribution to sporting clubs and community groups both in money and dedicated service is amazing. The provision of a state-ofthe-art supermarket that provides the best of produce and a reliable service is so greatly appreciated.

From humble beginnings has grown a business that serves its community so well.