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Friday, July 26, 2024
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Your regular Chronicle inside > FAMILY BUSINESS: Chelsea Ibrom, Andrea Ibrom, Brent Ibrom, Melinda Ibrom and Harlow Ibrom are proud to have both their businesses under one roof.
PHOTO: Kurt Hickling
Keeping it in the family BORN and bred in Wangaratta, Brent Ibrom has always been passionate about butchery and helping others in the community. After seeing a gap in the market for quality equipment that could be found locally while working as a butcher, he decided to take matters into his own hands which led to him open My Slice of Life 13 years ago. “I traipsed around local markets and anything I couldn’t sell I thought ‘well I need to move that on’,” he said. “So, I started selling that online and kept getting asked for different things and incorporating different things into the range.” Earlier this year, My Slice of Life moved locations to be under the same roof as the
BY CHLOE JAENICKE cjaenicke@ nemedia.com.au
North East Homemakers Centre in Vincent Road. North East Homemakers Centre opened up three years ago and is operated by Brent’s sister, Chelsea Ibrom. They saw the opportunity to merge the companies earlier this year after building up the Homemakers Centre’s range. “It was an opportunity to market everything under the one roof and brings people into that side of the business who may not come in here,” Brent said. “Homemakers was an opportunity
to come up sort of three years ago... we already had all the barbecues and fireplaces next door, so we thought it’s a match made in heaven. “It was a conscious decision to get everything under the one roof and streamline things.” After operating next door to each other since 2021, Brent said the merge has helped both businesses reach new audiences. “It’s just efficient having everything under one roof, it helps on a number of fronts,” he said. “In the past we’d encourage people to come across and you wouldn’t always get people even though it was just next door. “Now they’re forced to come see everything under one roof and
appreciate all the quality of the product.” While there are ups and downs, Brent said overall working with family has been an added bonus to the companies merging together. “We have days obviously where we can rub against each other a little bit but for the most part it’s fantastic and we enjoy each other’s company so it’s pretty easy,” he said. “It’s nice to know there’s someone there to support you who’s on the same wavelength and they understand what I want before I do, especially after working together for so long.” Since the merging, Brent said he has enjoyed shifting roles to oversee the business. continued page 3