As we re-open Tennant Creek IGA, we reflect on how far we have come.
Tennant Creek Grocers Throughout the Years
For millennia, Australia's Aboriginal people relied on their intricate knowledge systems to sustain themselves through hunting, gathering, and the trade of bush foods (Douglas & Walsh, Ninti One 2011). The land itself served as the primary source of sustenance for the Warumungu people of Tennant Creek, acting as their natural supermarket, where droughts, not flooded roads, were the primary threat to their shelves being empty.
In 1860, European explorer John McDouall Stuart passed through the region, and a decade later, Tennant Creek saw the establishment of a telegraph station, situated 10 kilometers north of the present town. This station, named after John Tennant, who had funded Stuart's expedition, facilitated rapid communication between Adelaide and London via the transcontinental Overland Telegraph Line. However, this telegraph line also marked the onset of white settlement and dispersion for the Aboriginal people of the Barkly region.
By the 1930s, Tennant Creek had become a hotspot during Australia's last gold rush, attracting hundreds of prospectors from around the world seeking riches. As the town expanded, the need for supplies grew. Prior to the emergence of what we now consider a supermarket, various stores stocked groceries and essentials to serve the mining community and the surrounding cattle stations. Interestingly, it was around this time, in 1937, that the shopping trolley was first introduced.
Peter 'Dicko,' a local resident of Tennant Creek who owns Tennant Creek Outback Outfitters, recalls that when he first arrived in the town in the 1960s, a range of retail outlets specialized in everything from haberdashery to groceries. These included a small grocery store near the Goldfields Hotel, another small shop close to what is now the beloved Woks Up restaurant, which offered basic foodstuffs, and a newsagency with an attached delicatessen that, according to Dicko, served the town's best iced coffee.
In the late 1960s, Tennant Creek welcomed its first major grocery store, Peter's Place, named after its owner. During that era, barcodes had not yet been invented, and products carried hand-written price tags, with calculations done on analog cash registers. Cash was the primary mode of payment at most stores, and it would be another two decades before electronic scanners became commonplace.
In 2008, the store was acquired by Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) and Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation (JCAC). Outback Stores managed the store until 2015 when IBA-owned IRAM took over management. JCAC, initially established in 1974 as the Warumungu Papula organization with the goal of alleviating poverty and improving the well-being of Aboriginal people in Tennant Creek and surrounding communities, changed its name to Julalikari in the mid-1980s to reflect the evolving demographics of the region as more language groups settled there.
With IRAM taking over the management, the Foodbarn eventually transformed into an IGA through negotiation. Despite its remote location, 500 kilometers from the nearest city, Alice Springs, the supermarket became one of the top regional supermarkets in the country, offering around 9,000 product lines and an extensive catalog of weekly specials.
Tragically, on July 12, 2020, Tennant Creek IGA was ravaged by fire, leaving only the walls and key structural elements standing, with the interior reduced to ruins. Fortunately, no one was inside when the fire broke out. The future was uncertain for the employees and the local community, with their main source of food and supplies in ruins. This disaster left the IGA resembling a mere pergola, with only metal beams supporting the structure.
More concerning was the challenge of maintaining food security for Tennant Creek and the broader Barkly region. Local residents, cattle stations, and businesses faced a 1,000-kilometer round trip to the nearest supermarket in Alice Springs. IRAM, which also manages the JCAC-owned BP service station, swiftly shifted to emergency mode. Within a day of the fire, they were selling essential items like bread and milk from the BP Complex.
Over $300,000 was spent refurbishing the BP storage shed into a fully functional temporary supermarket. The task was arduous, especially for the customers and staff, particularly when COVID-19 travel restrictions added to the difficulties.
Despite facing lockdowns, stock shortages, floods, and various other challenges, the reconstructed store is finally ready to reopen. The new IGA stands as the most advanced and modern store within a 500-kilometer radius.
"The reconstruction project allowed us to modernize the store layout and facilities, so we're eager to reopen our doors," says IRAM CEO John Kop.
The new store boasts an impressive 15,000 product lines, thousands of weekly specials, including 'pricematch' and lockdown low prices, offering competitiveness with metropolitan stores. It features a fully air-conditioned interior, seven checkouts, public bathrooms, and over 100 doors of fridge and freezer space. An emergency generator activates within seven seconds of a power outage, ensuring the continued operation of the point of sale (POS) system, fridges, freezers, lights, and air conditioning, even during the summer.
"It's been a challenging 20 months," notes Mr. Kop.
