For six months they have been working on a plan for a community shareholder purchase of the shop and have now released a survey to seek feedback from locals on the proposal.
Group spokesperson Matt McEvoy said without the store there would not be much of a town.
“There’s a few things our town revolves around: the school, kindergarten, football/netball club and the pub — the shop is the next one that just needs some time, money, energy and love put back into it or we risk a slippery slope of decline as a town,” he said.
He said the current owners would not be closing the store but needed to sell due to the relentless nature of the full-time work over their six years of ownership.
It is not just about keeping the same old store either, they want it to have a “new look” and become a profitable business operated by local people.
While maintaining the current services provided by the store, including Australia Post mail delivery, the group also hopes to significantly increase operating hours, aiming for 7 am to 7 pm, seven days a week and undertake renovations to create a modern, café-style store with fresh coffee and bakery goods.
To accommodate this, they are aiming to raise $450 000, which would cover the cost of purchasing, refurbishing and getting the store up and running initially.
“Let’s say you’ve got 400 people willing to invest then you need a bit over $1000 each,” Matt said.
“It doesn’t have to be an even investment; based on the survey results to this point some people are interested in giving $500, some people are willing to give $5000 and everything in between.
“We’d also be looking for some larger investors as well, but because of the way we want to set it up and being community owned and run, the maximum holding will be somewhere around 10 per cent, otherwise it’s not technically a co-operative company anymore.”
The group will be looking at their options in terms of grants from local government but Matt expects there may be some difficulties due to it being a profitable business.
While it would be a costly exercise for the small town, Matt said there would be long-term benefits for Colbinabbin.
“It creates so much more potential for growth around the town, including creating the equivalent of two-and-a-half full-time jobs with a minimum of 100 working hours per week.
“The store’s profits also return to the whole community, particularly the people who invest initially, but also there’s the opportunity to re-invest in community ventures such as the kindergarten, primary school, historical society and any other groups that need funding.
“It also creates a meeting place for our town and can become a local hub, we can showcase local goods, expand on our local economy and it localises our economy, too, which is really important, meaning more of the money earned locally keeps circulating rather than spending it all in surrounding towns,” he said.
A town meeting will be held at the Colbinabbin Bowls Rooms on Wednesday, February 19 at 6 pm.
“Everyone is invited to participate regardless of whether you’re interested in investing, we just encourage as many people as possible to come along,” Matt said.
The group has also enlisted the help of GMG Financial Group from Swan Hill, which was a part of the successful community takeover of the Lockington Hotel, and a representative from GMG will be at the meeting to answer any questions.
“If we get enough interest and people willing to contribute from that meeting we’ll go forward with opening a prospectus and starting up a co-operative type company,” Matt said.
The group can be contacted by email at colbinabbincommunitystore@gmail.com
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