Owner Brad Major said the family had considered a number of options during years of planning, including relocating the supermarket, which could have made the redevelopment much easier. However, keeping the business in the town centre remained a priority.
“To keep the supermarket in the main street has always been part of what we wanted to continue to do,” Mr Major said.
The decision meant navigating years of planning, heritage requirements, changing neighbouring properties, the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 floods and the challenge of rebuilding while continuing to trade.
Mr Major said the family understood moving the supermarket out of the town centre could have had consequences for the wider community.
“If we took the supermarket out of the main street, it was going to impact the main street of Rochester,” he said.
This redevelopment is simply the latest chapter in a family story that has been woven into Rochester’s fabric since the early 1900s.
The Major family initially established itself through a butcher shop in Mackie St before becoming involved in a number of businesses and eventually returning to grocery retail in Rochester.
The family operated a small corner store near Rochester primary and secondary schools before moving into the shop beneath the former Victorian Hotel at the corner of Moore and Gillies Sts.
The supermarket later moved to Gillies St, eventually becoming the Major’s IGA that exists today.
Brad and Rachel Major took over the business around 2007, inheriting a store that was already under considerable pressure from ageing infrastructure.
Increasing refrigeration demands placed pressure on the store’s power supply, at one point requiring a large generator while working on an upgrade.
The family began seriously considering the supermarket’s future around 2015.
One option would have allowed the family to build a new supermarket away from the existing site much sooner, with Mr Major estimating it could have been completed by about 2018.
“It would have saved us a hell of a lot of time,” he said.
Instead, the family chose to remain in the main street.
That decision brought its own complications, including planning and heritage requirements and the need to work around existing buildings and neighbouring properties.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought further delays, disrupting planning meetings and making it difficult to co-ordinate with architects and engineers.
Then came the 2022 floods, creating another period of uncertainty for the town and the redevelopment.
“It certainly wasn’t a straight line to where we got to at the moment,” Mr Major said.
Once construction began, another challenge was keeping the supermarket operating throughout the works.
The redevelopment unfolded across eight stages — shelves were shifted, concrete was cut and temporary refrigeration was brought in to keep essentials such as meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables on the shelves throughout.
“We had to cut concrete, we had to move shelves, and to continue to trade while we were doing it,” Mr Major said.
“It was a lot of work keeping the doors open while we were rebuilding.”
The completed supermarket now features a larger retail area, reworked entrances and checkouts, upgraded refrigeration, new plant and infrastructure, improved drainage and waste infrastructure, and changes to the liquor and back-of-house areas.
The redevelopment has also allowed the business to remain within Rochester’s existing town centre and work within the constraints of the site.
For Mr Major, however, the significance of the project extends beyond the supermarket itself.
The family’s decision to remain in the town centre was about maintaining a business that has been part of Rochester for generations while contributing to the ongoing life of the town.
“It’s not only making things easier for us, but it was for Rochester to survive and keep going,” he said.
He also acknowledged the support of the Rochester community and others who helped the family through the long process.
“There’s a lot of people that helped,” Mr Major said.
“The council, and the community, a lot of people were very supportive.”
After years of planning, setbacks and hard-won progress, the Major family has achieved exactly what it set out to do — keep its supermarket on Rochester’s main street and lay a solid foundation for the generations still to come.
