The demise of Farmer Joe's
Back in October 2016 I wrote a post entitled Supermarket Wars in Suburbia to mark the opening of a new mini supermarket called Farmer Joe's Market next door but one to Aldi and just across the road from Woolworths, with Coles just a tiny bit further away.
I was amazed that anyone would do this without differentiating their product range hugely from what was already on offer almost next door or elsewhere in Eltham, which also has a greengrocer, a delicatessen, an organic food store, a health food shop and a farmer's market on Sundays. I thought it foolhardy - and alas I have been proved right. Still it lasted just over two years I guess.
The store has suddenly closed. It is completely empty with a notice stating the owner's intent to voluntarily deregister the name. Farmer Joe's actually has two more stores - in Watsonia and Boronia, and I don't think this applies to them, but then again maybe it does.
Frankly I have no idea how it managed to hang in there so long. David is a bit bereft, because they used to sell cheap but real grana padano in big lumps. But as I pointed out they really didn't have much else to back this up. You can't exist by just selling one thing. The shop was vaguely Italian but not hugely so. Maybe it could have survived if it was - if it went slightly upmarket and called itself a salumeria - like the one in Templestowe. But it's logo, as you can see emphasises the farmer thing and 'fresh'. Just across the road from Woolworths - 'the fresh food people' and a genuine farmer's market. Yes they had fresh fruit and vegetables, but apart from the occasional bargain - not sufficient though to compete with the big three - the prices were very high - and the quality not that marvellous - and never marketed as organic as far as I saw.
A few people did go in there, but I have no idea whether they were regular customers or whether they just went for one item like David.
Truth to tell there are a few food shops in Eltham whose continued existence I don't quite understand. These are:
The aforesaid delicatessen - it's almost next to Coles, and I suppose it does have a few things that none of the supermarkets have, but the main counter which has cheese and salami and stuff, doesn't seem to offer anything amazingly different from the said supermarkets. This one has been around for many, many years though, so I suppose it has loyal customers.
the aforesaid greengrocer - this too is right next door to Coles. Yes it's fresh and the vegetables look nice - but more expensive than Coles. This too has been around a long time. Indeed it recently moved up the mall to larger premises, so it must be doing OK. It always has customers.
The butcher opposite to Coles - right outside the door. Incredibly more expensive. Surely it's not that much better in quality, but there always seems to be a customer or two there. Mind you this is a relatively new business. There was a butcher there before but they closed up and this new business took over.
The poultry shop - next door to Coles. Now this I could understand if it sold things like duck and quail, even pigeon and rabbit - if you can get that here. Duck and quail eggs too. And once upon a time it did indeed seem to specialise in poultry things - it's chicken was organic and free range and all that and it had various pre-prepared things like chicken kiev and various marinades, but these days it seems to have switched to more beef than poultry. A foolish move it seems to me. But again it always seems to have customers.
The 'posh' bakery at the entrance to the Coles arcade. Very expensive - a croissant will set you back more than $5.00 and they often look mildly burnt to me. It doesn't do gluten free either - you would somehow expect it to. Spelt though. But this is always popular - it's a coffee shop too. Almost next door to one of Eltham's long-established cafés. Weird.
I suppose there is a certain portion of the shopping public who really hate supermarkets and just won't patronise them. Which is rather foolish. Yes they are big and I'm sure they squeeze a lot of people, but they are also amongst the largest employers in the country, provide a market for the farmers of the country and feed the populace at generally low prices - if you shop wisely in them of course.
It must be tough setting up a small food business these days. You would think that Eltham has no more room for anything else. Maybe a store with an emphasis on Yarra Valley and local produce. There's a lot of it around. But then Woolworths does that a bit.
So I await with interest to see what replaces Farmer Joe's. It was Dick Smith before food. Also a bit of a failure. I wonder what next. I can't think of anything that we are missing, unless you go for a specialist cuisine - Chinese, Middle-Eastern ...
