Katandra West General Store owners Luke Felmingham and Amy Lougoon.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
The new owners of the Katandra West General Store, Amy Lougoon and Luke Felmingham, have hit the ground running since taking over the long-standing local business.
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They officially became the owners in late September and have big plans for the shop, hoping to turn it into a community hub for retail and hospitality.
“It all fell into place and came together,” Mr Felmingham said.
“It’s been a fairly hard slog to put it all together and we’ve still got a long journey to go to finish bringing it all in together — but we’ve been very well supported by the community at the moment. Overwhelmed, really.”
Before stepping into the store, Ms Lougoon was a stay-at-home mum, while Mr Felmingham worked on the farm and on his contracting business.
He runs a beef and cropping farm with paddocks across the Goulburn Valley as well as a contracting business which he will continue to run alongside the general store.
Their decision to buy the general store came after months of planning.
“Our journey started about six to eight months ago when our youngest was settling into school well and Amy was ready to enter back into the workforce,” Mr Felmingham said.
“The general store had been for sale for quite a while, and we put a proposition towards another stock feed and rural company with a plan that if we all put it together, it might make everything a pretty good business and things, a hub.”
Inside the Katandra West General Store.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
The couple’s long-term vision is to make the store a central hub for locals and visitors alike.
“We’re combining a post office service with a general store and takeaway business, as well as a rural side of things that can offer extended trading hours to the local community and farmers,” Mr Felmingham said.
Supporting local producers is at the heart of their approach.
“We want to sell hay that we produce off our farm, as well as other people’s local produce,” Mr Felmingham said.
“We’ve got local olive oil, local olives, local honey, and we’re using local bread as well — bringing that back to the community and hopefully offering a larger range of service.
“We’ve gone from basically a husband-and-wife team to now having 15 people on the books.
“We’ve given some local juniors a place to work — they can get off the bus here after school and come to work at 4pm.”
Despite their early success, managing multiple commitments has been challenging but the couple said the support from Katandra locals made it all worthwhile.
The general store is also expanding its rural supplies arm, offering click-and-collect services and local deliveries.
“We’re extending our rural range and adding a shopfront that’s given us greater buying power and made us more competitive,” Mr Felmingham said.
Renovations are under way for the new cafe.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
For Mr Felmingham and Ms Lougoon, the goal is simple: to create a place that brings people together.
“We’re community-focused, employing locals, getting in more local produce and trying to attract people from further afield,” Mr Felmingham said.
“We just want to make this work for our community. So stop in Katandra — come and say hello, come and see us.”
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