New Echuca Woolies delivers more than 120 jobs

Store manager Megg Savage said she was employed by Woolworths at the age of 15 and was proud to now be able to offer that opportunity to others.

Staff were primarily hired through social media and local community pages.

“It was really important for us to be able to provide locals who were struggling to find jobs with work,” Ms Savage said.

“The amount of jobs we have provided is going to be a huge asset and enhancement to Echuca-Moama.”

The new Echuca West team members were able to use surrounding stores as their training grounds after being sent out to cover staff impacted by the recent floods.

“For the last eight weeks or so, our team members have been training and filling in at our Echuca, Moama, Swan Hill, Bendigo, Kyabram and Shepparton stores,” Ms Savage said.

“They’ve really been spread out depending on which store they could gain access to.”

While the store has stopped hiring over the Christmas period, the search for employees is not necessarily over yet.

“We would love to continue to grow the team as the area grows,” Ms Savage said.

“I’d hire everyone if I could but it all really depends on how our sales go as to how many staff we can hire.”

Ms Savage said she had been in conversation with the Njernda Aboriginal Corporation and the Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation about offering recruitment opportunities to people within the Indigenous community.

“We’re looking at how we can best support people within those communities, whether it be helping them track down birth certificates or payroll documents,” she said.

“Once a quarter, I’m going to head down to Njernda where they feel safe to learn and I will explain the roles and help them organise their employment documents.

“It’s about engaging with the whole community.“

With Echuca’s population expected to more than double following the construction of new residential developments in the town’s west, the supermarket will be arriving in timely fashion.

Ms Savage said the expansion into the west along with the floods had highlighted the need for a third supermarket in Echuca.

“The community in Echuca West were pretty much cut off from all food supply when Ogilvie Ave shut and the new bridge closed,” she said.

“It was an awful situation but it really demonstrated the need for a supermarket on this side of town.

“Not only that but Echuca West is only going to expand. It’s a growth corridor.”

The new store will start trading from 9am on Saturday, December 3.

To celebrate the opening, there will be an official Welcome to Country ceremony with Uncle Rick Ronnan at 8am, followed by a ribbon cutting at 9am.

Woolworths has donated 1000 sausages and 1000 pieces of bread plus sauce and onions to local CFA members who will be cooking up a barbecue in the car park.

The CFA will get to keep any money made from the barbie.

Ms Savage said she was looking forward to seeing customers set foot in the store.

“A lot of hard work has gone into this store,” she said.

“Through the floods, there were trades at the shop everyday trying their hardest to get the shop to launch on time and they managed to accomplish that.

“To see it grow from being just a shell with no walls up to what it is now is just incredible. I’m really proud and I feel really privileged to have watched it all evolve.”

Ms Savage has urged customers to provide feedback on the new store because every single piece of feedback is read and shared with the team.

“Positive or constructive feedback is more than welcome because we want to know what you think could be better or what you thought was really great,” she said.

“If you scan your everyday rewards card during the transaction stage then feedback surveys will automatically be sent to you. You can rate each different department that you shopped in or you can rate our customer engagement.

“If you get served by someone really awesome then make sure you give them a shout-out because it’s really special to have your name attached to positive feedback.”