0
About US
& OUR BUSINESS
We always loved the hills of the Dandenongs and found ourselves living in Upper Beaconsfield in 2015 (moving up from Berwick with our 3 boys - Jed, Alex & Harry). Before purchasing the business we were actively involved in our community, running the Upper Beaconsfield Auskick Clinic, the local Scout Group and the local Primary School Garden Club where Steph was also employed as the Performing Arts teacher.
A bucketlist trip around Australia in a Caravan (yep - we we're Youtubers - check out the Todoing Family online!), we reviewed our family priorities. We decided after travelling Australia that we really loved where we lived, and we wanted to do more in our local community. This led to the purchase of the Upper Beaconsfield General Store, which had been on the market for sale as a Hardware Store under the Thrifty Link banner. We immediately set about turning it back into a more traditional General Store with a Cafe, knowing the community needed a central hub that they could meet, get what they need and reconnect with each other like many other General Stores and businesses we saw on our travels. It was a big hairy goal but a fun challenge. We hit the ground running and of course then had to start hiring people as we rapidly scaled up what was previously a 2 x Full Time Owner Operator business.
In the end, it was actually a great opportunity for us. The single biggest challenge we would've always had was how do we get people to drink coffee next to the cow manure, nails, newspapers and bird seed? Well, a 5km travel restriction fixed all those hesitations and we grew pretty rapidly. We even introduced a drive thru for coffee and that took off too. Sometimes we even had to operate our cafe, outside. Whatever we needed to do to keep operating, growing and trying to make the business work for us and the community.
With a great team, with most of them hanging around, it was time to expand. And that's where Over the Road came in. Initially, the building (literally) Over the Road from the General Store became available, and for the first three years of it's life, Over the Road operated from there in Upper Beaconsfield. It meant lots of orange coloured staff going backwards and forwards between both locations! Then as the economy got harder we moved Over the Road up to it's current location in Emerald, purchasing an existing Cafe that fit the profile of our businesses. It meant we could share staff between locations, allowing us to build up to the around 40 staff we employ today. It certainly hasnt been easy but we've all been in it together - our family, our staff, our suppliers and our communities.
Every day we come to work excited about improving our businesses. We hope to one day have a network of General Stores, Cafes & Restaurants that service local communities, giving back through local employment, using or selling local produce and products and supporting local community groups and sporting teams. Help us do it by continuing to support local. We'll always remember the history of our business and will do all we can to honour it's legacy into a new generation of General Stores.
The Upper Beaconsfield General Store has a long history of serving the local community, dating back to 1885. From hardware and garden supplies to pet and stock feed, there has always been ‘something for everyone’.
It’s always been a family run business, and today it is no different. JD, Steph and their 3 boys are the current custodians, but many have gone before them. The business has always been local, and today we focus on being local, servicing and supporting the local community and beyond.
Our Mission Statement
We want to provide the locals and visitors to our communities somewhere to meet, feel good and get the things they need, locally. We will be something our staff & our community can be proud of, engaged with local community groups and always finding ways to make our community a better place.
Timeline of the Upper Beaconsfield General Store
The below is an abridged version of our General Stores history, provided by the Upper Beaconsfield History page. There is a lot more detail on that website if wanting to learn more about the people and the times.
1885 Annie Seeley builds and opens the original General Store in Upper Beaconsfield, with a post office and telegraph office attached.
1887 Ann Fraser purchases the General Store by Auction. At the time it was noted as being a post-office store, containing 8 rooms plus the store, as well as a kitchen and stables. It carried a well-assorted stock of groceries, drapery, ironmongery, boots and shoes, crockery, and fancy goods.
1894 Shortly before Ann Fraser's death, Mary Johnson is transfered ownership of the General Store, who was her daughter and had been operating the business with her husband. It was then operated under lease by a number of different shopkeepers.
1902 The General Store is purchased by John Marsh, a local Chemist.
1905 The General Store is sold to Sylvanus Best after being run by John Marsh for around 18 months.
1909 The General Store is sold to Susan and Abraham Halinbourg.
1911 The General Store is purchased by James Hopkins. In 1914 he decided to separate the General Store and the Post Office to be sepearate businesess. His daughter went on to be the Post Mistress of the newly build Post Office and the General Store was then leased to Thomas Lee.
1915 Adelaide Ward purchases the General Store and then leases the building to a number of different shopkeepers.
1920 Surrounded by bushfires, the locals tried to fight to save the General Store but it burnt down for the first time. Thomas Peter Krüss was the shopkeeper at the time and he decided to rebuild at a new location in Upper Beaconsfield, on the current site of the Community Centre. He had money troubles and was then forced to sell to Frances Pringle who took over in that same year. Her daughter was involved in running the store with her husband James Nathan.
1928 The invention of the car meant their current location wasn't able to capture passing traffic travelling to the Dandenongs. John Nathan knew the business had to move, so commissioned a new store where the current General Store stands today.
1930 The new store front officially opens in the current location. The site was previously a horse and carriage depot and many horse shoes are still being found to this day in the Garden Supplies yard.
1938 The Loveridges Family, who held the Mitre 10 on Kangan Drive in Berwick, purchased the General Store and operated it for 40 years as Loveridges General Store.
1979 George & Ann Decelis start managing the business on behalf of the Loveridges, with an option to purchase the business from the Loveridges. (Possibly in partnership with Ron & Liz Ellis).
1980 The option is exercised to purchase the General Store from Loveridges, and it is renamed to Beaconsfield Upper General Store (or BUGS affectionately).
1983 Tradgedy strikes, as the Ash Wednesday fires destroyed many homes and the Beaconsfield Upper General Store in February. George & Ann understood how important the General Store was to the local community, and quickly re-established the business. They built the current building, opening for trade from it on the 12th of September 1983, just 7 months after the fires hit
1987 Laurie & Sandra Fenton purchase the business.
1996 Brenda & Doug Field purchase the business.
1999 John Adamson & Scott Hathaway enter a partnership, along with their families to purchase the business.
2011 Gail and Mark Kelly purchase the business.
2020 After completing a year long lap of Australia by car and caravan, JD, Steph & their 3 boys return home to Upper Beaconsfield. After spending quality time together travelling as a family, they wanted to find a way to live and work locally. The opportunity to invest in the Upper Beaconsfield General Store was one too good to pass up. They battle covid and continue to grow and expand the business.
2022 Over the Road Restaurant is established in the building opposite the General Store.
2024 Over the Road is established in Emerald, with the whole OTR business moved to that location that same year.
