The Little Store With Everything

While Country Grocers & Liquor Smythesdale is mentioned in our Smythesdale Gardens blog, it simply deserves its own shoutout. We wouldn’t normally rave about a grocer, but this one just keeps impressing.

Thinking of ‘corner stores’, we usually expect high prices and limited variety. Not the case here. The prices are reasonable and they even stock our favourite brands:

• Almond milk (Pure Harvest)
• Goat cheese (Meredith Dairy)
• Tea bags (Billy Tea)
• Egg whites (Farm Pride)
• Milk (Inglebrook Dairy)

These are items that even some IGAs don’t carry, and you certainly won’t find Billy Tea at Woolworths or Coles anymore! We were particularly impressed that there were options to choose from for the Almond Milk, not just one brand.

The store itself is a delight to explore. It has that classic country vibe, with shelves packed to the brim and narrow aisles where you’ll often have to politely squeeze past another shopper.

The staff are incredibly friendly and clearly invested in the local community. Recently, they ran a fundraiser asking customers if they wanted to donate to the CFA (Country Fire Authority). After just two weeks, they were able to present over $5,000 — which is amazing, especially considering the recent devastating fires in regional Victoria.

In the weeks we’ve been shopping here, we haven’t come across an empty shelf, and you’ll often see staff in the aisles throughout the day restocking items.

The meat section is also worth mentioning: they source from a local butcher and it does not disappoint. Honestly, they seem to have everything you could possibly need.

A lot of the bread and baked goods come from a local industrial bakery. We’ve mostly tried the focaccia and Turkish bread for Isaac’s lunches, and they’re excellent. If I weren’t a baker at heart, and prefer making sweet and healthy snacks for us from scratch (check out my latest Protein Bar Recipe here), I would definitely have caved and bought cupcakes too!

The produce is impressively fresh — often even fresher than what you’d find at Woolworths or Coles. Spinach and rocket, for example, have lasted a whole week in our fridge, which we have found is rare in the Victorian summer heat.

Oh, and if you like a beer or a glass of wine with dinner, they’ve got a small bottle shop section behind the counter with great options open from 10:00am.

CHECK IT OUT SOON: We’ve heard along the grapevine that this cute little store is set for expansion, with plans for a brand-new, purpose-built building. While it will be a little sad to see it lose some of its current country charm, we’re sure the locals will be thrilled to have even more options available. All the more reason to visit sooner rather than later while it’s still small, quirky, and full of character!