APCO Alfredton opened on 1 March and is the third of APCO’s Ballarat locations. Located within the growing new residential hub of Ballarat, APCO Alfredton is one of the largest footprints of APCO’s now 27 stores and growing. The 2023 population forecast for Alfredton is 12,408 and is forecast to grow to 15,716 by 2036.
The APCO IGA X-press blends the best of three different worlds, grocery, cafe and petrol/convenience, bringing the offer under one roof for an amazing shopping experience.
APCO IGA X-press Alfredton in Ballarat offers a terrific combination of an IGA X-press in-store with very competitive pricing for everyday supermarket grocery items, an expanded fresh food dynamic including deli and gourmet foods, with a captivating Barista Coffee bar.
The store offers generous food options from locally made fresh daily, hot and cold options, ready-to-go breakfast products and quality fresh made salads, sandwiches, rolls, jaffles, sausage rolls, pies and panini’s for lunch, and many on the go or take home catering options for dinner. As well as a range of ‘better for you’ yoghurts, nuts, salads, dips and vegies, and boiled egg packs. Perfect for stopping in and fuelling up for a road trip, on the way to work, on a work break or rushing home for dinner.
The store design is customer centric, easy to access and navigate. Cafe and grocery are divided into two distinct sections, centred around a POS island hub, although a dedicated POS is located within the cafe to better manage food and coffee customers who do not have a petrol purchase. The Alfredton store also features a large deli for artisan needs.
“This is changing the face of our customers, attracting a new generation of shoppers to APCO that know and trust they can get all their grocery, fresh produce and meal time needs in an easy to navigate and timely fashion. And still get their fuel at the most competitive prices.”
The ultimate modern convenience store
Two fiercely independent brands, APCO and IGA, come together, also boasting APCO’s Café 24-7 foodservice offer, making this a compelling convenience store.
The new APCO store at Alfredton has teamed up with the well-known IGA brand which has already been a hugely successful retail model for APCO in seven other locations; two in Geelong, and also located at Albury, Bairnsdale Wodonga, Wangaratta and Wagga Wagga. Add to this mix APCO’s very successful foodservice brand, Café 24-7 and you have three amazing brands coming together to provide the ultimate modern convenience and foodservice offer.
With consumers seeking shopping options that fall between full-fledged supermarkets and traditional convenience, APCO IGA X-press Alfredton delivers on this demand with top-up grocery offers boasting competitive supermarket grocery prices, meat produce, fruit and veg, deli items, extensive dairy and bakery.
Each week APCO’s IGA Xpress features and support the specials across a range of grocery lines, making the modern convenience a strong competitor to the large supermarket chains stores.
APCO Director Robert Anderson said, “We have tailored our range of grocery lines to give locals more of what they like, including many of their favourite, less expensive brands.”
“We like to make things as easy and convenient as possible for our customers. Customers can pay for their fuel and their top-up groceries at the same time before grabbing a coffee and a bite to eat from our modern Café 24-7. It’s all about saving time and making life easier – fuel, groceries, freshly made café food and Barista style coffee, all in one great location, with ample front-shop parking.”
The APCO difference
One of APCO’s founding principles was to provide people in regional areas with quality, essential fuels at competitive prices; this value continues to be a company focus today.
Mr Anderson said, “Our overall philosophy is to support the local community and one tangible way of doing this is by being a leader in the field of independent fuel pricing.
“We sell our fuel at a fair price, always aiming to provide the most competitive prices in town.
“We also only sell Mobil and Shell (Viva Energy) fuels, purchased directly from their refineries, picked-up by our own trucks and drivers and delivered directly to our stores. So APCO strongly supports locally manufactured product and further supports Australian jobs,” Mr Anderson said.
“We are committed to continuing to support our community by remaining a market leader with our fuel pricing, even when prices are on the rise.”
APCO IGA X-press Alfredton is located at 47-99 Learmonth Street, Alfredton Victoria 3350.
See the full coverage in the upcoming April issue of Convenience World.
