The new On The Run (OTR) convenience store being built on Ararat Road in Stawell is progressing as scheduled and is set to open by the projected date in March next year.
The store will be the largest OTR site outside of major cities and will feature a BP service station with truckie’s lounge with showers and laundry, a Hungry Jack’s, 24-hour retail, barista-made C Coffee, an automatic touchless car wash, and more.
OTR Head of Community Partnerships & PR, Joann Skene, said the Stawell store will be the largest and most innovative new store being built outside big cities around the country.
“Stawell will be the biggest OTR store in regional Victoria,” she said. “It has a much bigger footprint and includes services like the truckie’s lounge and a Hungry Jack’s.”
Ms Skene said because the outlet and its franchises remain entirely owned by OTR, they can ensure a high level of service and quality control in the staff they hire.
“Our model has a lot more accountability with the team and we recruit local people in our teams for this exact reason; all the work done during construction and the work on-the-ground once the store is open is all with local people.
“We don’t bring people in from interstate to run stores in the local region.”
Once open, the store will employ at least 55 staff across three shifts 24 hours a day, seven days a week and the development has already created 40 new trade jobs during the construction phase.
“We will train local staff right here in Stawell wherever possible and will pay for any additional travel if required to ensure the training needs are met,” Ms Skene said.
“We provide training in retail, food handling and more and are looking for people who are reliable and seeking a rewarding career.”
Northern Grampians Shire Mayor, Murray Emerson, said the new outlet is an exciting addition to Stawell’s retail landscape.
“It is an exciting time for our community having OTR coming here, it is certainly something this community has been wanting for a number of years now,” he said.
“I think all of our community is getting very excited that we are going to have a 24-hour service station and retail convenience store.
“It’s like bringing a big city offer into a regional town centre. We feel like the city is coming to us and giving us those big city conveniences in our regional area.”
This new development in Stawell comes just over 18 months since OTR launched its innovative community program OTRGive in June 2018.
Every time a customer shops or refuels at OTR with the OTR App, OTR will make a donation on the customer’s behalf to the community group of their choice – at no cost to the customer.
To date, OTRGive has created over $175,000 in donations and Stawell community groups joining OTRGive will be announced in early 2020.
Extracted from Mirage News