Community & Business
4 March, 2025
Local stores in winning form
TWO local IGA stores have picked up multiple awards at a major awards event that recognises and highlights their efforts in store excellence, overall performance, and many other things.
The 2025 Queensland and Northern New South Wales IGA Awards of Excellence saw both Mareeba and Atherton IGAs win some of the biggest, and well-deserved, awards.
Fresh St Market IGA in Atherton took home the top award of Largest Store of the Year, as well as winning the large grocery and general merchandise, large fresh produce, and large meat department of the year awards.
Cornetts IGA Mareeba won the prestigious Transformation Award after an extensive renovation and refit which included new plant and equipment across all departments as well as new fixtures, paint, tiles, registers and lighting,
Speaking after the awards ceremony, the director of Fresh St Market IGA Matt Bowles said it was an “incredible honour” to receive the top award and the three department awards.
“The awards have been very timely for us, especially as we’ve had a massive couple of weeks at the store with logistics delays from the flooding further south,” he said.
“We would like to extend a massive thank you to our customers, our community, and our team for their overwhelming support, we are very grateful and couldn’t do it without them.
Operations executive manager for Mareeba IGA Brett Leishman said to be recognised across Queensland and Northern New South Wales as having the best transformation of a store was “very exciting”.
“We are incredibly grateful to have received the Transformation Award. We’d like to extend our thanks to our local shoppers and the community for their ongoing support, as well as our store team who work hard to deliver the best supermarket experience for our community,” he said.
A total of 21 awards were presented on the night at The Star in Brisbane, highlighting the milestones and support IGA stores provide to their local communities.
The awards were judged on a range of criteria including customer service, community pride, department excellence, brand values, merchandising, and the stores’ overall performance.
Fresh St Market IGA and Cornetts IGA will now progress to the National Awards of Excellence in July, where they will be up against their state category winners across Australia.
