So I applaud your desire to find healthy food options, but I disagree with your assumptions regarding increased success for this business.
Tammie Philips may have had two successful stores, but so did Oliver's. She went bust, and Oliver's is nearly there as well. There is nothing on the (public) record that I can find that suggests she has done this (and won) all before. I hope I'm wrong though.
Not sure that so many people will be focused on local holidays, at least not enough to rescue this business. For a start, the seasonal holiday periods where Oliver's may do well only equate to 8 to 10 weeks of trade per year. What about the other 40+ weeks of "non-holiday" trade? Add to this the highest unemployment rate in over 20 years and an underutilisation rate (unemployed and under-employed) of over 20%... and there is just not as much money going around at the moment and people are wary of unnecessary spending. Also, things will get worse before they get better once the JobSeeker payment is reduced and the JobKeeper payment is axed come September.. the government will have its hands full weaning people of what is effectively welfare... and next year when we all hope the worst is behind us we will likely see increased taxes (income, GST, payroll, etc.) to pay for this year's government spending... which may mean that consumers are still very, very shy when it comes to spending money.
You said it yourself... "on a trip last week to Lithgow Olivers which was quite busy relative to a previous visit on a similar day and time...". This tells me that what you saw was NOT normal trade, and will no doubt be short-lived once people get over their cabin fever.
Yes, some people my find the food nice, and a few people might buy a pie (which is certainly not revolutionary and won't save them), but the fact remains that this is still a troubled business and IMHO a dud investment.
OLI Price at posting:
4.3¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
