General News
8 July, 2026
What about Weir's?: St Arnaud supermarket loses money after council shops away
“I can tell you we’ve employed children of council workers, but we’re going to have to consider cutting wages for all staff if this keeps going.”
A COUNCIL choosing to shop out of the region has left a small town supermarket thousands of dollars down on sales.
A cruel irony in a municipality that prides itself on supporting and shopping local.
Weir’s IGA St Arnaud staff began noticing one of their regular customers, who works for Northern Grampians Shire Council, wasn’t coming in as much as they had.
“We used to provide $75 worth of fruit boxes to council every week,” manager Sandra Craddock said. “We started asking around and found out staff and council itself had started getting deliveries from Coles Maryborough.”
To say that revelation stung was an understatement.
“We take it personally,” assistant manager Harley Durwood said.
“We are beyond disgusted with this attitude from a council who should be doing everything they can to support local businesses.”
Mrs Craddock said Coles deliveries to St Arnaud had taken between $20,000 and $25,000 worth of weekly profits from the business.
This had left staff having to make changes to try and recoup.
“We’ve had to cut sponsorship around town, we’ve gone online to try and keep up,” she said.
“I can tell you we’ve employed children of council workers, but we’re going to have to consider cutting wages for all staff if this keeps going.”
Council CEO Brent McAlistar said the shire had been sourcing groceries from two locations since July last year.
“Council’s Early Learning Centre in St Arnaud began sourcing their produce... following a review of grocery expenditure and observed year-on-year cost increases,” he said.
“Adopting a mixed purchasing approach has resulted in a saving of over 20 per cent so far this calendar year. Given the current financial pressures facing local government, council has an obligation to seek opportunities to minimise operational costs wherever possible while maintaining service quality.
“Council is dedicated to supporting local businesses where appropriate, which is why we have purchased groceries for our Early Learning Centre from Weirs IGA for in excess of 15 years.”
Read More: St Arnaud