Celebrating 70 Years
1951-2021
Est. 1951
Over the span of 70 years, we have owned and operated a wide range of food stores including freestanding delicatessens, bakeries, fruit and veg markets, butcheries, health food stores, snack bars, cafés and restaurants. We have also had involvement in market gardening, horticulture and smallgoods manufacturing.
We have grown, picked, prepared and retailed food – making our experience unmatched.
The first family business venture was in 1951, a partnership with my brother, John, and our father, Spero Snr, at a café in the small town of Moulamein, NSW.
In 1958, our family opened a mixed business in Redcliffs, Victoria combining fruit and veg, delicatessen, grocery and a snack bar. In 1963, the business expanded when we opened our first supermarket. Our family’s long-term goal was always to settle in Adelaide, South Australia. In 1979, this dream came true when we sold all interests in Victoria and moved to Adelaide to open our first South Australian supermarket in Craigmore.
Since then we have developed more properties and supermarkets in South Australia, both in partnership with my brother John’s family, and also separately.
We are proud and humbled to have created multi award-winning stores and shopping centres which were elevated to a new level in 2016 and 2017 when we won the IGA International Retailer of the Year Awards.
We’ve brought back our past experience in hospitality with the launch of licensed eateries within our supermarkets – they are the pinnacle of our vision for creating the most enjoyable in-store experience and atmosphere for our customers.
We strive to create extraordinary spaces with a hospitality service ethos, social precincts where families and friends can meet, linger and enjoy interactive in-store experiences.
We are passionate and proud South Australians, and our priority is to support local growers, producers and suppliers.
Through introducing new food departments and serveries that require personal service, we have created new job opportunities. We honour never introducing self-serve checkouts in our stores.
Nick Chapley, Spero Chapley and family