Retailer profile: Dimitrios Spyrakis

Dimitrios and Maria recieving an award for their store. Source: SPAR

Dimitrios Spyrakis has worked in the retail industry for 22 years and was recently recognised by the company he now works for, SPAR Australia.

Mr Spyrakis is the owner of a 700m2 SPAR supermarket in Sussex Inlet, a few hours out of Sydney. Originally an Aerospace Engineering graduate, Mr Spyrakis went on to own a widely successful SPAR supermarket.

The SPAR store was opened in 1987 by Mr Spyrakis’ in-laws and in 2003, he and his wife Maria moved to Sussex Inlet to assist in the running of the store.

Their love and dedication for the business saw them stay on long after their six month period was up, and the store was rebranded as a SPAR supermarket in 2010.

The store employs 20 people and Mr Spyrakis said the business has always employed local staff.

“[We]  have seen many of our employees’ children and their families come through and work in our store over the years. We offer a full grocery range, chilled and frozen products, general merchandise, fresh produce, a full delicatessen, bakery and an in-store butchery,” he said.

“We are one of the few independent supermarkets that still has its own Butchers on site who cut and prepare our selection of meat daily.

“We pride ourselves on our customer service. We have an elderly customer base and we help them in many ways. On average, we make over 80 home deliveries per week, mostly to elderly customers who cannot leave their homes. We believe that this service is essential in a town like Sussex and is what differentiates us from our competitors in the area.

“We also try to stock items that our customers need which cannot be sourced by any other shop in town. This gives customers and holidaymakers the opportunity to shop locally rather than having to go to the major centres around us to shop.

“Over the years, our SPAR store has been enlarged to cater for the needs of the community. It started off as a small, 100mstore back in 1987 and has grown to 700mwith a more diverse product range.

“We are currently in the process of building a new 1,800m2 supermarket across the road from our current store which we hope to open in 2018. We will continue to meet the needs of our customers and look at new innovations in the market to present to our shoppers. Our new store will give us the room to act on these ideas and facilitate growth in areas that will add to our core business.”

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