Scotty’s Mad About Meats reopens after Hervey Bay floods
A beloved local business decimated by the March rain bomb has had an emotional reopening, and revealed the struggle it had getting the insurance money to make that possible.
Fraser Coast
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A Hervey Bay butcher shop ravaged by the March flash flooding reopened on Monday, thanking the community for its ongoing support and announcing some new shop items.
Scotty Reid’s long standing Scotty’s Mad About Meats was the last business in the Woolworths Bay Plaza to reopen following the devastation of the freak flood event.
Mr Reid has had the shop for 17 years and employs 14 staff members who pick, pack, and serve fresh meat daily.
Locals have eagerly awaited the return of the Hervey Bay icon, with hundreds pouring through the doors at Monday’s grand reopening.
“The community has been amazing. Today has been crazy,” Mr Reid said.
“We’ve served around 350 customers before 4 o’clock.”
In May, Hervey Bay LNP MP David Lee revealed the butcher shop lost around $300,000 in replacement costs, citing just one of the hurdles Scotty and his team have had to overcome.
“My wife and I built this empire so it was an emotional rollercoaster,” he said.
“The challenge was getting money from the insurance brokers.
“It had taken a bit over three months to get anywhere.
“I didn’t have any money to pay my staff, and my wife was very upset, but we sold our caravan.”
After selling assets to keep the business afloat, Scotty said the support from the community had not gone unnoticed.
“It’s very humbling to see the community get behind me,” he said.
“From being really busy to nothing was just crazy.
“We’d never been through a flood and don’t want to go through one again.”
New equipment has been added to the butcher’s armoury, while new products can also be expected as the reopening continues.
Scotty’s Mad About Meats is located at 27 Torquay Rd, Pialba.
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