Tin Can Bay IGA owner O’Connell family expands into Imbil, Qld

A Qld family who started their supermarket portfolio on the Sunshine Coast almost 30 years ago are about to open their third supermarket near Gympie, and they couldn’t be happier.

The O’Connell Retail Group Team Kylie Rayson (Inventory Manager), Kristy Heit (Operations Manager), Bernadette O’Connell (Owner), Matthew O’Connell (Owner), Justin O’Connell (Owner), and Chloe Davis (Health Coach at Sick-Well-Fit Training & Justin’s Partner).

For 20 years the O’Connell family has been a commercial fixture on the Cooloola Coast, first at Rainbow Beach and then Tin Can Bay.

Now the family is expanding its IGA supermarket empire inland to the Mary Valley.

Imbil is the new locale the family has set its sights on, with the doors to their newest supermarket opening in September 2024.

Manager, director and owner Justin O’Connell said the grand opening would be the start of a new era, and the end of a four year journey to establish in the Mary Valley.

Mr O’Connell said they started looking for land in the area in 2020, with construction finally starting at the Yabba Rd block in mid-2023.

“There were lots of delays for rain,” Mr O’Connell said.

O’Connell Retail Group Team members Kylie Rayson (Inventory Manager), Kristy Heit (Operations Manager), Bernadette O’Connell (Owner), Matthew O’Connell (Owner), Justin O’Connell (Owner), Chloe Davis (Health Coach at Sick-Well-Fit Training and Justin’s Partner), pictured here at the 2023 Gympie Chamber of Commerce Business Awards, are expanding with a new store at Imbil.

Once the store opens it will be driven by a community focus, he said.

Mr O’Connell said it would rely on local suppliers wherever it could, and employ 35 people to keep it running seven days a week.

The O’Connell name has been synonymous with supermarkets in the Gympie region and its surrounds for decades.

Mr O’Connell’s parents, Matt and Bernie, opened their first IGA on the Sunshine Coast in 1996.

Justin O’Connell said the doors of the new IGA at Imbil would open in September 2024.

The family took over the Rainbow Beach IGA in 2004, and then in 2017 the Tin Can Bay IGA joined their business portfolio.

In 2023, the Rainbow Beach IGA won Business of the Year at the Gympie Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.

These ventures were the latest in a deep personal connection with the coast and the Gympie region for Mr O’Connell, who went to school at Rainbow Beach State School and then St Patrick’s College.

His partner, Chloe Davis, ran her own personal training business in Tin Can Bay.

Mr O’Connell said he was “really excited” for the chance to expand into the Mary Valley.

“We really want to employ as many local residents as we can,” he said.