Sirianni’s IGA Ascot celebrates 55 years in business

A supermarket owned by three generations of the same family has celebrated 55 years in business. Its customers love it so much, some have volunteered to help with odd jobs during the pandemic.

Tony and Rosa Sirianni at IGA Sirianni's in Ascot. Picture: Richard Walker

A FAMILY-OWNED supermarket at the heart of Brisbane’s inner-north has celebrated 55 years of business over three generations.

Sirianni’s IGA Ascot is a fixture Ascot, Clayfield, Hendra and Hamilton, and puts on the Carols in the Park every year.

It is so beloved by its customers, some even volunteered to help with deliveries and other jobs during the pandemic.

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Tony Sirianni said his dad, Napoleone, mum, Elisa, brother Ugo and himself opened the first Sirianni’s corner store 55 years ago after they moved to Ascot from North Queensland.

“We had a little corner store on Alexandra Rd and then 15 years later, we built the new supermarket, and I’ve been there all along,” he said.

“When we got to Ascot, we introduced zucchini and artichokes to the customers, people didn’t know what they were, they didn’t know how to cook them, or use them,” he said.

“That was 55 years ago, it was a long time ago.”

Recently, they bought the old Woolworths Metro on Racecourse Rd, now Leo’s IGA.

He said they had “great staff” staff, two had worked for the family for 30 years, while others had clocked up 10 or 15 years.

Copy of advert from Foodland which is now IGA Sirianni's in Ascot

Celebrating the milestone did have a sad note for Mr Sirianni, who lost his brother, Ugo, about 18 months ago.

“It’s not the same. We were together for 53 years. It’s just myself and my wife, Rosa and my son, Leo. My business partner is now Ugo’s wife, Josie,” he said.

“I still love being in the store.

“It’s a really good feeling when I go to our store. It’s got a great feel, a great atmosphere, a buzz. You know where you go to a good store, and it just has that buzz?”

Copy of advert from Foodland, now Sirianni’s IGA Ascot. Picture: Richard Walker

He said the biggest change in customer habits over the decades was the uptake in ready-meals.

“Well, definitely food-to-go has got bigger and bigger.

“We do our own main meals to go: we’ve got two kitchens, we do lasagne and meatballs, risotto, ravioli, all the traditional Italian stuff.

Rosa and Tony Sirianni pose for a photograph at IGA Sirianni's in Ascot, Wednesday, April 22, 2020 – Picture: Richard Walker

“We make our own pies, meat pies, curry pies and we make all our own salads and you’ve got YouFoodz, My Chef’s Choice.

“I don’t think people cook as much as they used to.”

Mr Sirianni said his family had weathered fierce competition from the Racecourse Rd Coles, Toombul Shopping Centre and, most recently, Woolworths at Racecourse Village.

“We lost 15 to 20 per cent of our trade when the Woolworths at Nudgee Rd opened,” he said.

“With the advent of coronavirus, this terrible time, we’ve clawed that back.

“We’ve never been out of stock. In that time, we’ve been the source of all the stuff other people didn’t have,” he said.

“We sourced industrial packs of toilet paper and sanitiser, we’ve got our own flour that we made ourselves.

“We’ve got tomato sauces that we bought from restaurants, spaghetti, all the things that were scarce.”

Claire Stening is one of the customers who volunteered to help Tony and Rosa Sirianni with deliveries and other jobs during the pandemic. Picture: Richard Walker

His wife, Rosa Sirianni, said the pandemic had also showed them the extraordinary community they had built over the past half-century.

Some customers had even volunteered to deliver groceries to vulnerable people in social isolation and others had paid for groceries of people doing it tough.

“It hasn’t surprised me, we’ve had help in the past,” she said.

“It really is a lovely area to be in and people will just come and help.”

She said the community had previously come to the store’s aid in 1997 when there was a problem with water mains burst and the shop was flooded.

Jane Lobban also volunteered to help Sirianni’s IGA Ascot. Picture: Richard Walker

“Honestly, some of our customers, we’re dealing with customers who are the children of our elderly customers who’ve come here for years,” she said.

“They remember my mother-in-law (Elisa) very, very well and they’re more like a family than customers.

“We have a coffee with them, and a chat. We’ve got the special customers that come in and vice-versa.”

Mr Sirianni said the reason the shop had survived five-and-a-half decades of change and competition was due to his family’s mantra: “We pride ourselves on quality and service.”