Freshwater IGA supermarket set to open soon

The much-vaunted return of a much-needed supermarket to a busy northern beaches’ neighbourhood is now closer than ever.

An artist’s impression of the Freshwater ‘shop top’ apartment development in Albert St, Freshwater, showing the IGA supermarket.

There is a new twist in the two-and-a-half year saga to return a much needed supermarket to a suburb on the northern beaches.

Frustrated shoppers, who have not had a supermarket at Freshwater since October 2018, have been given new hope that a new IGA outlet will open soon.

The owners of the Supamart IGA retail network confirmed this week that workers have been at the Albert St premises.

On Thursday the Manly Daily saw that black sheets of cardboard had been taped to the inside of the windows to prevent passers-by looking into the premises.

The blacked out windows of the future Supa IGA supermarket in Albert St, Freshwater. Picture: Jim O'Rourke

Co-owner of the network, Andrew Karellas, told the Manly Daily that while a firm opening date is yet to be decided, he can now tell locals: “We are getting there”.

The supermarket’s future had been murky due to a lengthy and complicated legal stoush between the developer of the “Freshwater” residential and commercial building, which accommodates the 1200 sqm supermarket site, and its builder and designers.

A picture of the as-yet unopened Supa IGA store in Freshwater taken in March 2020. Picture: Julian Andrews

The Cremorne-based Karellas Group, which has six IGA stores around Sydney, signed off on the site back in 2012 and were originally hoping to open a Supamart IGA in the new Albert St building in 2018.

Shoppers were also left frustrated after the old IGA in The Freshwater Village Plaza, run by different operators, closed in October 2018 leaving residents with nowhere to get fresh groceries.

Much of the interior of the Supa IGA at Freshwater has been completed already This picture was taken in September, 2019. Picture: Troy Snook

The developer went into liquidation in April 2019.

Delays had been caused due to the builder and designer going to the NSW Supreme Court seeking payment for work, done from the developer, from the liquidator.

Mr Karellas, who runs the group with his brother Vaselli, told the Manly Daily in September 2019 that they had been dealing with the liquidator.

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“It’s a very slow process.

Mr Karellas said in 2019 that premises already had refrigeration installed as well as its floor and lighting.

The owner of a nearby business in Albert St told the Manly Daily that she had seen men working on the ceiling during the past fortnight.

The owners of the Supa IGA are asking for the community’s patience — “We are getting there”. Picture: Julian Andrews

When asked about the sighting of workers, Mr Karellas said on Thursday: “You are correct.

“Workers are onsite fixing defects works that were not rectified by the developer and builder.

“When I get a confirmed completion date of the works been undertaken I will be able to provide you with a firm opening date.

“We appreciate the community’s patience.

“We are getting there.”

The Karellas Group was originally so confident that it would open the doors to its supermarket in 2018 that it signed a three-year sponsorship with the Forest Rugby Club and had the Supamart IGA logo on its jerseys.

The Friends of Freshwater community has said in the past that the lack of a supermarket was “having a debilitating impact on the vibrancy of the Village, shopkeepers’ trading capacity and its pedestrian traffic”.

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