David Goldberger set to fly Solo in the Territory
Territory motorists will have a new fuel option in coming months as an old favourite returns to roadsides. Read what’s coming.
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The entrepreneur behind a $5 million Top End service station upgrade has spoken about his broader expansion plans for the Northern Territory.
Australian discount fuel pioneer David Goldberger said he will invest millions of dollars more into the Northern Territory in coming years as he reboots the old Solo fuel brand that was synonymous with Australian motorists in the 1970s and 1980s.
Mr Goldberger founded Solo with business partner David Wieland in 1974, three years after he had earlier begun supplying discount fuel around Melbourne.
In 1975, Solo partnered with Bob Hawke and the Australian Council of Trades Union to distribute discount fuel to independent service station operators in Melbourne, moving into Sydney two years later.
With more than 200 outlets across Australia, Solo was eventually sold to Ampol and rebranded in 1989.
In 1995, at the expiration of their non-compete clause, Goldberger and Wieland formed Liberty Oil, which was in turn taken over by Viva Energy this year after 30 years, prompting Mr Goldberger to reactivate Solo.
The Territory currently has two Liberty servos, one in Katherine and the other in Stuart Park, both of which David said would be rebranded to the Solo livery in the near future.
In addition, the old Shell service station at Casuarina, currently subject to $5 million in upgrades to be completed by early next year, will also carry the revived Solo branding.
“When Viva brought us out, I wanted to stay in fuel so I formed the Solo group again,” Mr Goldberger said.
“Stuart Park will change, I’m just waiting for the Solo signage for it and Katherine, and the new one in Casuarina where the Shell was, will also be Solo.”
The Casuarina refurbishment will see new fuel tanks new canopies, up to 16 Solo bowsers and a brand new shop to replace the existing premises.
And hopefully this is just a start, with David now a frequent visitor to the Territory along with members of Solo’s property division, to scope out potential new service station sites.
“We want to get up to 12 sites in Darwin and the Territory,” he said.
“Casuarina is basically a brand new site and my plan is to build new outlets as well as rebrand our existing operations.
“Darwin has some nice sites but apart from the Liberty in Stuart Park and soon Casuarina, not a lot of fresh ones. We’re looking for new land and trying to get permits all over Darwin.”
The Casuarina Solo is expected to be operating from early next year.
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