Toowoomba’s Tentworld buys council depot in Harristown ahead of expansion
In a bid to further expand across Australia, a Toowoomba-based outdoor adventure business has ‘set up camp’ inside an old council depot.
Business
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A Toowoomba-based camping and outdoor business has snapped up one of the council’s oldest depots, in a deal that will allow it to expand further across Australia.
Tentworld confirmed it had bought the World War II-era site on the corner of Anzac Ave and Stephen Street in Harristown through Ray White Commercial.
The 2.2 hectare site, which features an open-plan warehouse system with sawtooth roofing, is more than five times larger than its current distribution centre and head office near the Toowoomba Aerodrome.
General manager Jon Burrell, who has spent years growing Tentworld’s portfolio to 15 retail stores in six states and territories as well as a large online presence, said the expansion would allow the company to better compete with rivals Anaconda and BCF.
“We have been constrained and using off-site storage currently to support our business, camping has been booming due to Covid so we took this opportunity,” he said.
“It gave us a good opportunity to get a large building without paying a large amount for it.
“The new warehouse is perfect for pick-and-packing online orders.
“We like living here in Toowoomba, and this place gives us a great position to move aggressively.
“We only got the keys last week but we’re keen to move in as quickly as possible.”
Mr Burrell said the office and warehouse would house more than 50 employees once the fit-out was fully completed later this year.
“We’ve been trying to find a space that will fit us and they’re few and far between with this size and this close to the city,” he said.
“There are challenges with being here, but we think the benefits outweigh those.
“Cost per square metre, it was a good acquisition — it means we can service almost the entire east coast.”
Mr Burrell said the company was also looking to expand for a second warehouse in the future, which the new site would allow space for.
“In the future we do have plans of expanding to build another warehouse,” he said.
“There’s not even a design right now for that, but this land package means there is room for expansion, which has been our challenge for a while.”
It is the first of two depots at Harristown to be sold off by the council after it shut down operations and moved staff to its new Charlton super-depot in recent years.
It is understood the building was used during the war effort in the 1940s, before being taken over by the old Toowoomba City Council.
Ray White Commercial agent Peter Marks said the second site remained under contract.
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