First look: Inside plans for Silly Solly’s shop at Gympie, Qld

A franchise that claims to be the fastest growing one in Australia plans to open a warehouse at the Monkland.

Silly Solly’s is returning to Gympie decades after closing its Mary Street store, which was among the first Silly Solly’s to open in Queensland in the early 1990s.

Silly Solly’s is returning to Gympie decades after closing its Mary Street store, which was among the first Silly Solly’s to open in Queensland in the early 1990s.

The discount retail store has lodged plans with the Gympie council to open a warehouse at the Monkland, on the southern outskirts of the city.

In the late 1990s no Queensland town was complete without a Silly Solly’s.

New Zealand-based The Warehouse acquired Silly Solly’s along with 117 Crazy Clints stores for $118 million in 2000.

The Australian venture was not successful and the stores were sold in 2005.

Silly Solly’s is returning to Gympie decades after closing its Mary Street store, which was among the first Silly Solly’s to open in Queensland in the early 1990s.

In Gympie, Silly Solly’s was located in the heart of Mary Street, later becoming Crazy Clark’s and then the Reject Shop.

The franchise, which boasts on its website to be the “fastest growing discount retail chain in Australia”, is now seeking to build a new warehouse and shop at the Bunworth Park industrial hub in Gympie, which is home to Harvey Norman, Autobarn, BCF, and Chemist Warehouse.

EPO Developments has asked Gympie Regional Council for approval to build two new commercial showrooms on a vacant 2823sq m block at Edwin Campion Drive, with the main building housing Silly Solly’s.

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The franchise, which boasts on its website to be the “fastest growing discount retail chain in Australia”, is now seeking to build a new warehouse and shop at the Bunworth Park industrial hub in Gympie, which is home to Harvey Norman, Autobarn, BCF, and Chemist Warehouse.

The shop is proposed to be open from 8.30am-5.30pm on weekdays except Thursday, when it would open until 6pm.

Saturday hours are proposed to be 8.30am-5pm, and Sunday’s opening hours would be from 9am-4pm.

Auto Masters, a small car repair shop, is proposed as the second tenant on the block.

Its hours would be 7am-6pm Monday to Saturday, and 7am-5pm Sunday.

Twenty-three parking spots would be provided for customers, the development document said.

The chain, which boasts on its website to be the “fastest growing discount retail chain in Australia”, is now seeking to build a new warehouse and shop at Monkland’s Bunworth Park industrial hub.

EPO Developments said in the application the ongoing “cost-of-living pressures for all households” was driving “many to investigate alternatives to make each pay cheque stretch further”.

“In this instance, (Silly Solly’s) being close to Chemist Warehouse allows customers to fill prescriptions and obtain necessary household goods in the same precinct,” the developer said.

The owners of the Silly Solly’s chain said in 2021 the company planned to open 100 stores Australia-wide in the coming years.

There were 23 operating at the time of the announcement.

The council has not yet made any decision on the application.

Originally published as First look: Inside plans for Silly Solly’s shop at Gympie, Qld