15 years in the grocery game
Rita Clarke celebrates a milestone anniversary
‘‘ I’M VERY THANKFUL TO THE COMMUNITY BECAUSE THEY ARE REALLY SUPPORTING ME AND IT SEEMS THEY ARE PART OF MY FAMILY NOW,”
RITA CLARKE
FOR 15 years now, Rita Clarke has been behind the counter of her grocery store at the Hooper Centre, cheerily greeting customers as they browse her range of Asian goods.
It’s a significant milestone for the proprietor of J and R Asian Groceries, who remembers being told by detractors her venture wouldn’t last long back when she opened in 2003.
She puts her success down to the support of the community and the constant growth in the number of migrants who call Toowoomba home.
“I’m very thankful to the community because they are really supporting me and it seems they are part of my family now,” she said, pointing to the children who once visited her store that are now “all grown up, and finished their university degrees”.
“I’ve got plenty of customers who left Toowoomba, went to other states, and then come back and I’m still here and they feel very happy.”
The Toowoomba business woman said coming to work each day was like socialising.
“All the people coming here... I’m happy to see them all coming back, all the time,” she said. Her store stocks a range of groceries and wares from Asia, Africa, and Brazil, and she is renown for her happy, helpful demeanour.