IPSWICH Mitre 10 could be relocated and expanded into large purpose-built premises in Briggs Road, Raceview, as early as August next year.

That’s the hope of the principal of the Richardson family group of Mitre 10 stores, Tony Richardson, but he says “it’s definitely early days yet”.

Mr Richardson currently has Mitre 10 hardware stores in Raceview, Boonah, Kalbar and Lowood.

Late last month, on the family’s behalf, Gibson Architects lodged an application with the Ipswich City Council to construct new premises in Raceview.

“Currently, we operate Ipswich Mitre 10 in Turley Street, Raceview,” he said. “We purchased it from Mitre 10 corporate in September last year.

“The focus of that store has been on supplying to the building trade and in the year we’ve been in operation our customer base has continued to grow.”

And the plan, if Council approval is gained, is to build on the success of that operation by constructing new premises about a kilometre away on a greenfield site at 66 Briggs Road.

“There we’ll further develop our trade outlet as well as adding a retail presence,” Mr Richardson said.

“It’s a high exposure site with plenty of room for customer parking and good access off Briggs Road.”

The application to Council outlined plans for a building with a floor area of around 1,800 sqm on one level. It would be constructed on the south western corner of the more than half a hectare parcel of land.

The build would include an internal shop area, rear undercover storage yard, internal delivery area and minor outdoor display area.

Two new crossovers onto Briggs Road would also form part of the development.

Once completed, the Richardson family’s Ipswich Mitre 10 operations will be relocated from the current Turley Street premises.

The move will allow an upscale of in-house trade product lines and add retail lines aimed mainly at the DIY market.

Mr Richardson attributes the success of Ipswich Mitre 10 over the last 12 months to the wide variety of building trade materials and solid supply lines.

“The boom in the building trade and the impact of Covid-19 has led to a whole raft of challenges but we’re fortunate to have built good relationships with our suppliers,” Mr Richardson said.

Those relationships exist across all four of the Richardson family owned hardware stores.

“We operate a little differently than some other businesses,” he said.

“Some businesses keep score by how much money they make in the short term, while our focus has always been on building and running a good business where customers are satisfied with both service and product.

“Our staff know that we’re not so worried about the next month, but on the next 10 years.

“We are playing the long game.”

It’s an ethos which was first played out by Mr Richardson in 1993, when he purchased the hardware store in High Street, Boonah and then redeveloped a site a block away in Yeates Avenue where he constructed purpose built premises.