IN recent years, Assefs Moree has created a significant online presence, in part thanks to a severe, record-breaking three-year drought that affected 95 per cent of New South Wales and Queensland.
The severe weather conditions crippled the farming sector as well as small businesses across the New South Wales, Assef’s Moree included.
Then Covid hit.
The Moree store, owned and managed by Daniel Assef and his mum Keryn, weathered both disasters, and from the wreckage emerged a digital shopfront – Assefs Moree Online Shopping – that continues to grow.
“Back in 2019, when drought seemed like it would never end and the town was very quiet, three of us spent most of our time over a few months standing behind computer screens uploading stock to a website we were hoping to launch by the end of the year,” Daniel said.
“We hoped having a website would give our business better exposure, and hopefully bring in a few extra sales, though we weren’t terribly confident.
“We waited for a few days to get our first sale, and by Christmas we were getting a couple of sales every week, which was great.
“A few months later, the world changed as Covid began to spread and the drought began to break,” Daniel said.
Within 12 months of launching, the parcel-laden trips to Moree Post Office became more frequent.
“We started to push our online store as we began to see its potential, and by the end of 2020 some days we were doing half a dozen trips a day to the post office with trolley loads of parcels ready to send,” Daniel said.
Daniel Assef and mum, Keryn, at the family store in Moree.
By 2021, the trolley became a delivery van.
“We began to use a van to transport online orders to the post office, even though it’s only a block away – the orders became too many,” Daniel said.
“Over the six years we’ve had the online store, we’ve had close to 30,000 new customers shop with us, and that number continues to grow.”
Customers nationwide can browse and purchase a wide selection of merchandise from the store’s physical inventory, including leading fashion labels and lifestyle brands.
Assef’s online presence is a boon for people on the land as well. Rural folk know the products they want and can have them delivered on-farm at no cost, in a matter of days.
“We always get orders in the post the same day or the following day, so customers who can’t regularly get to town can use Australia Post instead,” Daniel said.
“With free shipping on orders over $200, most of our orders leave without any additional shipping costs for customers.”
Assef’s also maintains an active social media presence on Facebook and Instagram, promoting new products, sale events and community engagement.
This marketing approach helps drive traffic to the online store as well as bricks-and-mortar locations in Moree and Port Macquarie.
Assef’s social media presence keeps local and regional customers connected, and welcomes wider audiences from across Australia and around the world – but it’s the local reach, Daniel says, that has kept the family-owned store trading for more than 80 years.
“We’re so grateful for our Moree customer base – generations of families shop with us, making our family-run business possible,” Daniel said.
“Social media does indeed widen our marketing reach and is particularly useful for communicating with locals, who are the majority of our social media followers.
“Social media is usually the quickest and most effective way to let customers know about new products and any current sales or promotions,” he said.
Assef’s, established in Moree in the late 1930s, seamlessly blends traditional retail shopping with modern online retailing, and remains one of the region’s most recognisable names.
Sitty’s Spoon and The Toy Corner are now part of Assef’s business portfolio as well.
The name Sitty’s Spoon pays tribute to Mona “Sitty” Assef, the family matriarch who sadly passed away late last year on her 96th birthday.
The Toy Corner operates in the same Balo Street complex and stocks board games, puzzles, educational toys, outdoor play equipment and gift items for children.
For customers, store expansion means a single visit can cover clothing, footwear, kitchenware and children’s gifts all under the one roof – as well as online.
“Since the opening of The Toy Corner last April, it’s been so exciting to see these toys, games and puzzles being wrapped up and sent out across Australia,” Daniel said.
“To see returning customers buying clothing or a pair of footy shorts as well as drink bottles and kitchenware, now adding a classic wooden toy, plush bear or educational game or puzzle to their order has been fantastic.
“The whole family can now find something at Assef’s,” he smiled.
Assef’s Moree
Address: 139-143 Balo Street
Trading: 9am until 5.30pm weekdays; 9am until midday Saturdays
Website: https://assefs.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/assefsmoree
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/assefs_moree/?hl=en
Good on them. Reminiscent of the old DJ’s department store ‘mail order’.
Nothing new under the sun really, except on-line access is much quicker.
Good on them and I’m glad Assef’s still continues to thrive. I still remember a pair of pale grey-and-white houndstooth trousers I persuaded Mum to buy in my teens. Red blouse and red shoes with gold buckles. Didn’t I think I was the bees knees for the show that year!