Buying a cabbage and a toy tractor in one shop is now possible.
Geraldine Farm Shop and Cafe owner-operator Steve McColl said the acquisition of Grandpa’s Toys allowed customers to do just that.
When he found out Grandpa’s Toys premises were for sale, he went in on a Friday to ask where the shop was moving to, and purchased it three business days later.
‘‘It all happened pretty quick.’’
The cafe’s bouncy castle and the soccer golf field behind the store made the location perfect for parents needing to distract the kids while they bought presents.
Mr McColl said the farm shop came from humble beginnings.
It began in 1983 as a roadside stall on Templer St which sold apples and stone fruit.
He said back then money was left in an ice cream pottle which worked as an honesty box.
As the years went by, the orchard expanded to an export packhouse, which processed fruit from orchards around the area.
Meanwhile, the roadside stall had grown into a shed, operating seven days a week.
One night, over a bottle of red wine, Mr McColl’s sister and father hatched a plan for the future.
That plan involved a nearby paddock — where the cafe is now situated — which was for sale.
Within three days of concocting the idea, they had bought the land.
Just like his purchase of Grandpa’s Toys, he said his family was not slow to act when a decision felt right.
‘‘I just didn’t have red wine.’’
He said while the toy shop was its own store within the store, an investment in technology meant people could walk around with a big trolley and buy everything together.
He said as an independent he did his best to get high quality products straight from the source.
‘‘I cut out the middle man.’’
Mr McColl could easily list where his honey, jams, preserves and condiments came from.
The shop also stocked wild gathered game, like venison salami, which had a code buyers could insert to see where the deer had been harvested from.
‘‘We keep as local as we can.
‘‘Our aim is to try and provide alternatives to what supermarkets stock.’’
