But finally, they can shop at home, thanks to a $500,000 refurbishment of the rural supplies store, and a commitment from the former mayor, now Federation Shire councillor, Pat Bourke and his wife Natascha.
The Friendly Grocer opened its doors on June 29, and Mr Bourke said customers had been coming from “all over”.
“Urana has been showing a lot of promise in the past few years,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of interest in real estate and the town has all the services to be liveable, but it absolutely needed a supermarket.”
Urana has 321 residents, a hospital, doctor, a chemist, hotel, bowling club, café and primary school but after the fire four years ago, Mr Bourke said he could see things were slipping.
“It would have been a massive cost to start from the ground up, but we were fortunate to have the building there to renovate,” he said.
“The chemist next door commented that he was up by about 25 per cent in the first week; one business stimulates another.”
In the past couple of weeks, people have come from Oaklands, Lockhart, Morundah and Boree Creek with caravanners and workers also calling in.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by support,” Mr Bourke said.
“Locals are just thrilled, and very grateful; there’s a lot of excitement.”
The Friendly Grocer officially opens on the evening of July 31.
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