GO VITA Batemans Bay: Bev Dunne reflects on 25 years

The owner of GO VITA Batemans Bay celebrated the milestone last week with a special gala day on Friday, October 21, after some of the toughest years business owners have faced.

Ms Dunne opened the Batemans Bay store in 1997 after six years running a similar health food store in Moruya. Before that she was a PA in a legal office.

"I saw the shop go up for sale in Moruya, and I thought to myself 'I could do that'," Ms Dunne said.

"From the time I went into that store, I knew I had a passion, and I still have that passion today.

"I feel very privileged to have found a career I really love, because a lot of people don't find that.

"I think that passion has been a big part of the success we've had in Batemans Bay, and that comes through in the way we operate our store."

Naturally, Batemans Bay looked very different when Ms Dunne opened her store 25 years ago.

"North Street was a side street back then because the shopping centre wasn't there, but now it's almost the main street into town," she said.

"The shopping centre changed the face of retail in town, and made Batemans Bay into more of a regional centre.

"I think the retailers who were good operators, you could see them refurbishing and making sure they stood out once the shopping centre opened.

"There are stores who survived that and thrived on that."

Ms Dunne said her staff and a supportive customer base had allowed her business to thrive for a quarter of a century.

"I've got two members of staff who have been there since we opened, and anybody who comes into our shop would agree it's a really friend and welcoming environment," she said.

"We've done everything we possibly can to create a community within our store, which means people don't just come to shop, they come in to just say hi.

"When we re-opened a few days after the fires, we sent a text message to our customer database saying 'we're open and we're here for a chat and a hug'. People came in droves because they needed someone to talk to or to cry with, and that went on for months.

"We've got customers who are still shopping with us 25 years later. I had an elderly woman come in the other day who brought in a four-page spread I'd done in the Bay Post about 23 years ago.

"She had photos of the staff and all the articles I'd written, and she just handed it over to me. She also brings in mince tarts for the girls every Christmas."

Innovation and change in the health food industry has also helped keep GO VITA ahead of the game.

"In 2007, just as the global financial crisis hit, we doubled the size of our store," Ms Dunne said. "That was an incredible leap of faith while everybody was talking doom and gloom about the world going into a depression.

"We launched an online store just as COVID hit, because we knew health was so important. We were doing deliveries from Batemans Bay to Narooma at no cost.

"One of the great things about this industry is that it's constantly changing and evolving, and that keeps you and your customers interested.

"I have to always be researching to look for new products and trends. In 25 years, we've seen it go from focusing on whole foods to becoming more focused on vitamins, and now it's coming back around again to more whole foods and super foods.

"When it comes to diet, things chop and change all the time, but when you've been in the industry as long as I have, you can see the things that will stay because there will always be people with gluten intolerances or other health issues.

"Some people will get on the bandwagon, but that's always short lived."

Looking forward, Bev said she's just "going with it".

"We put the business on the market 12 months ago, but I'm just going with it," she said.

"I've always given my staff responsibility because the key to a good business is that it doesn't need you.

"I've achieved that for a long time, and it's given me freedom to still live my life."