For independent retailers battling supermarket behemoths, achieving significant revenue and sales growth requires more than just good products – it demands a compelling vision and strategic execution. LaManna, Australia’s largest independent supermarket on a single site, has cracked the code by transforming an unutilised industrial site at Essendon Fields into a Melbourne retail destination.

Based on insights from CEO Patrick LaManna, the business’s success and continued growth are anchored in three key areas: Strategic location as a destination, a successful rebranding and culture-driven experience, and constant product innovation.

The decision to locate LaManna at Essendon Fields, driven by the foresight of Patrick’s father, Vince LaManna, has been the single most impactful factor on the business’s revenue growth.

LaManna defied traditional retail wisdom by setting up shop in an aviation and commercial precinct. Instead of relying on local residential foot traffic, they created a destination shop that attracts shoppers from all over Melbourne and Essendon Fields’ thousands of daily workers. This is made possible by the site’s easy access:

• Freeway connectivity: Being “right here, the corridor of Melbourne,” off the freeway, allows customers to drive past multiple competitor supermarkets to get there with ease. As Patrick notes, a customer in Caulfield South is willing to drive 35 minutes to Essendon Fields but would not make a similar trip to a suburban competitor.
• The “Essendon Fields Community”: While residential population is sparse, the 6,000 people who work at Essendon Fields provide a constant, engaged base of regular customers.
  The bottom-line impact is clear: the Essendon Fields location ensures a wide catchment area, driving high traffic volumes of committed customers willing to travel for the unique experience and products.

LaManna’s post-COVID recovery and sustained growth trend can further be directly attributed to a significant rebranding initiative in July 2024, which served to unite the business and enhance its proposition as a destination.

Patrick says the rebrand marked a consistent trend upwards in sales: “If you look back at our data, we kind of started the trend upwards consistently from that date.” The rebrand was not just cosmetic; it reinforced the core value proposition of hospitality and family heritage.

Sales are driven by providing an experience customers “can’t get elsewhere.” This is encapsulated in the value “Family Matters,” where team members are instructed to “treat [customers] like your mum.”

Patrick believes that customers who drive past several supermarkets do so for a “feeling” and a “sense of belonging”. This commitment to a strong, family-driven culture ensures high-quality customer service, transforming a transactional supermarket visit into a memorable, personal outing. This generates the powerful, low-cost marketing of word-of-mouth and customer advocacy.

The business’s nimbleness as an independent entity allows for rapid product development (NPD) and a consistent reinvention of the business, a lesson Patrick reinforced after the challenges of the pandemic.

High-volume unique products: The introduction of specific, high-quality, and highly marketable products has created significant sales spikes and brought in new customers. Examples include:

• Cinnamon Scrolls: Peaked at 9,5000 units a week, drawing customers who would buy multiples and travel specifically for the item.
• Cannoli: A staggering 350,000 units are sold annually, all hand-piped, reinforcing the commitment to quality and Italian heritage.
• Family recipes: Core products like the lasagna, based on traditional family recipes and made in their production site, build authenticity and emotional connection with the customer base.

These unique, Instagram phenomenon items drive significant foot traffic, compelling customers to visit the destination store and then inevitably purchase a full basket of groceries a critical sales driver for any supermarket. By constantly “trying new things” and generating excitement, LaManna ensures that a trip to Essendon Fields remains a compelling, revenue-generating activity.