Anita and Raffi Varvarian sent me this lovely retrospective of the businesses' 30th anniversary and I'm ashamed to say I missed the email. So now they have been running the business for 30 years and some months as their official anniversary was 1 July 2018
Raffi was 22 years old when he decided to buyMacarty and Norris and borrowed money from his parents, plus their home as security . Anita was just 19 and did a church-run book keeping course to start the paperwork, which was only done once a week on Saturday mornings.
Macarty & Norris was founded in 1923 and the couple bought it from the son-in-law of one of the original owners. Anita says: "We started before the age of computers. In that time we have made many improvements and changes, including a move in premises from a residential street to a light industrial site. This move was a relief to both ourselves and our old neighbours.
"One of our biggest achievements was surviving the recession of the early 90’s when our interest rate was up in the 24% range.It wasn’t until the hail storm in 1999 and Raffi got RSI from handwriting the quotes that we made the huge leap forward to the new premises. Over the years we have raised a family of three children, two of whom are staff members.
"We currently have a most valuable staff member and friend who has been with us for 25 years. We have always maintained the values of a family run business, and are small with an average staff of eight.
"We remain friends with the person we bought the business from, and thank him every time we meet up."
Editor's note: This is a tough industry and we love to celebrate a business' longevity or any win such as a local business award. Please send your stories through to samstreet@yaffa.com.au and I won't miss them this time, promise!