Taking stock

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Josie and Leo Casella created their dream corner store and in doing so, have become the glue of their quiet suburb. By Kate de Brito.

Life came together for Josie Casella, 38, in 1999 when she drove past a run-down corner store in a quiet Brisbane suburb. As she peered through the dusty windows of the 60-year-old shop in leafy Tarragindi – about six kilometres from the city – Josie fell head-over-heels in love. With husband Leo, 42, she hatched a plan to buy the neglected shop and turn it into something more than just a pit stop for bread, milk and newspapers.

Eight years later, Josie’s dream is a thriving reality. The once empty shelves are scrubbed clean and filled with groceries, and the shop is a bustling community hub where locals come to meet, catch up and connect. Josie knows almost all her customers by name, and in 2006 Josie & Leo’s Convenience Store was named a finalist in the Paul’s Community Store of the Year award.

5.30am: Josie wakes to an alarm and gets up to start ironing and laying out clothes for the family. “I know I should do it all at once, but I like the quiet time,” says Josie. While her children David, 13 and Amelia, 11, continue to sleep, Josie watches the morning news or jumps on the treadmill for a 30-minute workout. For the past three years the Casella family lived in the three rooms directly behind the shop. While many people would complain about the less-than-perfect conditions – just two bedrooms and a kitchen – Josie says it brought the family closer together. It wasn’t until July this year that they moved into their own house.

6.30am: Showered and dressed, it’s time to open up the shop. Josie and Leo’s new five-bedroom home is ideally situated, directly across the park from the store. Josie strolls the short distance to the store, unlocks the double doors and brings out tables and chairs. With Leo’s help, she brings in newspapers and daily deliveries of bread and milk, fruit and vegetables. Back home, David and Amelia get up, have breakfast and start preparing for school. It’s been a new experience for Josie to give the children this freedom after years of living behind the shop. But she can’t conceal her joy at having a new home and space for the family to grow. “I love what we do here, but it’s been nice to be able to close the doors and say: ‘Work is over; let’s enjoy some family time,’” says Josie.

7am: The first customers begin to trickle in. Josie knows she will be almost non-stop throughout the day as people drop in to get food for work and school in the mornings, then lunches and later, for dinner. Along with the usual bread, milk and ice-cream, Josie and Leo sell gourmet frozen meals, homemade dips and yoghurts, and serve coffee and sandwiches. They also rent out DVDs and take in dry-cleaning. Unlike many of the impersonal 24-hour convenience stores, Josie and Leo wanted to maintain the look of an old corner store, complete with original shelving. “From the moment I walked in, I just had a really warm feeling,” recalls Josie. “It looked like an old-fashioned milk bar and I just wanted to open it up and bring it back to what it used to be.” David and Amelia arrive at the store and David soon hops on the bus to his nearby high school.

8am: The morning coffee rush begins and Josie is busy at the till while Leo works the machine. A group of children stop by on their way to school. With a primary school just up the road and a bus stop outside, Josie and Leo’s store is a regular haunt for local children. “We’re very lucky to be in this wonderful neighbourhood. It’s lovely to be a part of their lives and watch their children grow up,” says Josie. Amelia has been finishing homework out the back and heads out when a group of her friends arrive to walk up the road to the local primary school together. For the next 45 minutes, Josie is flat out serving customers and chatting with regulars. She begins preparing the homemade sandwiches and toasted Turkish breads for lunch.

9am: As the morning rush eases, Josie and Leo grab a minute to sit down at a table outside in the sun and share a quick coffee and some breakfast. They employ one casual staff member to help out two days a week, and two school-age girls to work afternoons and weekends. Even while she’s having a break, Josie is still busy greeting customers. She waves as a regular drives past and beeps his horn. “We work seven days a week, so we decided early on it was important for us to make our job social as well,” says Josie. “A lot of our customers are our friends now. And people talk to us about all sorts of things. In a way we’re a bit like social workers. But it works both ways; they support us just as much as we support them.” Josie and Leo’s store is also a safety house for children and they’ve been known to babysit kids at the store when parents are running late, or even lend a couple of dollars to school children who’ve lost their bus pass.

9.30am: Josie is back inside serving customers and Leo is on the coffee machine. Jovial and laid-back, he says becoming store owners was the best move they ever made. Formerly an accountant, Leo was working in a fruit and vegetable market when Josie spotted the store. She was working part-time in a coffee shop. “There’s not much free time now, but it’s been good for us as a family. Some couples can’t work together, but me and Josie, we don’t have a problem. And I think the community likes it, too –  that we’re a husband and wife running the store. It’s more personal.” It also means Josie and Leo are the best-known couple in the area. During family dinners at their local Thai restaurant, they usually find they know most people in the restaurant. “One night there were new owners and I’m sure they were really confused about why we knew everyone,” laughs Josie. “They must have thought we were celebrities.”

11am: The phone rings and Josie takes a call from an elderly customer who lives nearby, but can’t get to the store because she is caring for her husband who is recovering after a recent accident. Josie leaps into action, packing groceries into a brown paper bag before heading to her car to make the free delivery. “I do deliveries for a number of people in the area,” says Josie. “Sometimes they’re not feeling well or they’re housebound.” Josie pulls into the driveway of a tidy Queenslander and is greeted like a long-lost friend by her customer, Eileen. “She really is the best thing that ever happened to this area,” says Eileen. The pair chat for a few minutes and then Josie heads back to the store.

12pm: The lunch rush begins, and Josie starts preparing food behind the counter. It’s a steady pace, but she stops for a minute to chat and exchange gossip with a friend and customer, Alzira. “Mostly we see regulars, but we do get passers-by,” says Josie. “One of the best parts about my job is when someone new comes to the area we’re often able to introduce them to other people in their street or other people who have children. Sometimes we feel like the glue that sticks people together.”

2pm: As the lunch rush dies down, Josie makes herself a sandwich and sits down for a quick bite. For the next hour she’s busy stacking shelves, catching up on bookwork, paying bills and ordering for the next day. On quiet days Josie will duck out to do chores or clothes shopping. “At least we don’t have to do grocery shopping; we’ve got it all right here,” she laughs. Leo continues to serve customers as they pop in throughout the afternoon.

3.30pm: David and Amelia arrive home from school. Other school kids are also flocking into the store, keen to spend their pocket money at the well-stocked lolly counter. “One of the things that first attracted me to this place was the lovely, old-fashioned sweet cabinet. I just wanted it to be like it was when we were kids.” David heads off to skateboard with a friend and Josie drives Amelia up the road to her dancing lessons while Leo holds the fort behind the counter.

4.30pm: David does his homework and Josie pops home to check on him. “Some days we have a coffee and go down and play in the park,” she says. “Usually the kids get one or the other of us because we can’t take time off together. But the beauty of this business is it’s flexible, so we make it suit our lifestyle.” Both Amelia and David are expected to help out around the store. Far from slave labour, the work has given both children valuable people skills and a sense of responsibility. “Because this is where we’ve been living, that’s part of their duties and responsibilities to the family,” says Josie. David empties recycling and takes out the bins and Amelia helps serve at the till. “If they want to earn money on the weekends they’ll negotiate certain hours with us and we’ll pay them for that.”

Photography: Scott Hawkins. Hair & make-up: Liz Golding.