We are Reilly’s – a second-generation family-owned retailer located in Bendigo. Our parents Kevin & Marlene Reilly started the business in 1981 in our previous store on the corner of Hargreaves and Mundy Street.

The business was originally a mum-and-dad store, expanding as the years progressed from 3 to 5 to 8 to 10 staff. Over that time we saw it all, from Commodore 64s to colour television replacing the old black and white. Bendigo and the world has changed a great deal.

My brother and I joined the business shortly after it began. Since then, we have expanded to our current store where we proudly display one of Country Victoria’s largest range of whitegoods from the world’s best brands.

Australia is now the flavour of choice for brands from Europe looking to expand – and a lot of these are looking for partners outside of the normal chain stores to get their products to market. This is why we can provide such a unique mix of mainstream and specialty brands.

Our stock is unique – you can enter a chain store in any city in any state and the store layout, products and featured brands will be identical.

As an independent store, we can deal with other brands that offer unique products that we like. And as a part of a national buying group, we have the power to buy from brands directly.

A question we get from time to time is how do we compete with the larger stores that offer special web prices and a constant stream of weekend and four-day sales?

The answer is that we are always competitively priced. We can do this because our overheads are a lot lower, we are fortunate enough to own our own building, and we close on Sundays.

We also offer good old-fashioned service and staff that actually enjoy their job.