Ballarat's former Sunicrust bakery could be transformed into a warehouse-style discount retailer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Under the plans, it would become the Golden Point Spare Change store.
Spare Change has outlets in Melbourne's north and east - and it's hoped the Lal Lal Street store could be the biggest of the lot - creating a ' shopping destination' for customers across western Victoria.
The City of Ballarat received an application to change the land use to a retail premises on October 5.
The address, at 15-17 Lal Lal Street, also has frontage on Larter Street and Brogden Court - and sits within metres of Lake Esmond.
"We hope to give the people of Ballarat a choice - for example, when it comes to furniture," Ballarat-based Spare Change shareholder Sherry Ouyang said.
"We hope people will see that they can get the same or similar quality furniture in Ballarat - but at a cheaper price.
"At the moment many people in Ballarat have to travel a long way to get cheaper prices in Melbourne - and if you live in Warrnambool or Bendigo it could be three or four hours.
"With a shop in Ballarat, the drive for country people is only two hours."
Other Spare Change stores in Melbourne sell everything except food.
"We sell washing machines, tools, fridges, TVs, bulk dishwashing detergent, furniture, clothes, groceries - you name it," Ms Ouyang said.
"We don't sell food, but it is such a big space we are hoping to attract a separate takeaway business. There is also space for a separate plant nursery."
The former bakery site is zoned industrial and covers 1.43 ha, including 4484 square metres undercover - an area big enough to fit 23 tennis courts.
Ms Ouyang said Spare Change intended to open seven days a week until 6 or 7pm.
"We are hoping people can come in and buy things after work," she said.
"We also want to offer delivery and we are looking for a person or company who can do that."
For the moment, Ms Ouyang and her husband are busy painting the vandalised building, which has been vacant for at least a decade and the subject of several break-ins.
Sunicrust: A history
At its height Sunicrust employed more than 100 people at the Golden Point site.
The bakery - under the name Mighty Soft - closed in November 2013 after a history that linked it back to 1854.
That year, the Eureka Bakery was established by Lawrence Carter Holmes and James Weatherly. It later became the Davies Bakery.
In 1962 the business was sold to the Bunge Group and became part of the Sunicrust chain. During this time bakery operations moved to Lal Lal Street.
Have you tried The Courier's app? It can be downloaded here.