CALTEX HARDEN
Happiness served daily!
Situated three and a half hours from Sydney and 130 kilometres from Wagga, there is a small town called Harden, Murrumburrah, the birthplace of the Australian light horse cavalry unit, known for its historic past. Nowadays you can find a modern-day gem there, known as Caltex Harden. This month, we spoke with the Retail manager of Petro National, Tiernan Smith and site manager Colette to understand how they have taken this site to the next level, and transformed it into a valuable and profitable site for the group.
The site has also added a slushie machine to their offer and that has been a huge hit with the school kids and travellers! Dippin’ Dots Ice Cream has also been added, this is a very popular product given the price point of the ice cream. As a result of the above changes in food, their coffee has grown to 28% from October 2024 to October 2025 this year.
Passport to Profit Program
“New Sunrise continues to offer a program that is new to the market, filled with unique and powerful pricing. From $1 chocolate bars to red hot deals on energy drinks, the Sunrise Leaders does the job of bringing customers in the store. There are so many incentives for the customers that it becomes hard for them not to purchase in store”
Planograms
“We increased our Gondola Ends and reviewed our breadth of range which has definitely helped increase store sales and even though there is more range, customers (local and travellers) are buying more. Planograms from the New Sunrise Members portal were used to revamp food and remerchandising of the site. Our store categories have increased and beverages have grown 20% in store compared to the previous year. The site can only expect this to grow with the warmer weather not too far away.”
Customer Service and Accelerate training
“Our staff enjoy what they do and as a result connect to our customers. Customers will pay if the service and offer is maintained. Accelerate training offered by New Sunrise is an important feature when inducting new staff.”
External Factors
2025 has seen large uncertainties in the market, largely due to external factors that are really out of our control. This includes: Tobacco legislation and illegal operators; more independent petrol operators and convenience stores and general overheads
What Caltex Harden is doing to combat these changes?
Colette and Tiernan focused on improving the fresh food offer, building the coffee brand, staff training and retail execution via the P2P program.
Food
In 2025 Jill & Jack’s Daily pies and rolls were introduced into the store “This has been an enormous success. There has been a 21% increase in unit sales of pies and sausage rolls over the last 12 months. Sausage rolls and the Steak, Cheese & Bacon pies have been the most popular. We have expanded the offer in the heated units with the inclusion of the perfect fryer.
Sandwiches have remained steady in the store, however we will soon be preparing our own fresh sandwiches and wraps. We have listened to customers regarding having fresh as well as more healthy-friendly food varieties in store”
Branding
Tiernan, Head of Retail for Petro National, recently rebranded the site to Caltex in an effort to give more exposure to local and travellers, offering them a quality product as well as brand that has resonated in the Australian market for many years. The difference has been noticed throughout the town. The external of the store has lifted immensely and they now have a quality branded fuel product in a highly competitive market.
The site also now features the Sunny brand identifier on the fascia of the building. “Having New Sunrise branded elements are also important as it allows customers to be exposed to the retail offer in our store, given the amount of advertising through both the social media and online platforms. Better exposure results in more local and traveller awareness that there is a Sunrise Local Store in your local area.
“There have been many external challenges in the last 12 months. We have seen a 50% reduction in tobacco sales and overheads have increased substantially. However, the fresh food offer coupled with the promotional program and the redesign and branding of the store has significantly helped offset the loss.”
On behalf of the team at New Sunrise, we wish Caltex Harden all the best in their continued success and growth. If you find yourself travelling through south west NSW, stop in and say G’day to the team.
