Blink and you’ll miss it. For anyone travelling along the Calder Highway, just north of Bendigo, it may be hard to believe that the sleepy town of Inglewood was once one of the most populous centres in the state. A major hub during the mid-19th century gold rush, today its ornate Victorian architecture is the only visible vestige of the town’s booming past. However, there’s more than meets the eye in Inglewood. Hard work and self-reliance were central to the character of any successful prospector on the goldfields, and 150 years on, these virtues continue to shape the identities of the small business community today. Despite a drop in foot traffic, failing telecommunications infrastructure, and increasingly adverse weather events – the local traders are as tenacious as they’ve ever been.

Inglewood & Loddon Shire at a glance

A City in the Scrub

Arriving in droves with picks, pans, and canvas tents, the diggers quickly erected a settlement around what would become the town of Inglewood. By 1861, the town boasted at least twenty-two (licensed) hotels, a theatre, four banks, ten grocery stores, four drapers, a newspaper, a municipal council, a courthouse, gaol, post office, and police buildings. The swift development of Inglewood earned it the nickname, the ‘City in the Scrub’. As the settlement grew, farming land was cleared to feed the diggers and their families, and the agricultural industry quickly advanced.

Boom, Bust & Beyond

Loddon Shire Councillor, Wendy Murphy, is a sixth-generation Inglewood local. Over the course of 160 years, her family has witnessed the evolution of Inglewood for better and worse. “My five times great-grandfather was a mining engineer who came to Inglewood during the gold rush,” she explains. “He had a crushing machine that was used in the deep quartz mining.” Despite the magnificent returns in the early 1860s, the period of deep quartz mining had all but ended by 1867. As the turn of the century neared, Inglewood’s population dwindled to nearly a tenth of its initial size, and those who remained – including Wendy’s family – knew that a new economic activity was needed to revitalise the town’s prospects.

The eCommerce Lifeline

To help drive more revenue, both Nicole and Catherine have turned to eCommerce. “We don't always get repeat business… so I created my online store,” explains Nicole, who sells her own range of homemade eucalyptus-oil based candles, reed diffusers, bath salts, and soaps. “People might only come here once, but they generally will buy again online,” she says. Similarly for Catherine, selling her items online has allowed her to reach a much wider market, “We actually gained customers from overseas,” she says.

These shifting business models reflect a broader trend that is playing out nationally. A recent report by Australia Post confirmed that, despite there being a decrease in eCommerce orders nationally, online shopping in regional areas was on the rise, with the number of online purchases in remote and outer rural areas increasing year on year by 5.7% and 6.4%, respectively. However, it’s a double-edged sword. While it may ensure the survival of some individual businesses, the same can’t be said for the vitality of towns.

Catherine and Barry also know the survival of their business hinges on their ability to adapt. “You have to have a plan B, a plan C, a plan D,” says Catherine. Last year they took out a stall at another vintage emporium in Elmore to reach a different market, and recently they have decided to only open their Inglewood store on a pop-up basis in order to afford Catherine more time to develop the online business. “It's just another plan to try and help our business be sustainable,” she says.

The Future of Inglewood

The story of Inglewood starts like many other regional Australian towns. How it ends is in the hands of its traders and those who support them. Nicole, Catherine, Barry, and Deb may just be a few individuals but their resilience, community-mindedness, and work ethic provide a beacon of hope for the future of small towns across the country. By working together, embracing new technology, and adapting their business models, small-town merchants will continue to find new ways to help their towns survive. It’s now up to customers to help them thrive.