The Mungindi community will have somewhere to purchase their groceries and essential supplies from Monday, when the town's new temporary supermarket is opened to the public.
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The pop-up store will open less than two weeks after the devastating fire which destroyed the border community's only supermarket, along with butcher shop Red's Quality Meats and clothing store PJ's Country Wares.
The temporary supermarket is being set up in the disused RSL Club building, with the fit-out and cost of stock covered by the state government's $100,000 in emergency funding.
Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall visited the temporary supermarket on Thursday to see an update on its progress ahead of Monday's opening.
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"When the pop-up supermarket opens on Monday morning, it won't be just milk and bread on the shelves with locals able to access the majority of essential items normally found in their grocery store aisles," Mr Marshall said.
"Shoppers will be able to use cash for purchases, with Eftpos facilities also available.
"This week members of MPA [Mungindi Progress Association], led by Anna Harrison and Peter Prosser, have been frantically installing shelves, fridges and freezers in the RSL building, ahead of the delivery of initial stock from SPAR today.
"Apart from man hours, the set-up of the supermarket has come at no cost to Mungindi locals, with the fit-out and first delivery of products covered in the $100,000 provided by the state government.
"It has been important this supermarket is accessible to all, with MPA and Moree Plains Shire Council working closely with local groups and Aboriginal organisations to ensure all sections of the community can access what they need."
Mr Marshall said the way the town has rallied behind the owners of the three destroyed businesses and worked to pull the store together in just over a week is a "real credit to its unwavering community spirit".
"Already pushed to the brink by drought and COVID-19 border restrictions, Mungindi is a resilient community which refuses to be kicked down," he said.
"The way the town has rallied behind the owners of the three destroyed businesses and worked to pull this store together in just over a week is a real credit to its unwavering community spirit."
The pop-up supermarket is only an interim measure until a permanent store can be re-established and Mr Marshall said the owners of the SPAR Supermarket are considering maintaining a presence in Mungindi.
"Be it a week or six months, the pop-up supermarket will remain open until such times as a new supermarket is built and operational," he said.
"I have given the commitment NSW Public Works will support the effected business owners with the clean-up.
"The destruction of these businesses goes beyond the loss of bricks and mortar, it's the potential removal of jobs, sponsorship and potentially even people from the community.
"None of these are outcomes I, nor the community, want to see eventuate and so I will continue to help where I can to support the business operators to get back up and running if that is their wish."
