Gerry Harvey is a billionaire entrepreneur. But while many of his peers flock to Harbourside yachts, he has based himself in the west. Here he explains why...
SYDNEY is a city divided into four: You’ve got north, south, east and west and we notice in our stores the different type of people in each one of those localities.
I was selling meat the other day in Harris Farm’s markets in Broadway Shopping Centre and the week before in Pennant Hills and the week before in the north shore and there was a difference in the people. They’re all nice people but there’s a difference.
Eastern suburbs people tend to be more difficult to deal with. If you deliver a piece of furniture that’s got a slight scratch they will make a bigger fuss than anyone because they’re very into service.
Eastern suburbanites are a particular breed. They don’t like to go outside their boundaries. They don’t mind an overseas trip but if you mention Parramatta they say Where’s that?’’ Then there’s the inner westie,
‘‘
which is a western suburbs person on the way to being an eastern suburbs person. The only reason they’re not there is because they don’t have enough money yet.
Then you go to the southern suburbs, where I think some of the nicest people in Sydney live. They’re regular people. They’re easy to deal with. They’re not difficult. They’re more typically
Australian’’ — whatever that is. More salt of the earth types.
Then you go to the north shore. In the beaches they are beaches people. When we bought the
‘‘ Steyne Hotel in Manly it became very clear that we were in among them and if you do it their way they’ll support you.
North shore people see themselves as quality citizens but in a lot of cases they’re living beyond their means. They save and work hard and overextend themselves so their kids can go the best schools.
And they always dress well. Someone on the north shore will always look nice even if they’re 70 and just going down to the shops.
Then you go out to this place, the west, where you’ve got your real average Australian—which is every nationality you can think of.
And it’s fascinating if you’re a salesperson dealing with all different people because it’s so different. In a day you could talk to 15 different nationalities.
And I just find them interesting to talk to: You’ve got this great cultural diversity that people in other suburbs don’t quite appreciate until they get out here and experience it.
If you want the finer things of life and go to art galleries and top restaurants and overseas trips that’s fine. I’d rather food from my vegie patch.
I like ordinary people and I don’t care what nationality they are or what suburb they live in. I just like hard-working ordinary people who have no airs about them, no graces, and their motives are simple. You can see through them easily — there’s no deceit.
You can see it in their eyes, see it in their speech and the way they carry themselves. They’re just decent people, whether they’re rich or poor. They’re just decent people.
West is best: Gerry is a frontier man
Printed and distributed by NewpaperDirect | www.newspaperdirect.com, US/Can: 1.877.980.4040, Intern: 800.6364.6364 | Copyright and protected by applicable law.
Vote for this story Well WrittenNot Well Written
Readers voted for this story:
Post your comments...
Name (required)
Submit Comment Submission Policy
Reason for reporting this as abuse (optional)
Note: We will review the comment and then decide whether it should be removed.
Submit Cancel
Submit Cancel