The deals, believed to cost several  hundred thousand dollars, represents the co-op’s first foray outside its home base since 1974, when the Noorat trading store closed.

Wallace Plumbtec on Peterborough Road, Terang, will become a leased co-op outlet from July 1 and the Camperdown Hardware store will be leased and re-opened under the co-op banner in August.

All eight jobs at the two outlets will be retained.

Co-op chairman Wayne Johnstone and general manager Charlie Duynhoven said the two businesses purchased were a good fit.

“It is a win for smaller communities if businesses in these towns are owned within those communities, at least on a collective basis,” Mr Johnstone said.

“Supporting local businesses reaps more benefit for the community because sales and jobs do not leave small towns for the bigger towns.

“The Camperdown Hardware business represents an opportunity for the co-op to maintain its economic strength in an era where size does matter in terms of customer base and buying power.

“Confining operations to Terang would restrict growth and inevitably lead to competition with local businesses when not absolutely necessary.”

He said the new ventures would strengthen the co-op as the district’s major retailer and profits would be ploughed back into the community.

Co-op dairy services will be relocated to Peterborough Road while plumbing hardware goods will go to the main co-op site on Baynes Street.

“The light manufacturing facilities of Wallace Plumbtec naturally complement not just the dairy services and dairy constructions segments of the co-op, but also the requirements of tradesmen who source plumbing materials from the co-op,” Mr Duynhoven said.