Wilsons Fruit and Vegetables

Arthur Wilson planted apple trees and a market garden on 30 acres at Warrenheip, just east of Ballarat, in the years after World War Two, selling cauliflowers, cabbages, silverbeet, pumpkin and carrots from a tractor and trailer parked on the roadside. Eight decades and three generations later, that roadside stall has grown into Wilsons Fruit and Vegetables, a full greengrocer trading seven days a week in Ballarat Central.

Three generations from roadside stall to Mair Street

The business opened its first small shop in 1977, when son Trevor Wilson left school to join the orchard and market garden, supplementing home-grown produce with stock from the Melbourne Wholesale Market. Road development plans eventually pushed Wilsons off its Warrenheip site, leading to a purpose-built store there in 1992 and, after continued growth, the move to the current Mair Street East premises in August 2002. In 1997 the business won the Melbourne Markets Regional Fruit and Vegetable Retailer of the Year award, and it remains family owned and operated, with Trevor and Kay Wilson's children now involved in running it.

The business has now outlasted two previous premises, a roadside trailer and a purpose-built Warrenheip store, both eventually left behind as Ballarat's road network grew up around them, before settling into its current Mair Street East home. Each move brought a bigger range with it, from a handful of home-grown vegetables to a full greengrocer and deli under one roof.

Good to know before you go

With seven-day trading from 8:30am, Wilsons works as a regular grocery stop rather than a once-a-week market visit, closing only on public holidays. The Mair Street East site includes a delicatessen alongside the fruit and vegetable range, making it a one-stop option for a full weekly shop in Ballarat Central, and the delicatessen counter has been part of the store since 2004.