Roger Drake commenced his working career with the Coles Myer Group in 1965. After working his way through all facets of the supermarket industry he decided to put his skill into his own company, and in 1974 he opened his first supermarket – Jack and Jill's, a 3-lane supermarket at Mitcham. He employed 4 staff.
In 1977 the company opened its first large supermarket at Torrensville and has expanded to become South Australia's largest independent supermarket chain, extending from Wallaroo in the north, to Seaford in the south and Kingscote across the water. Between 1998 – 2001, the group underwent a period of unprecedented growth, more than doubling in size, turnover and employee numbers.
The company's targeted acquisition phase began with the Davids Group of Companies which sold off a large number of its South Australian Foodland stores. Roger and his team purchased 7 of those stores, plus three other independently owned Foodland stores. With the collapse of Franklins Ltd, the company acquired another four stores at Elizabeth Park, Clovercrest, Aberfoyle Park and Franklins most prestigious store at Golden Grove. Wallaroo Foodland, Moonta Foodland and Kingscote Foodland on Kangaroo Island have added country stores to the company's portfolio, which also included our first liquor store being established in 2003, Cellarbrations at Wallaroo.
In 2004 one of the most significant events in Drake Foodmarkets history occurred, with our first interstate acquisition in Queensland. 6 Supa IGA stores were purchased in total during 2004 and we continued to expand our Queensland operation in 2006.