An icon of the South West has opened the doors of its second store in the heart of the region

An icon of the South West opened the doors of its second store last week in the heart of the region.

The Bunbury Farmers Market’s newest addition at Vasse Village opened last Thursday, ready to serve locals and tourists ahead of the holiday season.

The new store shares plenty of similarities with its Bunbury counterpart, but hosts a bigger cafe, enclosed dog area and a more accessible carpark to address some of the shortcomings of the Bunbury store.

Owner and founder Graham Heath said he was absolutely “thrilled to bits” to have the new store up and running in Vasse — an area he called the holiday capital of the world.

He said the store’s position near the intersection of the Busselton Bypass, Bussell Highway and Vasse Highway made the store stand out from the cities it serves allowing it to become a true “South West destination”.

Mr Heath said he had been fortunate to assemble a quality team to work in the new store and the business had continued to work with the same producers from across the South West region.

“There may be a few smaller growers that grow down here locally on the shelves,” he said.

“But, at the moment, it’s the majority of the producers that supply Bunbury, and they are just really pleased for the investment into the independent industry.”

With the Bunbury store expecting to lose about 20 per cent of its revenue as travellers heading south circumvent the city on the soon-to-open Wilman Wadandi Highway, Mr Heath said the new store was in the perfect spot to captivate South West tourists.

“And it will be great for our Bunbury guests, who have probably found it a little busy,” Mr Heath said.

He said the Bunbury store would still be receiving plenty of love and the reduction in visitors would improve things for Bunbury shoppers.

“Bunbury people are the best people, and I say that from the absolute bottom of my heart,” Mr Heath said.