After 70 years in the workforce, Tony Bernardi has officially retired - or at least taken a significant step back.
For the many long-time customers of Bernardi’s Marketplace, it’s hard to imagine the store without him. But for Tony, the idea of life without those daily connections might be even harder.
Though he’ll be doing much less, Mr Bernardi says he still looks forward to saying hello and having a chat with the beautiful people who walk through the doors of Bernardi’s each day.
In March, the Bernardi family hosted an official retirement celebration - complete with barbecue and, naturally, cake - at the Forbes store.
Daughter Louise Bernardi shared the remarkable story of her father’s life, beginning with his journey from Italy to Australia and the business he built from a humble truck run to a lasting legacy.
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Louise paid tribute not only to her parents but also to the community that has supported them over the decades, helping to make Bernardi’s the thriving enterprise it is today.
“Essential to Dad’s success has been the support that the people of the town and district have given so generously through all these years,” Louise said.
“Both Mum and Dad so often talk about the many, many wonderful people they’ve met and known through the business — loyal people whose friendship has made the supermarket so much more than a business.
For my brothers and me, the enduring partnership of our parents has been fundamental for so much good in our lives.”
War-torn beginnings and new horizons
Tony Bernardi was one of seven siblings, born on the eve of a devastating war that would ravage his homeland.
By the age of 10, his basic education was complete, and he entered the seminary alongside his twin brother Mario to train for the priesthood.
After three years, the boys returned home to work with their father on the small family farm.
Using only hand tools, they grew nearly all their food and produced enough fodder for their 12 milking cows. Their one luxury? A horse leading several cows to pull a plough guided by their father.
Life was hard but secure within a large, loving extended family.
At just 15 years old, Tony made a life-changing decision: to leave Italy and join his uncle on a small farm at Fitzgerald’s Bridge in Forbes, Australia.
When he arrived at 17, he carried only a £20 note from his father - a note he never broke, despite working long, unpaid hours and battling homesickness. Instead, he sent it back to his father feeling his family needed it more.
After two years, Tony moved on to grow vegetables with another young migrant on 20 acres of rented land. They lived in a corrugated iron hut attached to their packing shed.
It was during this time that Tony met Helen, who was just 14. Though he spoke little English, Helen recalled his infectious energy and joyful vitality.
In 1960, their property was devastated by floods so Tony converted his small truck into a mobile fruit and vegetable stand, leaving home at 2:30 a.m. to serve outlying towns.
He took orders via roadside mailboxes and slept in the truck’s cabin through the extremes of the central west's summers and winters. He did this for eight years.
Building a family business
In 1969 - 14 years after leaving Italy - Tony returned home for the first time to visit family.
When he came back to Forbes, he opened Bernardi’s Drive-In Food Mart. For the first six or seven years, he didn’t take a single day off.
Helen was by his side every step of the way - keeping the books, working in the store, raising four children, and embracing Italian culture, language, and cuisine.
Their children - David, Peter, Joseph, and Louise - inherited their parents’ work ethic early, helping out after school, on weekends, and during school holidays.
Over the next 27 years, the business grew into Bernardi’s IGA, and eventually Bernardi’s Marketplace.
In 1994, David launched Discount Dave’s, a new concept store offering affordable goods. And in 2012, the family opened the flagship supermarket that stands today — incorporating Discount Dave’s and Life Pharmacy.
A lasting legacy
Today, the Bernardi Group operates four large-format independent supermarkets in Forbes, Bathurst, Blayney, and West Wyalong, as well as a stand-alone Discount Dave’s in Parkes.
With more than 500 staff, the business remains committed to supporting local suppliers and the communities it serves.
Though Tony may have stepped back, the roots he planted continue to grow — nurtured by family, fortified by friendship, and carried forward by the legacy of a life well lived.
