Fuel

One of the hardest items we have found to purchase unchained is fuel. That's not altogether surprising given 5 retailers between them have 87% market share [source: IBIS World Automative Fuel Retailing in Australia May 2010].

When you consider that within the remaining 13% are, what we would consider within our project, chains such as Matilda and 7-11, it's easy to see why buying unchained fuel is so difficult.

Major independent chains between them operate around 670 stores across Australia.

Amongst true independents, it wasn't possible to find too much information in the public domain. The report cited as a source earlier also yielded little in the way of substantive information.

It certainly is possible to find unchained fuel within Brisbane. Like with most other commodity items, doing so requires a change in consumer habits. The closest outlet to Brisbane CBD we have found is Bizzell's in Paddington. Being independent it has reduced opening hours, Monday-Friday 7am - 6pm.

There is an additional outlet along Kelvin Grove Road, we haven't as yet made it here to establish opening hours.

Unchain my thoughts, set me free....

It can be hard to change your thought process about what you need to do/buy in a day when you are trying to live an unchained life. Last night I was trying out my new sewing machine for the first time, and had to drag our big kitchen table over to a different wall in order to access the plug socket. Stu said to me 'why don't you pop to Bunnings tomorrow to pick up an extension lead'. We both had to pause for a moment to work out why this just didn't seem right...

The weather has turned colder now in Brisbane, and we don't have much in the way of cover up clothing for the baby, so I caught myself thinking 'I'll just pop to K-Mart to get her some more pyjamas'. Another no-no. Now this one IS going to be tough - I don't want to be going to exclusive baby boutiques to buy jamas for a 4 month old, but I can't think of anywhere cheap and cheerful that isn't a chain. Hmmmm...

At some point also I need to shop for groceries. I took the little one for her jabs this morning and she has been a bit sad ever since, so I didn't have the heart today, but we're running out of excuses. Oh, and food.

Second Day, First Fail....?

Yesterday (May 2nd) we decided to head to Peregian Beach on the sunshine coast to catch up with some friends for the day. First though, we had to deal with a cat who was pissing blood (if I sound calm about this, it's because it's not that unusual an occurence for the big guy unfortunately). So off to the vet - because OF COURSE he has to wait til Sunday to need an emergency appointment. Brief moment of panic as I remembered what it is we're supposed to be doing this month - quickly allayed by confirming that my vet has only 3 locations. Plus I don't think that they are a franchise - more an independent with a few locations. Which is a massive relief, because trying to source a new vet for a cat that is pissing blood on a Sunday when he already goes to the only specialist cat vets in Brisbane would have been..... let's say frustrating...

So then on to our next task, something which would have seemed so easy 3 days ago but suddenly takes on a new twist when you're trying to do it unchained. We plugged in the details of where we needed to go to meet up with our friends, and set along happily on our way (we weren't quite singing the happy wanderer or anything, but you get the picture). I then had one of those crashing iceberg thoughts arranging in my head moments - the computer in the car reckoned we had 230kms left on our fuel, and the sat nav reckoned we had a 260km round trip. Now I knew that once we got on the motorway and engaged cruise control our fuel efficiency would be markedly improved, and we'd probably make it, but could not shake that yukky feeling... what if? Obviously having a 4 month old strapped in the back changes things a bit on the old decision making front too.

So we're on the road, we don't have a massive amount of fuel, we have a baby in the back, and we have phones which are about to die of battery death. We know of ONE independent fuel place near us, although there has been some robust debate between us about whether it is still in operation (because it turned out that I was wrong, we won't be covering that debate in detail). We head there - shut. Did I mention it's Sunday on a public holiday weekend? We fire up the phones, praying to the gods of small-portable-fantastic-electronic-devices-with-low-battery-levels-but-which-are-essential-when-searching-the-web-on-the-move. Googling 'independent petrol station brisbane' is a hiding to nothing - I'm guessing that independent petrol stations can't afford to spend loads of SEO consultants. I suddenly remember that I have in iphone app called 'GasBag' which gives petrol station locations - a quick click on there though just reveals a sea of all too familiar logos. However, further inspection reveals a few logos which are just a petrol pump - no corporate branding, nothing, and clicking on them reveals some names which are NOT familiar, one of which even includes the word 'independent' in the title.

To cut a long story short - did I mention that it's Sunday on a public holiday weekend?

We're pulled over, debating what to do. Neither of us want to give up on a trip to the coast on a sunny bank holiday weekend to see some good friends. Neither of us want to be so totally pathetic that we can't even manage 2 days before caving in to the chains, especially when no-one has even read the blog yet (where is everyone?). There's a place en route which has THE most promising name - Freedom Fuels, so we head there. As we pull in my heart sinks a little bit - it looks like...well... a PROPER petrol station. We hold our breath and google it - it kind of meets our rules. It's independently owned, it's 100% Australian owned, it sells fuel, it seems touchy feely (as touchy feely as a petrol station can).... but it has a TON of locations. This definitely is in breach of my arbitrary no more than 5 rule.

D'you know what though? This is the best we can do, and I don't feel bad about it. We should have been more organised and got our fuel a different day, but we didn't. We picked the only option that we really had that day, and we still did it to the best of our unchained abilities. And what we DID learn is that there are a TON of options out there for independent fuel, which is one of the things I was convinced was going to trip us up pretty quickly with this whole adventure. Also, living the unchained life means accepting that some companies just don't open on the days we expect them to now that we have this 24/7 consumer culture, and doing a bit more planning ahead.

So onwards and upwards, and lessons learnt all round. I don't really think it's a fail (perhaps I'm reframing), but might lead to a rule review...

A rule has been decided!

So, upon returning from the deli cafe at the Cat & Fiddle in Toowong having safely sourced some yummy coffees, we had another robust debate (I sense some of those on the horizon) about whether getting coffee from an independent (the cafe) that is manufactured by a chain (Merlo) is acceptable. Basically if the end retailer is independent, we think go ahead.

8 Hours in, and hit our first snag

As a rule on a weekend morning (and sometimes on a weekday morning, and sometimes just cos the day ends in Y) we treat ourselves to some coffee & croissants from the French Patisserie at our local shops (which are fortunately enough a little haven of lovely independents). HOWEVER! The French Patisserie, whilst being independently owned (as far as we can see) has 2 or 3 shops dotted around. Does this make it a chain? I think more than one shop means chain personally, but Stu reckons we can't think that way - otherwise we're ruling out too much stuff, and also how then do you support the local entrepreneur who wants to expand? Good point, but where do you draw the line....?

Welcome to Brisbane Unchained

Inspiration
Inspired by a blog post from Courier Mail food writer Natascha Mirosch and also by Dave Gorman's America Unchained, we (somewhat unoriginally) decided that for the month of May we should attempt to live an Unchained lifestyle.

What Does This Mean?
Basically in principal this means avoiding chains for everything: groceries, fuel, alcohol etc. It has also been mooted that we should shop as ethically as possible; reducing food miles, buying organic foodstuffs where possible, buying unchained too so products from large conglomerates etc could be out too.

The Rules
Much debate has been had about what constitutes a chain for us. Whilst it's easy to agree that Coles, Woolies etc are out, what does it mean for our favourite franchisees (I'm looking longingly at you Pizza Capers)? Also what does it mean for IGA? It's an independent chain of franchisees who are all nice and sell yummy food and are a bit.... well, nice? Can this really be an unchained month if we decide to include chains that we like? I think this is something we might have to work out along the way.... maybe our chaining instincts will kick in soon.

Mitigating Circumstances
We have my (Emma's) parents visiting us during May and whilst we shall attempt to influence their buying behaviours, we cannot necessarily guarantee that we be able to do so. They're old and a bit set in their ways! We also have a 3 month old daughter so sometimes we need to eat 'conveniently' at the end of what may have been a tiring day. This does not necessarily mean take-away (although once again, I'm looking longingly at you Pizza Capers) but could possibly mean a quick pasta 'n' sauce being knocked up to provide some sustenance.

What We Hope to Achieve?
Well we hope to prove, if only to ourselves, that it is possible to shop in a manner with consideration to the products being purchased. The original blog posting that inspired this commitment commented that 50% of off-sales in alcohol retailing are controlled by two organisations: Coles and Woolworths. Whilst, to us, these behemoths have a place in the retail service chain and do contribute significant amounts to the economy in terms of corporation tax and employment, there are plenty of other retailers in the local communities that contribute equally, if not more. Local stores tend to also then engage other service industries locally: accountants, other distributors and the benefits then flow through the local community further.

Supporting local stores will hopefully contribute to their survival and enable local stores to maintain a presence in local communities and not be driven out through excessive property rates which only larger chains can afford.

If anyone has read this far and sticks with us through the month - thanks! And if we then provide inspiration to others to undertake such an initiative then thank you on behalf of those recipients of your custom!