Norman moved from Goondiwindi to Toowoomba to sell fruit and vegetables from a horse and cart in town. Later he incorporated fabrics and clothing in his door to door sales.Then in 1946 he decided follow a new path as a travelling draper. Norman purchased a Red Chevrolet truck from the Stephens family near Dalby. This red truck became a familiar site across the Darling Downs and Lockyer Valley.

Travelling by truck meant that Norman was able to greatly increase his sales area, to the extent where he would spend up to a week in the country. These journeys became known to the family as the “Country Run’s”. Norman would camp on properties overnight, often sharing a meal with the family and then enjoying a game of cards before going to sleep in the truck.The children would help stock the truck on the weekends, then Norman would leave on Monday and arrive back in Toowoomba on Saturday. Generally his weekly country runs would rotate on a three month cycle as he travelled throughout the Crow’s Nest, Bowenville, Pittsworth, Felton and Gatton districts.

To visit all the properties meant that a lot of the small towns around Toowoomba, which we now travel to in 1-2 hours, were overnight trips back then. The majority of roads were dirt at this time so if it rained you even had the chance of getting stuck in the mud.In these years, it wasn’t easy for farmers to leave the properties so the Hannas truck provided an essential service across the region.

In 1990, the Wilsonton and North Ruthven St stores were closed and a major re-development was undertaken to expand the original site in Ruthven St. In 1997, Joe moved to Goondiwindi to take over the Cooreys store. Joe and Judy managed the store until 2002. We continue to be a genuine independent family store with 14 family members currently involved in the business. We have even seen the fourth generation of the family starting to learn the trade.