Upper Beaconsfield
UB General Store
Café, bakery, retail, garden supplies, pet and stockfeed, firewood, LPG, water cartage and local essentials.
Location & hours0
Supplying the Hills since 1885
We are a family-run group of general stores, cafés and local services built around one simple idea: the Hills are better when the places people rely on continue to grow with their communities.
Who we are
We’re JD and Steph, the current custodians of the Upper Beaconsfield General Store, together with our three boys and a growing team of local people.
The General Store has served Upper Beaconsfield since 1885. We took it on in 2020, not to turn it into something disconnected from its past, but to help it remain useful, welcoming and relevant for the next generation.
Since then, our story has grown beyond one building. Today, the General Store in Upper Beaconsfield and Over the Road in Emerald and Gembrook work together as one local business serving residents, workers, visitors and travellers across the Hills.
Decisions are made here, by people who live and work in the area.
Our locations create jobs, training and career pathways close to home.
We support local clubs, groups, suppliers and the towns that support us.
How it started for us
After moving to Upper Beaconsfield in 2015, we quickly became part of local life through the school, Scouts, Auskick and other community activities.
A year travelling Australia in a caravan gave us time to think about what mattered most. We came home knowing we wanted to live locally, work locally and build something that genuinely contributed to the place our family called home.
When the General Store became available, we saw more than a hardware business. We saw the chance to restore the role a true general store can play: somewhere people can meet, get what they need and feel connected to their town.
Learning to adapt
Our first years were a crash course in adapting. At different times we traded as a hardware store, newsagency, essential retailer and takeaway café—sometimes serving customers outside or through a makeshift drive-through.
The rules changed constantly, but the purpose did not. We kept finding ways to open, employ our team and serve the community safely.
That period shaped the business we are today: practical, resilient and willing to change without losing sight of who we are here for.
The next chapter
In 2022, the building literally over the road from the General Store became available. It gave us room to build a dedicated café and restaurant while staying connected to the team, customers and community we already knew.
When an established café became available in Emerald in 2024, we moved Over the Road there. It was a natural fit: another Hills town, another much-loved local meeting place and another opportunity to create jobs while sharing the strength of one broader team.
Over the Road kept its own personality, but its purpose remained the same—good coffee, chef-made food and a relaxed place where locals and visitors feel welcome.
Gembrook · 2026
Gembrook felt like the right next step because it shares so much of what we value: a strong local identity, a close community and visitors who come to experience the Hills.
When the Main Street café became available, we saw the opportunity to keep a hospitality space active, bring it into our local network and give our team more room to grow across multiple venues.
Over the Road Gembrook is not about making every town look the same. It is about bringing the support, systems and experience of our wider business into a location that can still feel unmistakably Gembrook.
Find your local
Each location has its own role and personality, backed by the same family, team and commitment to genuine local service.
Café, bakery, retail, garden supplies, pet and stockfeed, firewood, LPG, water cartage and local essentials.
Location & hours
A relaxed local café and restaurant serving barista coffee, chef-made breakfast and lunch seven days a week.
Explore Emerald
Our newest Hills location on Main Street, welcoming locals, day-trippers and Puffing Billy visitors for coffee, breakfast and lunch.
Explore GembrookThe people behind the places
The story is not just ours. It belongs to the people who have worked through every change, welcomed every customer and helped each new location find its feet.
Hospitality and retail can be fast-moving industries, yet many of our people have stayed with us for years. Some joined in their first job and have grown into supervisors, chefs, baristas and leaders.
Building a business that local people can be proud to work for is as important to us as building places customers enjoy visiting.
Work with us
A continuing story
The original Upper Beaconsfield General Store opens with a post office and telegraph office attached.
JD, Steph and family become the latest custodians and begin rebuilding the General Store as a modern community hub.
Over the Road opens opposite the General Store, creating a dedicated hospitality venue.
Over the Road moves to Emerald and becomes part of another Hills community.
Over the Road Gembrook opens on Main Street, connecting our third location and expanding local employment.
One family-run business supports three locations, a broad local team and customers across the Hills.
Keep improving the places we have, supporting our people and responding to what our communities need.
Respect the history, serve people well and leave each local place stronger than we found it.
What we are about
That is the thread connecting an 1885 General Store, two Over the Road cafés, our services, our team and whatever comes next.
Plan your visit