Gladys Mitchell 30 Years of Darrell Lea

Ms JENNY AITCHISON (Maitland—Minister for Regional Transport and Roads)—Gladys Mitchell has been affectionately known within the Maitland community as the 'Darrell Lea Lady' for over thirty years. Gladys purchased the original Darrell Lea shop in High St, Maitland in October 1994, after looking for a business of her own to run for some time. The shop quickly evolved from a nuts and ice-cream store to the chocolate, card and gift store that the community got to know and love until its closure in 2015. In 2005 Gladys was approached by Darrell Lea to start a distribution business, running both that business and the Maitland store for almost 10 years before focusing on her distribution business, known as Glader Confectionary in Rutherford. Darrell Lea going into administration in 2012 changed Gladys' business overnight as the new owners deleted gift box and carton lines that had made up a large part of her sales. Gladys pivoted and brought in other brands such as Chocolatier and Davies to make up the losses, and Glader Confectionary now distributes approximately 15 brands, also sold via their Shipley Drive shopfront. I congratulate Gladys on over thirty years of success with Darrell Lea.