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It boasts a world-famous rodeo, some of Queensland’s finest sandstone architecture and was the hometown of sheep-shearing legend and blue-jersey aficionado Jackie Howe.
So visitors to Warwick, in the heart of the Sunshine State’s rolling Darling Downs, could be forgiven for a local guide’s odd tip for tourists.
A brochure compiled by Warwick Tourism & Events, and found in hotels across the small inland town, lists the local Big W Distribution Centre among six key “Recreational/Cultural Attractions” that tourists might want to visit.
While it could be argued that there’s nothing more culturally Australian than a big shed (and this is certainly one of the largest in the country), even locals admit that its inclusion confuses them.
“Don’t get me wrong, they think it’s the biggest distribution centre in the southern hemisphere,” Brooke Chapman, a mother from Warwick, told Daily Mail Australia.
“But I’m not sure who we’re competing against for that honor, or why.
“This doesn’t look like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.”
Another baffled local, Kelly Caton, added: “It’s kind of weird – some cities have the Big Banana, some cities have the Big Apple, and we just have the Big W.”
There’s no doubt that Warwick’s Big W distribution centre is impressive, but locals are questioning whether it deserves to be included on a list of the city’s “recreational/cultural attractions”.
The south-east Queensland city hosts a world-famous rodeo every October.
Nestled in the heart of the rolling Darling Downs, Warwick also boasts some of Queensland’s most beautiful sandstone structures, including Rose Abbey.
The town is home to a memorial to legendary Australian shearer Jackie Howe, who was born just outside Warwick and is equally famous for his blue jerseys.
The distribution center is listed as the fifth point of interest that tourists might want to visit on the list, between the Jackie Howe Memorial and the local livestock sales.
“Located on East Street, the complex covers 10 acres under roof and supplies Woolworths and Big W stores from Sydney to Darwin,” the newsletter boasts.
The guide is known to have been in circulation in the town of about 12,000 for at least a decade, but it is not known how much tourist business it has generated for the centre, whose inner workings remain conspicuously off-limits to visitors.
Warwick’s Tourist Information Centre declined to elaborate on the reasons behind the warehouse’s cultural significance.
Big W department store features on list of top Warwick attractions
The inner workings of the centre remain clearly off-limits to passing tourists.
The ‘Tiddalik’ frog statue took first place in the tourist newsletter distributed throughout Warwick
Woolworths, which leases the distribution centre, was similarly tight-lipped about the warehouse in operation.
Either way, tourists interested in seeing the site in action may want to head to Warwick sooner rather than later.
Woolworths had planned to terminate its lease on the centre at the end of last year but has been granted a brief respite with the deal now extended until 2026.
The company declined to comment on its plans for the “cultural attraction” after that.
