An outraged community has sent a clear message that racism will not be tolerated in regional Victoria, after a "no curries here" sign was displayed in a local bottle shop.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 7 minutes 44 seconds 7 m Regional town outraged by "no curries here" sign in local liquor store ( Danielle Grindlay ) Download 10.6 MB

The sign was displayed in Horsham's Premix King liquor outlet earlier this year while an Indian family was preparing to open a new Cellarbrations store around the corner.

"It was a shock — I didn't know how to react," Cellarbations co-owner Sukoon Bedi said.

"You hear about it in the news sometimes and you go 'surely not' ... 30 or 40 years ago maybe, but not in this age.

"I cried one night ... and then the shock turned to anger."

When his business partner Pooja Bhutani heard about the signs, she said she was "a bit scared actually".

She and husband Mukesh were concerned that their 15-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son might be bullied in their new town, and went so far as to move their daughter to a new school.

"If the same thing will happen with my kids in the school then how are they going to handle this?" Ms Bhutani said.

"Because at this age it's really hard to explain to them what racism is like."

Community expresses disgust

It was Premix King Horsham customers like Loucas who told the new business owners about the sign in the competitor's store.

"It was written on the glass of the fridge door in whiteboard marker or something that would stand out on the fridge," Loucas said.

"It just said 'no curries here' with a few lines underneath it.

"I did hear that there were other signs around but I didn't see them."

Other customers told the ABC that material with the same sentiment was plastered over existing displays.

Some review comments on the Premix King Horsham liquor Facebook page. ( Facebook )

It did not take long for the community to take to social media, labelling Premix King Horsham "racist" and vowing never to enter the store again.

The liquor store opted to remove its review function after more than 100 Facebook users gave it a one-star review and expressed their disapproval.

Backlash led to gala opening

Opening day of Cellarbrations attracted more than 600 people, much to the surprise of Mr Bedi.

"People started coming in and said, 'we're going to support you from now on' and we didn't know what was going on," he said.

"[The sales] we're doing today, we were thinking we were going to be doing that in five years' time.

"I haven't seen it anywhere in Australia that people come out so openly and say, you know what we're going to stand against this.

"Country towns like Horsham, they're beautiful," he said.

"One person doesn't represent the whole community."

Premix King Horsham responds

The owners of Premix King Horsham declined ABC's request for an interview, but co-owner Graham Reinheimer issued a statement rejecting suggestions from the public that his business was racist.

"By one definition a racist comment is defined as a racial comment laced with cruelty," Mr Reinheimer's statement reads.

"By this definition I can tell you we have never made a racist comment. "As a community-minded multicultural employer, we would be concerned if any one took offence to any comment or remark, however small, that came from anyone at PMK. "We unreservedly apologise for any offence or distress caused to anyone."

Premix King Group, which owns more than 20 stores in Victoria, did not respond to the ABC's requests for comment.

Co-owner Lynden Hosking, however, did respond directly to a customer who had expressed outrage on social media.

"I am completely gobsmacked that anyone would put that on social media or in-store," Mr Hosking wrote in a message to the customer.

"I just ask that you don't group all of our stores in the same basket; they are all independently owned by good people and they would be equally as horrified as me."

'Devoid of morality, but not necessarily criminal'

Mr Bedi first reported the matter to police more than three months ago, but Inspector Paul Phelan of Horsham Police could not confirm whether an investigation was underway.

Inspector Phelan said all acts that were deemed racist could be pursued through the civil court system, but Victoria Police would only investigate if the act reached a criminal threshold.

"While all racist acts might be unlawful — they might be hateful, hurtful, devoid of morality — they may not necessarily be criminal," Inspector Phelan said.

"Probably the main threshold for Victoria Police is that [a racist act] threatens, or incites other people to threaten, physical harm.

"Without going too much into the details of the specifics, I think if people are using racist comments and posters and the like to say that people of a certain race are not welcome in this store, that's disgraceful."

Inspector Phelan said police had spoken to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Human Rights Commission about the matter.

Bhutani family happy in Horsham

Pooja Bhutani still wants Premix King Horsham to be held to account by authorities.

"This is an offence — I don't know which offence it is, but this is an offence — and some action should be taken against this," she said.

Mrs Bhutani has no concerns, however, about living and working in her new community, where her family plans to remain for many years to come.

"I'm really thankful to all the Horsham people for supporting us and for standing for the right thing," she said.

"It is their blessing and their love and respect that [ensures] we are going good in the Horsham."