As Melbourne grows more populated, niche specialist operations are slowly squeezed out – or maybe just vanish. There’s a lot of shops which many people miss.
Which store do you wish was still open for business? Maybe there’s a long-shut-down eatery you find yourself thinking about, or a precious little boutique you adored.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I know its going back a bit – but I used to love Georges – such a classy department store, it was always such a treat to go shopping there.
I have to agree with Emma, I loved GEORGES and still have the shopping bags to prove it! 8-)
Used to be a great streetwear label named Dust, in Howey place.. the store later turned into Rich, and now houses Bison ceramics.
The “recorded music salon” right next to the hyatt at the top of collins street. It was full of antique stereo equipment for years and years. Never seemed to be open, and then suddenly (sadly) gone. to be replaced by a 7/11.
There was a shop in Chinatown near the Chinese museum that sold the most wonderful paper. handmade, embossed, machine made, delicate watermarks. Beautiful stuff. Also sold books and calligraphy materials. It was there for years until the rents on that area made it too expensive to operate. Closed down about 18mths ago and the owners retired. Now a chemist :(
Miss Georges,,,they used to open the doors for you and you felt so snobby going in there even if you werent buying anything….agree with Emma and Urban Fresh Florist!!
Gaslight records on Bourke Street. If you couldn’t find the record there you were looking for then you weren’t looking hard enough.
The Swagman. Great restaurant and stage show!
- Bizarr Beads in Swanston St. – I went to a jewellery making class there, which got me started making jewellery;
- The Bead Factory in Smith St., Collingwood – had a great selection of beads at reasonable prices;
- Gaslight Records – wasn’t cheap but had a pretty unique selection;
- I can’t even remember the name (we’re going back >5 years here), but there used to be a little clothing store in Hawthorn Rd., Caulfield Nth, where the clothes were different to ones you’d find elsewhere, and the prices very reasonable. Closed when the rent became too high.
In general, I’m sad every time a music or book shop closes down.
Central Station Records on Chapel Street. I even bought one of their t-shirts. It was really cool! Good place to go and find good music. Those were the good old days!
Kerr’s Hardware in Station Street, Fairfield (now Station Lounge). Probably not very high profile except to us locals but it was a lovely friendly family business which had to close because of competition from mega hardware stores as well as not having family members to take over when Roger Kerr and his cousin retired .
I also miss the long gone and wonderfully shambolic Hudson Stores at the bottom end of Bourke Street. It was run by two quite eccentric brothers for many years and was the Alice’s Restaurant of hardware stores i.e. you could get anything you want (when you eventually found it in the chaos!). I guess the brothers had no successors either so it went the way of many such places.