Vassie Comino remembers her own childhood

WHEN Vassie Comino sees children playing games of hide and seek around the shelves and aisles of P. Comino & Sons – she fondly remembers her own childhood.

(From left) Staff member, Haley Malanos (nee Comino), Matina Notaras (nee Comino), Cyril Comino, Peter Comino, Eftihia Likidis (nee Comino) and Jim Comino. Picture: Contributed

WHEN Vassie Comino sees children playing games of hide and seek around the shelves and aisles of P. Comino & Sons - she fondly remembers her own childhood.

"I can remember playing hide and seek with my brother Peter and sister Anna - under the shelves," she says, gesturing nostalgically toward the walls of floor to ceiling shelving and wooden counters that have become an iconic part of the historic family business.

The building where P.Comino and Sons nowstands in Sydney St was originally built in 1890 as a bank.

Walking through the iconic clothing and footwear store, history is evidenced by white painted bars that still exist on some of the internal windows.

"The exposed ceilings and the counters are all original and the timber and glass shelves are also the original ones used when the store first opened," Vassie said.

P. Comino & Sons opened for business in 1932 as a drapery store, in the exact location it exists today.

By that time the Comino family had already been in business in Mackay for 24 years - as proprietors of the Sydney Oyster Saloon, a cafe occupying the building that later became Fosseys and has now been subdivided into several businesses.

Vassie's grandfather Peter Comino's first intrepid steps as a newly migrated businessman was to open his SydneyOyster Saloon Cafe in 1906 - after migrating from Greece three years earlier.

"My father (Cyril Comino) wasthe youngest of 10 children - so it was very much a family business right from the beginning," Vassie recalls.

The Sydney Oyster Saloon had to be repaired and refurbished after being severely damaged in a cyclone that hit Mackay in 1918.

It was reopened soon after and was thereafter known as The Britannia Cafe.

By 1930 two of the Comino brothers had grown weary of the hospitality industry - leading to the purchase and establishment of the original P.Comino and Sons Drapery Store two years later.

"Mackay was heavily sugar industry based back in those days," Vassie said.

"The business was in much demand by farmers and local workers."

The original store, that opened as Comino's Drapers and later became P. Comino & Sons, sold workwear, clothing and boots as well as manchester and haberdashery.

Vassie says one of the most rewarding aspects of being part of a third-generation family business is having generations of local families that still frequent the store.

"Many of the established local families, whose grandparents also lived here, can recall coming to P.Comino & Sons and buying their first pair of boots - perhaps to wear to the local Mackay show. Now they come in and buy boots for their children, or grandchildren."

But it wasn't all boom-time for the family business that endured the war years and also the great depression.

"There were tough times - during the war of course," Vassie explains, and adds, "Six of the Comino siblings enlisted during World War II."

"During the depression people had to shop using vouchers - so there were certainly difficult times."

Faded photographs feature images of gentlemen with distinctly similar features - slick dark hair and deep smiling eyes, in crisp linen shirts and dark pressed trousers.

In the images - some dated almost 80 years ago, they are standing behind the same timber counters that still exist today.

The scent of tweed, wool and leather, the sight of handwritten invoice books and the echo of thousands of footsteps as children scamper around the timber and glass shelves are woven into the 108 year history of the Comino Family's contribution to our community.

Originally published as Vassie Comino remembers her own childhood