Melbourne’s longest-serving retailers share their memories
They are the friendly faces that have been greeting customers in eastern Melbourne shopping centres for decades. From hot chicken rolls to cinnamon doughnuts, the owners of some of the oldest stores have shared their recipes for success.
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These are the friendly faces that have been greeting customers at shopping centres in the east for decades. From hot chicken rolls to cinnamon doughnuts, store owners have shared their recipe for success.
ROYAL DONUTS — WESTFIELD KNOX
The smell of delicious cinnamon doughnuts wafting from Royal Donuts has been tempting shoppers at Westfield Knox for almost 40 years.
The store opened in the centre in 1980, and owner Con Scopas and his family have been a hit with customers ever since.
Con said customers had become like family over the years, with many people who visited the store as children, returning in later years with their own kids.
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“I love the centre and the area; it’s full of very good people,” Con said.
Con’s son John said a lot of people who moved out of the area returned especially to visit the store.
“We find all the time they will come here because of their positive experiences and they want to show their kids,” John said.
“We even had a customer come from Texas — when he comes to Australia he makes sure he comes and visits the shop.”
Customers love their cinnamon doughnuts — one man even regularly drives all the way from Sunshine to buy them.
The store’s doughnut birthday cakes are also a big hit.
“We make them fresh on the day, and customise them,” John said.
“We get people from the country drive for two hours to come and get them.”
John said the freshness of their products and good old-fashioned customer service was the key to their longevity.
“I believe if you put a smile on someone’s face at the start to the day that can make their whole day,” he said.
“I feel in other businesses that is lacking.”
He said they baked their doughnuts fresh every morning.
“Our recipe hasn’t changed, we haven’t tried to cut corners,” he said.
“We start at 3am seven days a week and we don’t sell any of yesterday’s stock (the next day).”
John said he had spent a lot of time at the centre as a child, and it was “a home away from home”.
“We thank our customers because without them we wouldn’t be here.”
THE FRESH CHOOK SHED — EASTLAND
Brad Macgregor-Skinner is Eastland’s chicken king.
The owner of The Fresh Chook Shed has been linked with the Ringwood shopping centre for 25 years, after father Bruce opened a Leonards chicken franchise in 1994.
Mr Macgregor-Skinner, of Croydon Hills, began working for his father in his teens before starting an electrical apprenticeship.
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He found chicken more fun and returned to the business, taking it over and rebranding in 2014 when his father retired.
“There’s so many things you can do with it, different flavours, marinades, cheeses … always different options,” Mr Macgregor-Skinner said.
“It’s simple to eat, you take it home, put in the oven, set the timer and its ready to go.”
Mr Macgregor-Skinner expanded the business and began offering hot takeaway food as well as items for customers to cook at home.
It led to the creation of a cult shopper favourite — the hot chicken roll — alongside their famous chicken kiev with homemade garlic butter.
Mr Macgregor-Skinner said he had seen many changes at Eastland over the years, especially customer payment methods. “It’s all tap-and-go now,” he said.
“So many different shops have come through, the area and the layout of the centre has changed three or four times and it is growing and expanding every time.”
The family roots continue at The Fresh Chook Shed today — sisters Jo and Kylie also work full-time at the shop.
A third generation might also be serving up tasty treats in the future — Mr Macgregor-Skinner’s children Aliyah, 11, Miller, 10, and Harvey, 8, come in occasionally on weekends and are becoming skewer specialists.
“They help out with the skewers, bang a schnitzel and try and cut some wings, and then I pay them in dim sims,” he said.
BEAUTE — THE FACIAL DESTINATION — WESTFIELD DONCASTER
As she prepares to temporarily move locations while her business is renovated, Westfield Doncaster’s longest-serving retailer says a sense of community is the centre’s greatest strength.
April Brodie bought Beaute — The Facial Destination in 1996 and she’s seen plenty of changes in that time.
Ms Brodie said she was grateful for customers’ loyalty and attributes it to the same from her staff — Amelia Doellefeld and Jodie Gawley have been with her for about 20 years.
“Customers like to see stability and I think they like a sense of community,” Ms Brodie said.
“They like change if they see progression, not for its own sake.”
And her customers can expect progression when her renovated store reopens with a totally new look. They’ll have two beauty rooms and three luxury facial suites to indulge clients.
“We’ve had a couple (of renovations) but this is the first one where we’ve had to shut the clinic, and it’s completely changing the floor plan,” Ms Brodie said.
The move mirrors Westfield’s own plans for progress with an expansion of the Williamsons Rd food court the first step in a multimillion-dollar revamp.
“I think it’s become a flagship destination because they listen to what people say,” she said.
The longevity of the shop is even more impressive given it was established as a salon in 1982, with the recent name change from Beaute 2001 to Beaute — The Facial Destination one of the few branding changes over the journey.
AUSTRALIAN STAMP & COIN COMPANY — FOREST HILL CHASE
Tom Jenkins retired to pursue his hobby, but 24 years on that hobby is a booming business serving customers across 79 countries.
The avid collector is believed to be the longest-serving tenant at Forest Hill Chase, and he plans to continue to be for as long as he’s “standing, walking and talking”.
Mr Jenkins opened Australian Stamp & Coin Company at age 60, wanting to spend his days immersed in his hobby.
He gave up adding to his personal collections — which he began aged six — to gather for and sell to other eager collectors.
“Now I collect for everybody else, not for me,” he said.
The business buys and sells stamps, coins and banknotes from around the world.
The store is open seven days a week and is still very popular, according to Mr Jenkins.
He and fellow “keen collectors” Ross and Andy busily value and trade collectables everyday.
“We buy and sell constantly,” he said.
“We get many customers from the country, and around Australia, and we have many from overseas.”
The business also has an online store at australianstamp.com and sells its products on eBay.
“There’s no rest,” he said.
While many of his customers are older, Mr Jenkins said a lot of younger people were also into collecting.
He said plenty of children and people in their 20s and 30s were customers, but people working in the industry tended to be on the older side.
Mr Jenkins said it took an extensive amount of time and experience to be able to value the huge range of items.
He said the key to valuing — no matter the item — was determining its condition and its rarity.
“They’re the only things that matter.”
And the key to working in valuing, he said, was honesty.
“In this business you have to have integrity.”
He said he often had customers come in believing their items were without value, and was able to surprise them with an unexpected payout.
A few weeks ago an old woman came into his store and offered him a jar of coins, insisting they had no value.
“She walked away with about $1400,” he said. “I hope it didn’t kill her, she was so excited.”
He said the store also regularly heard from police warning staff to look out for stolen goods.
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