By Benjamin Millar
A Footscray institution is feeling the pinch of a move toward online shopping and the area’s apartment boom.
Ted’s Cycles, a Barkly Street stalwart, is a family-run business dealing with rising costs and the steady move towards online shopping.
Trevor Hope said the business was started by his father Ted in 1936 as a hardware, toys and bicycle store.
“My father came out from England, he started up with second-hand equipment,” he said.
“He was an independent councillor with Footscray City in the ’60s. A lot of older Italians and Greeks come in and say ‘your father was a saviour’, he would give them what they needed and tell them to come back when they could afford to pay.”
The business remained a family affair, passing on to Trevor and his older brother Geoffrey and now involves the next generation as well.
“My brother Geoffrey has been here 62 years and I started here 45 years ago,” Mr Hope said.
The hardware business lasted 30 years, until a slew of other stores opened in the area. The toy side of the business fared better, surviving 60 years, until larger chain stores forced the smaller shops out of business.
The bicycle side has continued, but rising taxes and rates and online retail has the family bowing to pressure from developers to sell up.
“Developers could go 14 storeys, so maybe they could build up and put us underneath.”
Footscray real estate agent Trimson Partners has listed 263, 265-267 and 271 for sale by public auction on Thursday, September 6.
