It’s not so long since the inner-west had a grocer on every corner, says Ian Johnson.
The Footscray Historical Society treasurer has good cause to have noticed, coming from a long line of grocers.
Mr Johnson said his great grandfather, himself from a line of grocers in England, opened a grocer shop at Footscray in 1875.
In 1927, aged just 21, Mr Johnson’s father started his own grocery store in Charles Street, Seddon.
Mr Johnson said he started working there in 1955, aged 16, later becoming the manager and taking over as owner in 1976 when his father died.
He remained there until retiring in 2001, after which the store continued as FoodWorks.
“We had these long counters and shelves that went right up to the ceiling,” he recalls.
“Everything was loose and you weighed it out and bagged it up for people.”
At one stage, the Seddon shopping strip had about 10 grocery stores.
Mr Johnson said customers were very loyal and generations would shop at his family store.
“Everyone was like one big family. When I was a kid walking to Seddon station, when I came upon people I knew them all by name.
“We got invited to weddings and went to funerals. We even got mentioned in a few eulogies.”
The worst part of the job was the mess, he said, especially when sacks split and spilled everything, from flour to bird seed.
Mr Johnson will share his family story at the next quarterly meeting of the Footscray Historical Society to be held at 2pm this Sunday at Ercildoune, 66 Napier Street, Footscray.
