Showing posts with label Melbourne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Melbourne. Show all posts

1/30/14

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Store Loss and Disenfranchised Grief

Posted by Inspired at 3:59 PM No comments :

I stood with my head pressed against the glass. Behind it, a thoroughly empty shop, long and narrow. The bald fact of it: walls, carpet, back door. Everything else – the shelves, the posters, the old counter at the back with its pale pink curtain into the inner sanctum that held the DVDs – all gone. The closing down signs still mocking the windows, a picture of understatement.

How absurd, to get upset about a video store closing! How old was I? Well, it was early January, which is always a disorientating time for me. And this was a local video store, not a franchise, owned by a sweet family headed by a short, white-haired middle-aged woman who always treated me with kindness and courtesy. This family were already installed in the store when I started to use it after returning, ten years ago, to live in the nearby suburb where I grew up.

It was a damn good video store, with plenty of stock to choose from. It charged only $3 for new releases, obviously an attempt to compete with the DVD vending machines that had become a fixture at supermarkets in recent years.

It had no pretensions to being an arty place aimed at cinephiles – I used to think how much more it could do to capitalise on the hordes of students in the area – but the owner had realised, she told me once, that keeping a back catalogue of videos rather than selling most of them off was good for the business, tiding it over whenever the crop of new releases was particularly disappointing.

My angst came from several sources. I hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye and thanks for being real, and independent, and genuinely friendly. Mixed in with this was the frustration of human curiosity – I’d missed the inside story. I’ll never know whether the owner had simply had enough and was retiring with a nice little nest egg, or, much more likely, was a victim of the switch to vending machines along with the rise of Quickflix and internet streaming – and perhaps rising store rents.

But it wasn’t just the owner I’d lost the chance to say goodbye to. It was the shop itself, its familiar layout, the time I used to spend painstakingly choosing my five weeklys for only $6.50. I’ve used those DVD vending machines, but it’s just not the same. Going out to choose a video is still a treat for me, and having a machine dispensing it takes all the fun away.

The small losses of daily life

As we get older, familiar places seem to become more important. There is so much change, and yet another small adjustment can sometimes seem like a blow.

Gerontologist Professor Kenneth Doka has an expression for the sense of loss that we have trouble letting go of because our grief is not socially sanctioned – he calls it disenfranchised grieving.

Such losses are often large but they can also be small ones. Life is full of them – every new stage we enter results in the shedding of old routines, places and companions – but modern life changes so fast that we may be in a state of constant adjustment, never having the chance to find our feet until the next earth tremor of change.

Pic: Grove Arcade bookstore, by Joel Kramer
Shops are commercial ventures, but the ones we visit regularly become part of our psychic maps, our mental touchstones. I hadn’t expected to feel bereft when the Borders store at my local shopping mall closed. This occurred when the entire Australian arm of the business went into receivership in 2011. All over Melbourne Borders stores were holding closing down sales and I joined the swarms of bargain hunters combing the fast-emptying shelves for books going for a couple of dollars.

I wasn’t prepared for the sense of loss once the Chadstone Borders at closed. I knew that it was a heartless multinational, had read somewhere that workers in its US stores were so poorly paid they had to get second jobs to survive. Nevertheless there was something profoundly civilising about all those books in my local shopping mall. I’ve always fetishised books and it was the sheer number at the Borders store with its two floors that captivated me.

Still, losses have their consolations. About a year ago a new independent bookstore moved into Chadstone, with genre labels that look a bit home made, and a refusal to grant the kinds of massive discounts that stores like Borders and Dymocks have relied on. It’s a new branch of the independent chain Robinsons Books, and seems so far to be well patronised – long may it reign!

Have you ever experienced a sense of unexpected loss when a familiar store closed down?

Until next time!

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8/26/13

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Uniquely Melbourne: Alternative St Kilda

Posted by Inspired at 2:58 PM 2 comments :

Ah, St Kilda - surely the place in Melbourne with the richest combination of social ingredients. Glorious, diverse, artistic and a little bit seedy, Melbourne's young bohemians started flocking to St Kilda and its bay beach after the Eastern Europeans who settled there after the war gave the suburb its alternative cache.

Traditional Jewish food culture flourished in the delis and Hungarian restaurants of Acland Street, musicians played at the Espy, penniless artists rented out crumbling old-style apartments for a song, the windows of the cake shops became a drawcard for tourists and the Kooglhoupf made its appearance on Melbourne's Sunday lunch tables.

St Kilda's popularity has changed the suburb, which is much more upmarket these days. But when I went in search of its soul recently I didn't have to go far. There's plenty of life left in St Kilda, as these small cafes and retailers attest. Come with me on a journey to the soul of St Kilda. (As you can see, my photography skills are still 'evolving'.)

Before we hit the shops, let's stop at a hidden oasis south of Acland Street, the Blessington Gardens. I once lived opposite them, and they weren't as superbly maintained then as they are today. There are several discrete sections - a rose garden, an area of native Australian plants, a rotunda for weddings, and a lake with white ducks. Here's a pleasing vista.


Now we're ready to hit the road. Our journey starts at a charming group of cute little cafes bunched together in Blessington Street. Kotch Lane is arguably the sweetest of these.


The cafe has some lovely personal touches.




Next door is the famous Lentil as Anything with its 'pay as you feel' philosophy. There are no prices on the menu - instead you decide how much the meal is worth. There are now three Lentil as Anything restaurants in Melbourne, and St Kilda was the first. The 'pay as you feel' model has since been adopted internationally.


Below is a shot of the restaurant's interior.


It's now time to cross Barkly Street, lured by this charming clothes store, dot & herbey, on the corner of Barkly and Blessington.


dot & herbey is an independent Australian label, with all clothes manufactured in Australia.


Crossing to the corner of Acland and Barkly streets, in need of refreshment, we find Leroy Espresso Bar, which takes its coffee very seriously. Manager Sam obliged with a pic:


Striking exposed brick walls make the interior of this cafe distinctive, giving it a warehouse feel.


Here's the cute tiled exterior.


Wandering in a north-westerly direction up Acland Street, we hit the group of cake shops that first made the street famous. One of these is Monarch Cakes, which has apparently been recommended by Tourism Australia as one of the top 25 places to visit in Australia. This cute window display caught my eye.


This store interior definitely retains the feel of 'old St Kilda'.


Crossing the street, we come to the St Kilda RSL on the corner of Albert Street, where we find the Southside Handmade and Vintage Market. This is held on the last Saturday of each month (except September and December) on the first floor of the RSL, a charming art deco building. It's the perfect setting for the market, which is full of lovingly crafted clothes, soft furnishings, jewellery, knick-knacks and vintage fashion. There's even a cafe at the back.



Wendy Scully's wonderful hats, Chapeaux by Wendy, caught my eye - the hats are all handcrafted original designs, and there are plenty of summery designs as well as the winter ones shown here.


We then head off to the Galleon, a long-established cafe around the corner from Acland Street, in Carlisle Street. I used to come here in the late eighties - my favourite dish was the spanikopita, which was about four bucks! The Galleon is still a retro oasis, much-loved by the locals; the ones there on Saturday looked as if they had settled in for a good few hours.


The bold use of colour gives a funky feel to the place.


Soon after this point in our travels we meet Rebecca Kennedy, a creative fashion stylist known as the 'style guru' who lives in the area. (I'd never met Rebecca but thought she looked amazing and had to stop and ask for her photo. As I had unintentionally added an arty setting on my camera, the pic doesn't do justice to her great use of colour but it shows her amazing style, which I'd describe as 'street glamour'.)


It's time to leave Acland Street and head off down Barkly to the corner where Inkerman Road becomes Grey Street. This is a groovy corner indeed and the hilly topography combines with the terraced shop fronts to create a village-meets-inner-urban-cool atmosphere. Scout House is a charming homewares store in Grey Street that has  a carefully curated collection combining the old and new.


Here's part of the store interior:


Next door is Mollisons, a contemporary homewares store with a shabby chic feel. I fell in love with this charming group of knitted light shades in the window.


So ends our visit today, but I've really only scratched the surface of the soul of St Kilda. There's still a lot to discover in this town.

BTW, if you're in Melbourne, the StripFest festival, in Acland Street and surrounds, runs until 30 August.

Until next time!

If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Uniquely Melbourne: Alternative Carlton.

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8/4/13

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Uniquely Melbourne: Alternative Carlton

Posted by Inspired at 6:43 PM No comments :
Carlton is one of Melbourne's most treasured suburbs. On the fringe of the CBD, it is the city's Italian quarter but is so much more than that. Settled by the Jewish community in the early twentieth century, discovered by Melbourne's bohemians and uni students in the sixties and seventies and treasured by the masses for his pizza, gelato and macchiato, the suburb's foodie headquarters is Lygon Street.

While Carlton is long gentrified, it continues to provide rich atmosphere, authentic Italian fare and shades of its older, scruffier self.

The council has ensured that Lygon street retains its essential character and the high-rise public housing, students from nearby Melbourne University and strong Italian presence keep the street buzzy and lively. The Nova Cinema in the plaza and the iconic Readings bookstore ensure a constant stream of hipsters and progressives.

So, do Carlton and more specifically Lygon Street retain some of the excitement of the sixties, seventies and eighties? The answer is yes, but you have to look for it. I went in search of old Carlton and unfortunately the battery of my camera died, while some of my photography efforts veered towards the abstract! Where was my beginners' luck when I really needed it?

But fear not, your intrepid reporter has managed to supplement her own pics with those provided by kind vendors.

And I promise to return and take some photos of the lovely architectural details that adorn the stores of Lygon and surrounding streets.


First stop: the famous Tiamo at 303 Lygon Street, a cafe and restaurant that has been providing authentic Italian fare and oozing bohemian credibility since the year dot. I used to come here for mushroom tagliatelle as an undergrad at Melbourne uni and the decor is still reassuringly the same.


On my latest visit I found sitting at the front counter the distinguished gent above. He is Bibi Succi, the owner of Tiamo, which he purchased in 1977 when Carlton was the centre of Melbourne's counterculture. He now co-owns the cafe with Giancarlo Massini, below. Giancarlo is pictured in Tiamo 2, Tiamo's sister restaurant next door, with Grace Cacopardo (left) and his niece Teresa Tron, who conduct cooking and serving duties.


This is Tiamo's interior, complete with flyers and posters on the wall and the timeless tables and chairs that I remember from uni days. My pic's not the best, but it has an artistic blurriness:


This is a clearer view of the interior:


Next door to Tiamo 2 is Readings bookstore, a Carlton icon. I still remember the original, much smaller store, which was over the road at 366 Lygon Street. On Sunday afternoons Readings is a place to linger, browse and jostle the many customers soaking up the atmosphere. Nowadays Readings also has stores in St Kilda, Malvern, Hawthorn, the State Library and the Brain Centre.

On 10 August (this Saturday), Readings is celebrating National Bookshop Day, with all-day events at the Carlton, St Kilda, Malvern and Hawthorn stores. The store has a long tradition of philanthropy, with 10 per cent of profits going to the Readings Foundation each year, and crucial funds are also raised from individual donations by Readings customers. The Foundation supports initiatives that further the development of literacy, community work and the arts.

Photo: David Collopy
Just up the road, tucked away in a hallway at the end of Jimmy Watson's pub on Lygon Street, is Hobo clothing. As owner Anna speculates, this may be the smallest store in Australia and is a fantastic use of space. Hobo sells an eclectic combination of vintage and secondhand designer gear. The store has been operating in Hawthorn for 15 years and this new branch brings a touch of modern bohemia to Carlton.


Not far away, on the corner of Drummond and Elgin streets, is Cafe Lua. It's a relaxed hangout with the retro chrome-and-vinyl kitchen chairs and tables so beloved of alternative types since the early eighties. It's a light-filled place with a laidback feel.


Behind these coffee sippers at Lua is the exterior of Lygon Court, the site of the old Pram Factory, which housed a bohemian theatre troupe in the seventies:


On the other side of the road, at 194 Elgin Street, we find Make, which sells objects from around the globe that combine strong design with aesthetic appeal, many with green credentials. The light-filled showrooms beautifully showcase the design objects:




Further east, at 134-136 Elgin Street, is Yooralla op shop, a Carlton institution. Selling a range of pre-loved clothing, books, household goods, jewellery and other items, its profits fund Yooralla's work supporting people with disability. The shop also provides vital employment training for people with disability.



Retracing our steps down Lygon Street towards the city, we find the treasure trove of the Poppy Shop at 283 Lygon Street. It's a reminder of the variety of retail stores that were available before Melbourne store rents skyrocketed.


This small store is packed with imaginative toys, puzzles and games from around the world. Owner Pat Knox, who has been with the store since 1967, once sold secondhand furniture but changed the store's direction to gifts in 1972. You won't find chain store toys here, but diverse, original items like felt bags from Tibetan refugees, fabric squares from Japan, Kenyan knitted animals, puzzles from Belgium, dolls from Spain, and Russian babushkas.

Continuing down Lygon Street towards the city, we come to Borsari Cycles at 193 Lygon, another Carlton institution.

Nino 'Cavalier' Borsari had already triumphed over severe childhood poverty to become Italy's top professional cyclist and an Olympic gold medal winner before opening up his first bike shop on the corner of Lygon and Grattan streets in 1941. As well as doing cycle repairs, Nino operated as a secondhand dealer. The Borsari name can still be seen on this corner:


His business soon expanded and in 1961 it moved three doors down, to its present location. Borsari has sold thousands of bikes over the years and the current owner, Fabian, provides cycling advice to many satisfied customers.



That ends our visit today, but I will be back, camera in hand, to snap the historic architecture and street scenes of this inner city treasure trove.

Until next time!



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