General News
5 February, 2026
The demise of the corner store
By Greg Robson, Stawell Historical Society. IN most communities, the days of the corner grocer shop/general store have virtually disappeared and one of the last operating in Stawell was on the corner of Ligar and Houston Streets. It was one of the last to close the doors and it was demolished by the Stawell Jaycees in July of 1972. The hard-wood, weather board structure, had served Stawell and the surrounding area for around 100 years up until just prior to its closure and demolition.
In the hey day of the country general store, the stores were a great meeting place for the locals to catch up and have a “yarn” especially on Saturday Mornings.
They generally sold everything from your daily grocery needs, a little hardware, needles and cotton, cookware, horse feed and just about a little of everything.
The store was established in 1879 and the first proprietors were a Mr. Phillips and a Mr. Thomas ‘Teapot” Thomas.
“Teapot” gained his nickname from the sign of a teapot on the building advertising his special blend of tea for 1/- shilling a pound.
The last owner was a Mr. Henry Dunn. As a young man he worked for the PMG then became a baker.
The service of the business was wide and Henry rode around Stawell on a horse collecting the orders of his customers.
The Saturday morning run on his horse took in an area of up to 16 miles from Stawell. Across the Street from the shop were the horse yards which were still used up until the closure of the business.
Most early business houses contained a cellar and this one was no exception.
On the hottest of days, butter would be brought up from the cellar, fresh and firm to be taken home to the “Coolgardie” safe by the housewife in the earlier days, then the ice chest and finally the refrigerator.
If the building was able to tell its own story, it would have spoken of the mining boom, the closer settlement that took place in and around Stawell, the gradual development of housing estates in Stawell, the long hot delivery trips in the summer and the freezing delivery trips in the winter.
The demise of the corner milk bar in Stawell occurred in June 2023 when the Roswin Milkbar in Lower Main Street and the Highway Milkbar closed their doors for the last time.
Can anyone remember back to when, at these corner stores you were able to purchase eight lollies for a penny, when threepence was a small fortune or you would be able to purchase six pence of broken biscuits.
Many will remember Mrs. Melbourne opposite 502 Primary School, Mrs. Boothey in Cypress Street, Mrs. Mutimer in Dawson Street, Eric Jude in Newington Road and Scott & Wilson opposite St. Pats Primary School.
There have been many other corner grocery stores/Milk Bars in Stawell and some of them were located at various times in the following Streets; Childe, Houston, Patrick, Ligar, Lamont, Napier, Moonlight, Byrne and Sloane Streets.
The photograph taken in 1905 is of a store on the corner of Newington Road and Sophia Street known as the Clifton Rock Store.
It was operated for many years by Joachim Popp and his wife Trina.
Joachim was also the Managing director of the Stawell Vineyard Company that was established about 1886 on 108 acres on Vineyard Road near Concongella where he planted 73,000 vines.
The second photo is of the store on the corner of Ligar and Houston Streets operated by Messrs Phillips and Thomas. The date of the photo is unknown.
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