The general store at Stanwell Park started in 1924, writes Dr Lorraine Jones, Vice President of Helensburgh and District Historical Society

The local shop was once a feature of every small settlement. These shops sold everything from toothbrushes to potatoes. The local post office at Otford functioned as a general store. Passengers could go to the Coalcliff store on the way home from the station. Gradually these shops shut due to the increased use of cars and the rise of supermarkets.

Stanwell Park shop was first opened in a small weatherboard building (now Loaf cafe) by John and Annie Anger in 1924. A few years later they built a larger store next door, on the corner of Station Street. It was truly a General Store. In the 1950s it had a downstairs hardware area where you could buy gravel, cement and wood. Upstairs was for general store items.

In the 1970s the Stanwell Park shop was really multi-functional. The shop owners at the time started early, driving around delivering newspapers. Then parents with their children called in on their way to school to order school lunches. As bread at home from Friday was quite stale by Monday morning (if there was any left), Monday morning was peak order day at the Stanwell Park shop.

My children were old enough to order their lunch on Mondays unsupervised. My son chose peanut butter sandwiches. The shopkeeper at the time was amused that one of my daughters chose jam sandwiches as her lunch. 

This was a time when supermarkets shut at midday on Saturdays and did not re-open until 8.30 Monday mornings.

The local shop was a good place to buy necessities and to bump into neighbours, catching up on the local gossip.

Business for the local shop became much more difficult when Bilo (now Coles) opened in Helensburgh. Opening hours for supermarkets were extended to seven days per week and to late closing hours.

The local shop’s demise was also accelerated by the increased usage of the internet. Newspaper delivery was dramatically reduced as online newspaper reading became popular. Supermarkets commenced home deliveries as smart phones became increasingly used to order online. Services such as bread and milk runs became uneconomic.

The choice of items to purchase at Stanwell Park General Store became more limited. The business had been bought by a shopkeeper who was quite unsuccessful at opening at the advertised opening hours. The downward trend continued and the new purchasers of the business decided to turn the Stanwell Park shop into an Italian Pizza Shop/Restaurant. Sadly 2020 brought Covid-19 and custom diminished. Unable to negotiate an acceptable reduction in rent, the lease was not renewed.

The owners of the building updated it with a splendid renovation. After about a year a new lease was entered into, and the Stanwell Park shop is now a Thai Takeaway and Restaurant. The next door cafe, Loaf, sells long-life milk and a few necessities. Milk can also be bought from Uluwatu Blue Cafe and, somewhat surprisingly, from the local bottle shop.