Darley Street- Episode One
by Steve Gray
An eclectic set of shops set in ‘downtown anywhere Melbourne suburbs.’ It’s a ‘T’ intersection with a mix of older and odd shops that have quaint appeal.
Over the years, properties have been cleared out to provide parking for staff and customers, as well as parking in the streets.
This has made the shopping strip far more viable than it had been in the past. In its much earlier years, there was decent foot traffic with people living nearby doing their main shopping in Darley Street.
Now it holds a mix of creative, eclectic and ‘rather groovy’ shops aimed to sell and entertain, feed and inspire.
At the Centre is Sally’s bookstore, she sells old books and various curios in the store, it's often referred to as more of a museum than a bookstore. It’s one of the oldest spaces on the strip, with colonial bar windows and a heavy front door that sits at forty-five degrees on the corner.
There is a short cobbled alley that long side windows look out onto, and another old store next door that is intact, etc. and is known as the mystery store. On the other side of Sally’s, is a cafe/restaurant come curio shop, called Eclectica, run by Tom.
On the opposite side is an empty shop on the corner of Hill Street. It has been empty for a long time, and it will be a while before it’s used again.
There are stores that sell food, a new bakery coming, a nursery, an accounting business, Sally’s other ‘new’ book store called 'Chapter Two Books.' A card collecting store and a cobbler and clock work restoration business.
It’s run by Artie, an ‘ancient’ local character with a solid interest in investing in shares. Let's face it, restoring old clocks was becoming a fading craft. His staff looked after the shoe repairs, and so Artie 'dabbled’, successfully with share trading.
Laura’s laundry is a laundromat and service laundry. An art gallery came later on in Hills Street, much to everyone's delight and 'Fab Foods' on the other corner of Hill Street has bulk foods and specialty items.
An obligatory discount-type store was setting up. Gail at the accounting business pointed out that some people can’t sustain the motivation required to get a business started.
People came, people went, it was going to be an exciting time in the not-too-distant future. There was the 'rather elderly' Mrs Mac down the street. The growing Nepalese community led by Mr Mandal, a multi-millionaire doing philanthropic work for his people, helping them locate and rent houses, some of which he owned.
The local staff of each business were encouraged to buy local, and were given a hefty discount if they bought from a local eatery during a non-rush hour time, and each were limited to one food item and one drink, to keep things civil.
Mr Grevans, an elderly gent from ‘somewhere up Hill Street’. Wanders by, he’s on his way to Sally’s bookstore, he has a small selection of antique prints he has been telling her about for ages, Sally, up to this point, hasn’t fully believed Mr Grevans, she’s heard more than enough stories about people with antique items and valuable curios.
But today, he’s all set, a worn leather satchel under one arm, the other hand clasped on top, his loose ‘old man pants’ flapping in the breeze as he crossed over Darley Street.
His green and grey jumper had seen better days, but it kept him warm. He entered the store. Sally came from the back and was surprised to see he had a satchel. Greetings exchanged, Mr Grevans unloaded the contents onto her cleared front bench.
Layers of Jeweller's tissue separated the three prints, etchings of architectural and domestic scenes in Europe. Sally noted they were large prints, and for antique prints, she thought that was rather unusual.
The pair discussed what was on offer. Sally looked at the works, asking about provenance, values and so forth. Sally was delighted with what Mr Grevans had; she was also pleased with the price he was offering them for. A quick internet search, and she told him they were worth much more.
They discussed prices further, and today Mr Grevans was pleased to part with two of the prints. Sally was pleased to add these to her collection and soon scanned them and put them online, ready to sell.
Business was alive and well in Darley Street. Sally watched as Mr Grevans crossed the street with his old, worn satchel, heading off into the distance.
Cars came and went, people wandered by, with the day well underway. From Sally’s shop, she could see a range of things happening and would take herself out into the street for some fresh air and to peruse the other goings on.
All seemed right in the world, a wave to Tom next door at Eclectica and Gail the Accountant as she sailed by in her Mercedes, coming around the corner from Hill Street.
Who knew what would happen next? The eclectic and quirky mix of shops has a lot to offer, and it won’t be long before we will start to meet more of the folks doing their part for small businesses here in Darley Street.
No two days were the same in Darley Street; people come, and people go. Today was no exception.
Darley Street will return Wednesday 3 June. Stay tuned!
