‘Nothing lasts forever, but I will miss it’: After 50 years, Myer Frankston to close its doors for good

Key points

• Myer Frankston is set to close permanently on January 15 after 50 years.
• It’s the third Myer store across Melbourne to close during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Myer hopes to empty the store’s three levels of stock through Boxing Day and post-Christmas sales.
• Many locals are sad at the loss of the iconic shopping store.

Lorraine Baker is arguably Myer Frankston’s most loyal customer: she was at the store’s opening day celebrations in October 1972, and she will likely be there to mark its final day of trading next month.

The Frankston local, now 85, remembers the excitement of the department store’s arrival in the then-outer suburb.

Lorraine Baker, 85, has been one of Myer Frankston’s most loyal customers.Credit:Paul Jeffers

Myer opened its doors at Bayside Shopping Centre with full fanfare, including jazz musicians and 400 staff.

“I was thrilled because I was used to going to the city Myer store, and there wasn’t much in terms of shopping in Frankston at that time at all,” Baker says. “It was almost a country town.”

The big new store housed a huge array of homewares, clothing and goods. Back then, there were departments selling fabric, hardware, typewriters and even a deli.

“The first thing I bought was a striped jumper for my husband that I ended up regretting buying because someone said he looked like a bumblebee,” Baker chuckles.

An advertisement in The Herald on October 2, 1972 announcing the next day’s opening of the Bayside Shopping Centre in Frankston.Credit:The Herald

Baker has shopped at the store for its entire 50-year lifespan. She visits twice a week and is on a first-name basis with many staff.

But while she’s looking forward to the Boxing Day sales, she is sad they will be the store’s last.

On January 15, the three-level suburban shopping icon will close its doors for good.

Myer announced in August it would close the Frankston store as part of a nationwide “rationalisation” – a wider strategy to downsize and focus more on online sales.

It follows the closure of its Emporium store in May 2020 and at Knox, in Melbourne’s east, in August 2021. The company has reduced its floor space across the country by almost 10 per cent over the past four years.

The strategy is working from the corporate point of view. In September, Myer posted its strongest profit figures in years.

Marketing historian Professor Robert Crawford, of RMIT University, said the Frankston closure was another example of the end of an era for department stores.

“It’s a 19th-century model and we’re in the 21st century,” he says.

The TV section in Myer Frankston in the 1980s.

Just this week, rival David Jones was sold to a private equity firm for between $120 and $150 million, a large loss after South Africa-based Woolworths Holdings purchased the retailer for $2.1 billion in 2014.

Department stores were once considered “anchor tenants” to build large shopping centres around. Ironically, this model ended up cannibalising them, according to Crawford.

“In some ways the department stores have been a victim of their own success,” he says.

“The market is so crowded now. The major shopping centres now function as bigger department stores.”

Christmas time at Myer Frankston in the 1980s.

Crawford and academics from Macquarie University are undertaking a crowd-sourced history project documenting the history of Australia’s department stores from 1945 onwards, and are collecting memories from staff and shoppers from Myer, David Jones and long-lost stores like Grace Bros, John Martin’s, Boans and McWhirters.

The rise of cheaper imported goods and the entrance of discount department stores Kmart, Target and Big W drew working-class customers away from Myer, according to Crawford, while fewer specialised staff and a casualisation of the retail workforce eroded its appeal. The rise of internet shopping and the COVID-19 pandemic changed the retailer forever.

“Department stores actually have an intimate relationship with customers,” he says.

The long-gone fabric section at Myer Frankston.

“That intimate relationship had been the cornerstone of their success for so long and one may argue that’s what’s weakened over time. But half a century, it’s a decent stretch. It wasn’t as though this was a spectacular failure, it’s just that retail has changed.”

As the closure approaches, Frankston shoppers have recounted fond memories: annual photos with Santa, strawberry milkshakes at the cafe on the second level, and walking on the store’s parquetry floors.

For decades many young women were fitted for their first bra there, while others bought their graduation outfits, or got their first jobs.

“The staff gradually disappeared,” Baker says. “Sometimes now it’s hard to find someone to take my money.”

Myer aims to clear the entire Frankston store out in its post-Christmas sales and staff there will be redeployed to Chadstone, Southland or Fountain Gate shopping centres.

It is unclear what will replace the department store, and a spokeswoman for Bayside Shopping Centre declined to give any hints about new tenants that will take the large footprint across three levels.

Baker will now have to travel 30 minutes if she wants to visit Southland Myer instead of the 10-minute walk from home.

“I’m very sad,” she says. “I know nothing lasts forever, but I will miss it.”

We asked locals for their memories from Frankston Myer over its 50 years of trading. Here’s what they told us (edited for length and clarity):

“Back in late ’80s I worked toward Christmas time, opening doors for customers in a tuxedo. Interesting days – before automatic doors obviously.” – Cam Robinson

“My dad (who passed away in 1999) took me there for my 15th birthday to buy a dress. It was a secret purchase – one of those ‘don’t tell your mother’ type things. Even though this happened 30 years ago, the memories of the day are still vivid. I recall pretty much everything about that shopping trip – how the staff helped my dad, the box the dress was put in. That trip to Myer for the dress is now one of my fondest memories with my dad.” – Shelle Barrett

The shoe section in Myer Frankston in the 1980s.

“When I was 11 in 1975, my sister and I used to ride our horses down Beach Street on our way to the beach. Sometimes we would stop outside the Myer entrance to pick up my sister’s friend, who worked at the food hall inside. Boy, was I tempted to see what would happen if I rode my horse through Myer.” – Jayne Jupp

“The Myer cafe was the best place to hang out and chat as a student with a cappuccino and endless cigarettes. There was the beauty salon and hairdresser and the Miss Shop. The only place in Frankston you could get a bra fitted, the record department upstairs where I bought my first CD. Beautiful baby clothes, fabulous formal dresses, a chocolate conveyor and my first credit card. I miss the Myer of those days, you felt special shopping there.” – Larissa Andrusiak

“I grew up with Myer and have fond memories of having an outing with my mum at the cafe when I was a kid. It was a special treat. I also suffered the humiliation of being fitted for my first bra back in the ’70s. I liked Myer, especially the women at the make-up counters, where you could try before you buy and received plenty of good advice. Shame it’s not what it once was. Even worse, all our shopping centres are becoming a repetition of each other.” – Lisa

A stocktake sale in the 1980s.

“My brothers and I have lots of stories of being dragged around for hours shopping with our mum. I loved the old parquetry floor and the cafe, the best strawberry milkshakes and toasted cheese sandwiches. Plus the old lift that is still there.” – Rebecca Powell

“The cafeteria, the chocolate conveyor belt where you chose your chocolate and put in a little wicker basket, the amazing selections of guest soaps and bath oil balls in little clear containers! The old round racks that I would hide in and the people smoking using the ashtrays outside the lifts.” – Beth Steidle

“In the early to mid ’90s Myer would run a special ‘seniors shopping’ night a few weeks before Christmas. I was a young social worker at Frankston Council, and we would use minibuses to pick up seniors from their homes and take them to this special night. Baxter Village brought in residents, as did other aged care facilities. Doors were closed to the public, there would be loads of Myer staff to assist. There were refreshments, Christmas cake and personal service for all the older people. The Mt Eliza Centre would loan us about 50 wheelchairs so seniors could get around the store. The older community appreciated the night so much.” – Carolyn McAlister

“My mum was a microwave demonstrator at Myer Frankston for many years. She was a bubbly personality, who loved cooking and showing everyone how this amazing new product could make life so much easier. I can reminisce about the Myer cafe – what a treat! It was a place to meet your friends, your boyfriend or just get that special gift. It was always there and now it won’t be … It will be greatly missed.” – Amanda Lawrence

Myer Frankston opened with fanfare in October 1972.Credit:The Herald

“I am 56 and grew up in Frankston. I fondly remember going to Myer with my mum and my sister. It was a real treat. On the top floor, there were so many toys and stuffed animals. It was my favourite place, a paradise for kids. I loved the girls clothes section on the bottom level, and once a year we would go and get a new outfit. I can still remember the great quality and style of the clothes there, My favourite was a blue paisley winter dress. The cafe was a great place to visit too.” – Roma Clarke

“I’m now 86 years old and was an original staff member of Myer Frankston. It was such a beautiful store. A real department store, it had everything and certainly was a ‘one-stop shopping’ experience. It was when a sale was a sale. Shoppers were crowded around the doors before opening and would make a thunderous noise as they ran in. Every Friday around 6pm the store manager would make an announcement as to where “the Friday night’s special” would be, and shoppers would ride the escalators hoping they would be close to a sale area. It was amusing then to see loads of shoppers carrying brooms, buckets, paint and various objects from the hardware department. Of course over the years, with speciality stores opening, including McEwans Hardware next door, the number of departments were no longer viable.” – Marie Bolitho

“I was born and raised here, and I have so many memories of visiting Myer with my mum, meeting my grandparents for lunch at the cafe and taking my children there for their first shoes, and now for our last Christmas shopping.” – Kirsty Bell

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