Heazlewoods Solicitors/Pedros Pizza – Epping, NSW
Cynical eyes might see this as a perfect microcosm of the world as we know it: hawking junk food and branded by lawyers.
T.W. Green Wool Stores/Trojan Workforce Recruitment/For Lease – Glebe, NSW
Thomas W. Green established his wool handling and broking business in 1905, a time long before recruitment agencies. The Green empire spread itself over two locations; one in Queanbeyan and one here at Glebe. This was at a time when Glebe’s stores were full of first-hand wool. Stunning, I know.
TWG Wool, presumably renamed KFC-style in the 90s by a pony-tailed marketing man, was purchased by Landmark in 2005, and has practically disappeared since. The Glebe location was taken over by the terribly named Trojan Workforce recruitment company on the first level, and the awesomely named Ultraceuticals Pty Ltd on the second. They could literally put heroin or mutagen in a bottle marked Ultraceuticals and I’d down it without thinking twice.
While researching this place, I stumbled upon what may have been a contributing factor to T. W. Green’s desertion of this location:
Barrier Miner, Mar 22 1950
“I’m sorry, sir, but only the J. Wilson from J. W. Green is allowed to redeem this prize!”
It wouldn’t surprise me if a. that actually happened and b. NSW Lotteries did this kind of thing more often. “Oh, sorry Mr. Smith, but this prize can only be claimed by Mr. Snith. Check the results again.” Talk about pulling the wool over your eyes.
Motorcycle Spares & Accessories/Master Bookkeeping – Homebush, NSW
Two doors up from the former tattoo parlour, opposite the intersection of Underwood and Parramatta Roads, is this bookkeeping establishment. In rowdier days, it was clearly a motorcycle accessories and spares outlet. This not only strengthens my theory about the area being a bikie hotbed, but proves that whoever replaced the bikie-themed shops went way overboard in approving anti-bikie businesses for tenancy. Or did they? Bikies need bookkeeping too. What do you think the B in MYOB stands for?
Tattoo Parlour/Strathfield Laundry – Homebush, NSW
Back in the day, this stretch of Parramatta Road (opposite Underwood Road) used to be a hotspot for hoons and revheads to congregate ahead of drag races through the old abattoir and brickpit. The most popular meeting spot was Big Chief’s, a burger joint a bit further west of here. Presumably, this tattoo parlour (imaginatively titled ‘TATTOO’, leading one to suspect they only had one design) was a by-product of that era. In an effort to quell bikie activity, it has been rebranded Strathfield Laundry, but there’s no guarantee it’ll work. Bikies need their clothes washed, too.
The Plaza Theatre/Maxy’s Roller City/Planet Hollywood/McDonald’s – Sydney, NSW
Image courtesy Simon Fieldhouse.
Sydney’s Plaza Theatre was once one of many elegant cinemas and theatres lining George Street’s entertainment strip. Like many cinemas, its business was damaged by the advent of television, and today it has the distinction of being arguably the world’s fanciest McDonald’s.
McDonald’s George Street interior, 2012.
Built for Hoyts in 1930, the Plaza sat alongside venues such as the Century Theatre (which became an indoor BMX track in what could only have been the 80s) and the Crystal Palace Arcade.
Erecting the neon sign, The Plaza Theatre, 1935. Image courtesy State Library of NSW.
Hoyts Plaza Theatre, 1966. Image courtesy City of Sydney Archives.
Despite many of its contemporaries being bulldozed around it, the Plaza stood firm until 1977, when it was closed as a cinema and reopened as Maxy’s, a disco skating rink. The changing face of entertainment.
The Plaza as Maxy’s, 1983. Image courtesy Helen Grant/Sydney Cinema Flashbacks.
Surprisingly, the idea of a disco roller rink wasn’t fashionable for long, and the Plaza played host to Mickey D’s and video arcades for most of the 1980s.
Planet Hollywood Sydney, 1996. Image courtesy Steve Newbury.
The Plaza’s northern end was once again immersed in the world of cinema in 1995 when the Stallone-Schwarzenegger-Willis-Moore joint Planet Hollywood came to Sydney, establishing itself in the former arcade. According to this photo taken in 1996, PH shared its space with Brashs, another 90s success story. By 1999, both ventures would be out of business.
Today, some lazy entrepreneur has taken the already-tacky Planet Hollywood aesthetic and adapted it into the Star Bar, another of modern George Street’s entertainment offerings. Not sure how many stars you’d see here these days. The Plaza in its present state is yet another example of Sydney trying to disguise the brazen pimping of itself to the lowest bidder by hiding behind facades of the past. If it looks vintage, it seems that much more respectable. What isn’t considered is that drunken eyes can’t appreciate all the lovingly preserved heritage fronts, and as George Street continues to slide into the gutter, the death grip it has on these buildings only serves to drag their illustrious reputations and history down with it.
STAR STUDDED UPDATE: Reader Cameron says: “Star Bar was originally created by Planet Hollywood to replace Brashs when it failed which had the same owner, Star Bar was created so Planet Hollywood could profit from gambling without tarnishing its family image. The two coexisted for a while. A bizarre fact, this restaurant was a real cash cow and extremely profitable when it closed, a case of embezzlement I believe. The real crime there was the removal of the original cinemas Spanish themed ceiling for the extra headroom and replaced with a high blue ceiling. The Star Bar is now run by the same group that has the even tackier Shark Bar! now with no sharks……”
Sounds like the sharks haven’t left at all, actually. It’s almost inconceivable that shady types would be running places like this (especially the Shark Bar), but there you go. Thanks, Cameron!
Past/Lives of the Near Future 