Blockbuster Video/Snap Fitness Club – Roselands, NSW
Despite the sign, Blockbuster’s presence at 1206 Canterbury Road, Roselands is pretty much gone. In 1996, Blockbuster was one of the biggest brands, and now they just can’t eradicate it fast enough. It’s as if Betamax was reincarnated as the head of Bovis Lend Lease. This one in particular is well on its way to becoming a 24-hour gym, just in case you need to pump some iron at 4am.
Looks like you're busting the blocks just fine, guys.
Research shows that as late as 1946, this address was being used to sell retired show horses. The Subway on the lot is still going strong, keeping the tradition of hawking old livestock here well and truly alive.
Savoy Cinema/Quality House/Whitewood Warehouse/Poliak Building Supply Co. – Enfield, NSW
On the Hume Highway, Enfield stands this bright orange eyecatcher. According to Strathfield Heritage, the Savoy opened as the Enfield Cinema in 1927, but was redesigned in Art Deco style in 1938.
Enfield Savoy, 1938. Image from Strathfield Heritage.
Enfield Savoy interior furnishings, 2012.
At this point it was renamed the Savoy, and reopened to the public. In 1944 it was bought by Hoyts, but was closed as a cinema in 1960. The last film shown was Some Like It Hot.
Enfield Savoy entrance, 2012.
Julian Tertini was working as a public servant in the mid-1970s when he quit his job and started a furniture company with no prior business experience. That company was Whitewood Warehouse. By 2012, the Savoy has stood as the cartoon bear-sporting Whitewood Warehouse longer than it did as a cinema.
Tertini went on to start both Fantastic and Freedom Furniture, and is one of Australia’s richest people. The Savoy/Whitewood building is now home to Poliak Building Supplies. The foyer is a showroom for ovens and hot water systems, because some still like it hot.
QUALITY UPDATE: Thanks to reader Phil, Past/Lives can now reveal the hitherto unknown second phase of this building’s life! After the cinema’s 1960 closure, it began its long life as a furniture warehouse under the name of Quality House. Now there’s a name you can trust:
Quality House advertisement, June 27 1965
Ray White Real Estate/Car Wash – Bankstown, NSW
Ray White, Bankstown. It looks a little…unusual, doesn’t it? Like it could have been a Pizza Hut, or some other kind of fast food restaurant? Well, you’re right. There IS something strange about this Ray White…
It’s the only real estate agent with a car wash and a lube bay.
Pizza Hut/Olsens Funerals – Revesby, NSW
Continuing in the series of Pizza Hut restaurants around Sydney, today we find Revesby’s former Pizza Hut restaurant converted into an Olsens funeral home. Pizza Hut would have closed around 1999, so this has been there for awhile. The roof is starting to lose its green, with the former red paint clearly visible from the street. So too the door handle:
As we’ll soon discover as we continue exploring the repurposing of old Pizza Huts, this one is up there with the strangest. I wonder if they kept the oven?
Tri-Star Video/Titanic Cafe – Bankstown, NSW
Tri-Star Video showcased their entertainment at this location until approximately 1995. It has since become the Titanic Cafe. This is apparently Tri-Star’s second location – from at least 1989 until 1993 they were on the opposite corner of West Terrace. In a way they were pioneers – jumping ship on the video shop business long before it was a necessity.
Past/Lives of the Near Future 