Advance Bank/Interflora/For Lease – Kingsgrove, NSW
The Advance Bank brand lasted only ten years, from 1985-1995, at which point it was rebranded the Bank of South Australia. This fascinating tidbit aside, we can see that after the Advance Bank went south (haw haw), the shop became an Interflora florist, but above all this post exists to prove that not every shop in Kingsgrove has ‘King’ in their name.
Louie’s Fruit Market/King’s Fruit Market – Kingsgrove, NSW
Pretty simple explanation here: looks as if Louie established his fruit market before his coronation.
Kingsgrove Medical Centre/King of the Pack Tobacconist – Kingsgrove, NSW
What was clearly once the Kingsgrove Medical Centre now stands as a joint tobacconist/massage parlour. Seems like a step backwards, doesn’t it?
CLINICAL UPDATE: Back when the KMC was flush with cash, they splurged on some unconventional advertising at Beverly Hills train station, which is still in place today:
It makes sense actually; I usually feel pretty sick when I’m disembarking from a Sydney train.
Corner shop/nothing – Earlwood, NSW
On a surprisingly busy intersection in the backstreets of Earlwood sits this former corner shop.
It’s impossible to say why it closed, but the fact that I was shouted at by passing motorists twice while I took these photos suggests that the proprietor may have decided that the rude residents didn’t deserve a convenience mart.
Peters Ice Cream seems to have had an iron grip on this place in its heyday – closer inspection reveals even older Peters signage beneath what’s visible. Peters used ‘The health food of a nation’ as a slogan from 1923 through to the 1970s, after which time health food shops stopped carrying Drumsticks. Ice cream companies couldn’t get away with a slogan like that these days, that’s for sure.
The signage the shop sports today doesn’t exactly scream ‘C’mon in and get your bread and milk.’ The back of the shop appeared to be a residence, so the shopfront is as good a deterrent as any for burglars or Streets fans.
Past/Lives of the Near Future 