The Store - 1980s Oral Histories

10 oral histories from the 1980's about The Newcastle and Suburban Co-operative Society Ltd, known locally as 'The Store', were commissioned by Newcastle Printmakers Workshop as part of a publication “The Store: a Co-operative Phenomenon” (1988). The original 10 cassette tapes containing are held at Local Studies, City of Newcastle Library, the recordings were digitised at the GLAMx Living Histories Digitisation Lab at the Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle (Australia) as part of a larger oral history project.

We thank all of the interviewees and Newcastle Printmakers Workshop for permission to share the full digital audio recordings of this oral history collection freely to the wider community.

The Store Oral History Project is a collection of stories gathered from members of the Newcastle community, sharing their thoughts and memories of the Store and those who have contributed in other ways, such as sharing photographs and other sources and memorabilia. The Store was a co-operative based in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. The Store was described as "the biggest and most successful co-operative venture not just in Australia but in the entire southern hemisphere".

The co-operative was established in 1898, based on a co-operative tradition brought over from Britain by immigrant coal miners. At its peak, the Store had 98,000 members and employed 1,450 workers in 15 retail stores and 11 petrol stations. As well as food and retail goods, services included "health fund, funeral fund, travel agency, credit union and a barber shop." The Newcastle Herald states that in 1942, the Store was "reputed to have the largest bakery in Australia, making about 62,800 loaves a week". Many of its members recall the 'divvy' system which rewarded loyal customers. Eventually, increased shopper mobility and competition from suburban shopping centres saw the Store close on April 10 1981 after 83 years of service.

This project is sponsored by DOMA Group, and managed by Artefact Heritage artefact.net.au, with GLAMx Living Histories Digitisation Lab at the University of Newcastle livinghistories.newcastle.edu.au and the Vera Deacon Regional History Fund uoncc.wordpress.com/vera-deacon-fund.

Please contact us if you are the subject of an image, or know the subject of an image and have cultural or other reservations about the image being displayed on this website and would like to discuss this with us.

You are welcome to use the audio for study and personal research purposes. Please acknowledge as Courtesy of “Newcastle Printmakers Workshop" For commercial requests you must obtain permission by contacting Special Collections.

When we have sufficient funds in the Vera Deacon Regional History Fund, we are able to give our volunteers some paid employment. If you would care to make a tax-deductible donation to this fund, please see http://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/benefactors/new for more information and a link to the donation form.