“A part of living history”: How Boronia Mall’s tenants are bringing new life while keeping vintage feel

As soon as you walk into Boronia Mall you’re transported back to the 1970s – complete with a mosaic wall and old-fashioned tiles.

The shop owners and staff who have worked there for decades, as well as a growing group of younger owners, say they wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.

So how do they plan on bringing droves back to the historic shopping centre?

🗓️ 50 years of community connections: Originally known as Boronia Shoppingtown, the centre opened in September 1973 and featured more than 30 retail outlets in its heyday, with Kmart as its anchor tenant.

💭 Many memories: Marion Wheatland has been working as a sales assistant at Stevensons Workwear in the mall for about three years, but said her history with the building goes back to when work on the site first began.

• 🗣️“I’ve been in the Boronia area since we came here as a family in 1971,” Wheatland told the Eastern Melburnian. “The Boronia Mall has been the heart of Boronia for a long time. It was really vibrant back in its heyday.”

📸 The place to be: Australian icons who have graced the mall over the years have included Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Humphrey B. Bear.

👋 For locals, by locals: Wheatland said the introduction of more large shopping centres like Westfield and Eastland had drawn shoppers away, with Covid also leading to a drop in visitors.

• 🗣️“We’re more of a local shopping centre and we want to try and liven it up again - making the 1970s new again”.

🤝 All hands on deck: Wheatland has been working with other shop owners to organise events at the mall, with last month’s “Rock Around the Mall” event attracting hundreds of locals to check out a range of vintage cars and market stalls.

• The mall community will be hosting a Christmas celebration event from 11am to 3pm on Saturday December 13, including a live band and dancers from Ferntree Gully’s Tempo Dance Company, children’s craft, new Christmas decorations and market stalls.

👶 The next generation: A few doors down from Stevensons is Thompsons Coins and Collectables, filled to the brim with a wide array of collectable coins, banknotes and other rare items.

• Owner Matthew Thompson opened the store 18 months ago, after being in the industry online for about 13 years.

• He took over the site from long-time tenant Vic Di Luzio, a watchmaker and jeweller who was among the first owners of stores inside the mall.

🥳 Exciting times ahead: Thompson said while the mall community was small, there was a positive momentum in growth, including a new collectibles store, a second-hand bookstore and a hairdresser set to open soon.

• “I think we live in a time where shopping is generally dominated by Westfield and things like that, so to have a small community space where people can come and do things that are a little more unusual, I think there’s a lot of merit to that,” said Thompson.

• “This was my local mall and when the opportunity presented itself to expand my business from an online business into a physical store, this was the logical place for me.”

👀 Moving forward, looking back: Thompson said he was not interested in seeing the mall receive a major upgrade.

• “One of the things I love about the mall is the element of nostalgia,” he said. “I believe this mall is a part of living history.”