Big W Endeavour Hills Closing Down
The beginnings of some store closures for Woolworths-owned discount deprtment store Big W. The Endeavour Hills store in the outer south east followed the opening of Safeway (1979) as an anchor tenant at the new centre in what was then new housing estates near the end of the Mulgrave Freeway. At the time the shopping centre was anchored by Big W, Safeway and McEwans hardware. An expansion in the early 1990s saw a Coles supermarket added at the rear with specialty shops and undercover parking with the extension built atop a sloping car parking area. Mc Ewans would close soon after and an Aldi supermarket open near Coles in later years.
Throughout the 1980s and early 90s it was one of only four Big W stores in the Melbourne metro area in a city dominated by Kmart and Target both Victorian based - the other three being Highpoint Shopping Centre Maribyrnong, Southland Shopping Centre Cheltenham and Karringal Hub near Frankston. Expansion of Big W in Melbourne started in the mid 90s with the opening of Parkmore Keysborough and continuing around the state.
Endeavour Hills lost its importance with the opening of nearby stores at the larger Fountain Gate centre and later Waverley Gardens in Mulgrave in the 2000s and the extension of the freeway past Hallam to join the Berwick section in 2003. The store continued until Woolworths pulled the pin in late 2016 with the chain now in the red. Last day of trade was January 15 2017 with Kmart signing a lease and opening later in the year.
The signage and decor seen here largely date from the 1990's when they installed a lowered false ceiling, new flooring and updated the signage to the 1990's/2000's format. Originally this store had a high ceiling with the tiles placed just under the external roof as some early BIg W stores still have today. The walls were originally white and yellow with a sine-wave pattern around the store's perimeter. The original signage at the entrance had the logo from the time (The logo just had 'BIG' at the top and not 'BIG W' as per Logopedia) with the words' Discount Store' afterwards.
Big W Endeavour Hills Closing Down
The beginnings of some store closures for Woolworths-owned discount deprtment store Big W. The Endeavour Hills store in the outer south east followed the opening of Safeway (1979) as an anchor tenant at the new centre in what was then new housing estates near the end of the Mulgrave Freeway. At the time the shopping centre was anchored by Big W, Safeway and McEwans hardware. An expansion in the early 1990s saw a Coles supermarket added at the rear with specialty shops and undercover parking with the extension built atop a sloping car parking area. Mc Ewans would close soon after and an Aldi supermarket open near Coles in later years.
Throughout the 1980s and early 90s it was one of only four Big W stores in the Melbourne metro area in a city dominated by Kmart and Target both Victorian based - the other three being Highpoint Shopping Centre Maribyrnong, Southland Shopping Centre Cheltenham and Karringal Hub near Frankston. Expansion of Big W in Melbourne started in the mid 90s with the opening of Parkmore Keysborough and continuing around the state.
Endeavour Hills lost its importance with the opening of nearby stores at the larger Fountain Gate centre and later Waverley Gardens in Mulgrave in the 2000s and the extension of the freeway past Hallam to join the Berwick section in 2003. The store continued until Woolworths pulled the pin in late 2016 with the chain now in the red. Last day of trade was January 15 2017 with Kmart signing a lease and opening later in the year.
The signage and decor seen here largely date from the 1990's when they installed a lowered false ceiling, new flooring and updated the signage to the 1990's/2000's format. Originally this store had a high ceiling with the tiles placed just under the external roof as some early BIg W stores still have today. The walls were originally white and yellow with a sine-wave pattern around the store's perimeter. The original signage at the entrance had the logo from the time (The logo just had 'BIG' at the top and not 'BIG W' as per Logopedia) with the words' Discount Store' afterwards.