Monbulk Historical Society

NATION'S FORMER MONBULK STORE
125 Years
First built in 1901
Demolished July 6 2026

About a year ago we posted about the former Nation's Monbulk Store history as plans were formulated to replace it with residential units, to be built by Sylvan Glades, the new owners of the site.

The building had been an important part of the community for decades but over the last 30 years had sadly become a rundown eyesore. It was never built to last, contained asbestos and had mostly sat vacant since the Kallista Dance Academy vacated the premises years ago. Unfortunately it no longer had a useful purpose and saving it wasn't an option. Part of the building was the original store from 125 years, that had been added to since.

The history of the store was covered a year ago in our post, with the text repeated below:

The address of 18-20 Main Road Monbulk won't immediately spring to people's attention although the site itself will be instantly recognisable.

Originally part of Allotment 78 Section C, a small shop site was purchased by Robert and Jane Nation and began operating in 1901.
Jane Nation ran the store for about 20 years. In 1921 it was sold to Alf Hopton who then ran the 'Monbulk Store' until he died in 1941, after which his daughters Bess and Marj ran it until about 1945. It was then bought by McNally's (Real Estate people from Belgrave/Upwey area) who had it for about 5 years before selling to Rich's in 1951.

After the Rich's bought it, the store was changed from a General Store to also including a delicatessen as the shop was enlarged to about twice the original size. One of the main changes was to the frontage which took on the present design.

About the mid 1950s it was changed into a self-serve supermarket under the Four Square chain. The Rich's eventually sold the business in 1971 and the new owners changed it to Godfrey's Foodland but did not retain it as a supermarket for much longer after that. There was a new supermarket at the other end of the Main Street, Nancarrows (now the Bottlemart next to the Butchers), that took over as the town's supermarket in the 1970s until Woolworths was built in 1979.

After the supermarket closed the building was used for numerous other businesses, including a second hand furniture store, an aquarium, The Trader Newspaper office, Kallista Dance Academy and others.