General News
25 March, 2024
End of an era for Eileen’s Frock Salon
Since August 1958, Eileen’s Frock Salon has been a constant along Nolan Street for locals to find quality fashion gems, now, owner Margaret Lovett is ready to close the cashier as she looks to sell the local business. Margaret’s mother, Eileen...
Since August 1958, Eileen’s Frock Salon has been a constant along Nolan Street for locals to find quality fashion gems, now, owner Margaret Lovett is ready to close the cashier as she looks to sell the local business.
Margaret’s mother, Eileen McKee, bought the store nearly 66 years ago after some convincing from her brother, Joseph McKnight, to move to Maryborough from Warragul after he opened Mack’s Menswear Store, (now Mack’s Fashion and Surf).
Margaret, who was 10 when her family made the move, has fond memories of the early years at 79 Nolan Street, where the family also lived for a while.
“We actually lived in here when we first moved down, my brother Frank and I really grew up at the back of the store,” she said.
“My kids as well had this place as a home away from home — I would have a month at home with each of the children, but other than that they were brought up here and would play outside in the backyard in the sandpit.
“I remember helping mum after school and on weekends working inside the store, and I would often have a day off from school and go down to Melbourne on the train and bring all these boxes of stock back.”
While she enjoyed helping out the family business when she was younger, Margaret said a life at the store wasn’t the first idea she had for what she wanted to do.
“I went to the tech school and after that I first went to Gilbert’s Newsagency for about six months or so,” she said.
“Then I worked at F N Bucknall and Sons where I managed some farmers books, but I just loved choosing the garments and the customers too much.”
After trying her hand at accounting, Margaret came back to the store and took over her mother’s shop, working there for 55 years running.
Starting when the currency of the time was still pounds and shillings, Margaret has seen a lot of change to the store and the fashion industry.
“Of course a lot has changed and the big one is everything going online,” she said.
“When we first moved down, Nolan Street was a very busy street — shops were all full, we had everything here from butchers, beautiful furniture stores, florists, shoe shops and cafes.
“In the early days, I would go to Melbourne every week buying stock and most of the warehouses were on Flinders Lane, so I could just start from one end of the street and walk to the other and cover all the warehouses I needed to.
“As the years went on, and estate in the CBD was more expensive, all the warehouses moved to the suburbs, so now when you do a big day of shopping, you are only able to get to three warehouses.
“Back in the early days as well, most of the garments were made in Australia, and with everything else in manufacturing, a lot of the goods now sadly come from overseas.”
Throughout her five and a half decades at the store, Margaret has prided herself on the quality of her clothing and the quality of her customer care.
Margaret said she was more than happy to go the extra mile to reciprocate the support she has felt from her buyers.
“My personal service with my customers is what I am most proud of — I have been very thankful to have an extremely loyal clientele, even through COVID,” she said.
“We do specialised work here for the ladies that have breast cancer and we look after them with their prosthesis and undergarments.
“If some of the customers can’t come down to the shop, I will go visit them at the hospital or the nursing home and always take things to them.
“I’m also proud how the store has been able to draw in regular customers from places like Ararat, Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Castlemaine which is amazing.”
After much deliberation, Margaret believes the time is right to move on and sell the store.
While stepping away from her life’s work has caused some mixed emotions, Margaret is looking forward to spending more time with her husband Geoff, her three kids and six grandchildren.
“I think I surprised my husband at the dinner table when I told him that I was thinking of putting the shop on the market,” she said.
“I am at the stage where I would like to spend some more time with my family, especially my grandchildren — age is also catching up to me a little bit as well.
“I would love [the store] to still be able to service the community as it is at the moment.
“I will keep myself busy — I am in the Red Cross, I would love to do some other voluntary work and have some free time.”
Upon reflection of her time at Eileen’s Frock Salon, Margaret expressed her appreciation to the people who have made the last 55 years of her life possible.
“I want to thank the Maryborough community, it has been a very good town to me,” she said.
“We have had some excellent staff who have been lovely in here, the ones that have been here and gone still pop in from time to time.
“I’m going to miss my customers, I love my customers, I have made some lifelong friendships with customers.
“It will be a bit sad [when I leave], but I am looking forward to my next chapter.”