RETAILING IN TRARALGON - by MR. KEVIN LYTHGO
(V. Plant)

Kevin was born in Ballarat in 1918 and clearly remembers the Depression from 1929 to 1936. He was only 10 years old but worked at many and various jobs to supplement the family income.  In 1936 he got a job as a porter on the railways at Ballarat  and each pay day he contributed to assist his sister and brother who were training at the Teachers Training College in Melbourne.

In 1939 he heard the momentous announcement by Robert Menzies that Australia was at war with Germany and he was called up for military training at Mount Martha.  He had a Telegraph Operator's Certificate and was drafted into a Signallers Unit.  However, he was later classified as an "essential worker" and was recalled to work on the railways.

Kevin was posted to Flinders Street, Melbourne, and in 1941 was transferred to Traralgon, as a Shunter. Traralgon's population was then 2,300.   Thus he began his association with our town - and a beautiful young girl named Jean Fithie.

From Traralgon he was transferred to Seymour (an important military base) as a Leading Shunter, and worked with the military trains moving tanks, guns, supplies, and thousands of Australian and American servicemen as well as Prisoner-of- War trains and the returned Australian 9th Division from the Middle East.

Kevin's parents were musical people and the musical entertainment in the family home began his association with dance bands.  He formed his first dance band at Seymour, playing 5 nights a week, also Saturdays and Sundays.  Some of the American servicemen were excellent musicians, and one evening he had 18 of them playing in his band.

Kevin was keen to get back to Gippsland, and applied for a transfer.  In late 1943 he was back in Traralgon and renewed his acquaintance with "the girl from Rosedale". On 22nd November 1944, he and Jean Fithie were married.   He was a Leading Shunter in the Traralgon railway yards and had formed a local band group known as the "Night Owls".

Kevin resigned from the Railways and worked at A.P.M. as a construction clerk.  He was always interested in retail trade, and when the grocery business of Mr. Alf Brereton became available, his father-in-law, Mr.  Fithie, financed him in the purchase of this well established business at 11 Franklin Street, Traralgon, on 1st April, 1950.   This was the beginning of his involvement in the retail trade in Traralgon.

These were the days when tradesmen called personally for the customers' orders which were then delivered on the same day.  Then, nothing was pre-packaged, but purchased in bulk: sugar in 70 lb. bags, Flour 150 lb., salt 112 lb. (1 cwt) , split peas, pearl barley, dates, raisins, sultanas and currants in case lots, and even pepper and spices in large tins.  These were all weighed out and packed in the required lots ready for delivery or sale over the counter.  Kevin had many amusing stories to tell of his experiences while delivering orders.  He remembers the many cups of tea with home-made cakes, sponges,  and scones enjoyed while collecting and delivering orders.   At one house, the owner would insist that he talk to her pet cockatoo, but its response was simply to stare back at him.

Food rationing, with coupons, was another hassle for everyone, with many items that we take for granted today being unavailable. There were only 7 varieties of biscuits available and they came in tins and had to be packaged at the store.   Broken biscuits  sold at a much reduced price were very popular with school children.

Kevin recalled one customer, a well known farmer, who only paid his account once a year, on 30th June.   Another customer only paid his account when Kevin wrote and told him that the bank was threatening to close him down - but this customer always left a balance of £25 owing.   One day when he was out collecting overdue accounts, a small boy told him "Mum isn't home".  Kevin asked whether she would be home on Wednesday, and the lad called out "Mum, will you be home on Wednesday ?" 

One day Kevin was in Bridge Road, Richmond, and saw a very busy crowded store displaying signs proclaiming "self-service Grocery", owned by a family named Rubinstein. He studied this new idea and decided to convert his store in Traralgon.

He did so and opened the first self-service store in Traralgon on 8th February, 1952. Large crowds of laughing, curious people turned up to see how it worked, and it was immediately successful. Kevin advertised 8 heavily-reduced opening specials but Mr. Wally Skeels from Purvis stores, directly opposite Kevin's shop, produced on the opening day 8 large cards of the identical specials at a halfpenny cheaper on each item.

From the start the store was too small for the increased business. Kevin purchased land in Franklin street (now occupied in 1999 by Kel Magrees Pharmacy), built a new shop and transferred his self-service store to the new premises. He joined the Foodland Co-Operative Group and commenced business in the Centre Block; he introduced frozen food, pre-packaged meat (from Marsh's butchery), fruit and vegetables, etc., and still continued to give credit and free home delivery.

Lythgo's Foodland was immensely successful, with a staff of 18 people; the Manager, Lance Beams, worked for Kevin for 31 years and several of the girls were with him for 25 years. After 10 or 12 years of being Traralgon's No. 1 grocery store, unlimited trading was introduced and severe complications arrived. It was obvious that the store was too small, parking was a problem and it would require enormous capital to build bigger and better premises elsewhere.

In 1982 the State Savings Bank of Victoria wanted the site in Franklin street and offered a very good price. After much consideration Kevin accepted their offer and, after trading for 32 years, Lythgo's Foodland closed its doors. Kevin offered his sincere thanks to the people who had supported him during this time.

Kevin enjoyed other interests, especially racing, being involved with the Traralgon Racing Club for 48 years and being President of the St. Patrick's Racing Club for 44 years. He was a member of Rotary for 32 years (President once) and served time as a Probation Officer. He has a continuing interest and involvement in the Latrobe Valley Eisteddfod, as well as many other interests.

All present enjoyed this humorous and illuminating insight into the life of a country grocer, including Kevin's anecdotes on the eccentricities of the many people he came into contact with - too numerous to be reproduced here. The Chairman and all of the audience thanked Kevin for his wonderful talk.