The Malvern Victory Supermarket: Jewish enterprise, modernist rhetoric and cultural change

Abstract

In August 1956 Melbourne's newspapers were abuzz with the controversial advent of a new concept in shopping: the 'super market'. One early example took the form of the Victory Supermarket in Wattletree Road, Malvern. Housed in the repurposed Victory Cinema, the supermarket brought together a variety of stallholders. It was the brainchild of Melbourne lawyers Joseph and Stella Shatin, and was showcased in the Argus' food hygiene campaign as a best-practice outlet. Many designs for its facade, and many of the associated features considered during its conception, were the product of research on this new retail form undertaken by architect-planner Ernest Fooks, formerly of Vienna. The Victory Su..