Grand Theatre
164-168 Murray Street,
Perth,
WA
6000
164-168 Murray Street,
Perth,
WA
6000
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JB HI-FI moved there store from the old Capri Theatrette building(closed on 7/5/2019) opening above the Woolworths supermarket where what used to be a Dick Smith electronics store and a Red Dot variety store on the old Grand Theatre site(opening on 8/5/2019).
That part of Forrest Chase is also City Central, the only shops open is a Woolworths suoermarket and a fashion or shoe store(i think?) on the 1st floor level and some offices on the other upper floors above.
I do remember Wanambra Arcade and the movie theatres there and I remember the bookstore was called Alberts Bookshop. The downstairs bar when it was the Australia Hotel was called Davey Jones Locker and later Albert’s Tavern. When Angus and Robertson moved back to Murray Street as you say about opposite where it had been in the former Australia Hotel it was in what had been Charlie Carters Grocery Store.
The Angus & Robertson bookshop(in the Australia Hotel, bottom 2 floors) used to be called Alberts Bookshop(mentioned on the Lost Perth facebook page).
I think the Angus & Robertson book store closed when Boans closed in 1986 and moved to Wamamba Arcade under the Hoyts cinema which replaced the Ambassadors Theatre, until the the arcade closed, and movec back to Murray Street Mall about opposite where it was before(now closed since Angus & Robertson is no longer in business). I think there was a tavern(downstairs, part of the Australia Hotel?) next door to the Angus & Robertson bookshop?
It could have been but I don’t remember it. I did leave Perth in 1959 and really didn’t return till 1969. As far as I can remember Michelides Tobacconist retail store was on that corner. Further East along Wellington Street closer to Barrack Street there was a John Wills grocery store. Tom the Cheap stores were all done on the cheap – low rent, basic shelving etc and about a 10% mark up. Even then rents in Perth city, I would think, would have been too high for one of those stores. I think at one time, however Tom Wardle bought the old Sandover site in Hay Street and opened that as Tom’s Other Store which suggests he may have had another store in Perth.
I think it might have been Tom the Cheap(grocery?) store that was on the north east corner of Murray Street and Forrest Place?
I think Angus and Robertson Book Store was where the Australia Hotel had been – not sure when that closed. I don’t remember a grocery store along that side of Murray Street. Charlie Carters was opposite next to Popes Butchers. Near the Grand Theatre there may have been a Woolworths. The stores that the former Lord Mayor of
Perth Sir Thomas Wardle owned were called Tom the Cheap – http://australianfoodtimeline.com.au/tom-the-cheap/
I think that section of Murray Street became a mall(late in 1987? after the demolition of the Boans Department store and Padbury buildings and the Australia Hotel and a book store(Angus % Robertson) and a grocery store(i forget the name, i think owned by a former Lord Mayor of Perth?) in (1986?). There is still a Forrest Place(Forrest Chase is just the name for the shops on the eastern side of Forrest Place. Both Forrest Place and Forrezt Chase are listed on Wikipedia.
Not only the site of the former Boans Department Store but also Padbury Building with many shops on Forrest Place and of course the Australia Hotel on Murray Street. A lot of people seem confused about Forrest Chase and think that is a street but it’s a shopping centre same as Galleria Shopping Centre, Morley. I’m not sure when that section of Murray Street between Barrack and William Streets became a mall but it was later than the same section in Hay Street. I remember the trams always travelled west in Hay Street and East in Murray Street before it was a mall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theatre,_Perth
https://theworstofperth.com/2009/03/25/pizza-showtime/
I think this theatre might have a connection to the Grand Cinemas chain!?
South side faces the Murray Street Mall. Forrest Chase go’s around the Myer Department store(on the site of the former Boans Department store).
Sorry that should be – North side faces Wellington Street.
Forrest Chase is a shopping centre/development – South side faces Murray Street, North side faces Murray Street and its West side faces Forrest Place. http://ispt.net.au/properties/forrest-chase/ Forrest Place runs from Wellington Street to Murray Street. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-17/the-changing-face-of-forrest-place-perth/7421894
The arcade(including the Woolworth’s Supermarket) is called Forrest Chase,, is the building in the background to the right with the two black windows and and the taller building behind it above.
Here’s a great article on the Grand Theatre – http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/81724290 FYI Museum of Perth has now moved to The Esplanade and is in the Atlas Building.
The food hall that was there, i think contained the first Kentucky Fried Chicken(KFC) store in the Perth city area!? No idea what was else in the food hall, or if the food hall had a name? I saw the Grand theatre being demolished. When most of the theatre was demolished, i saw there a picture painted on the inside of the back wall. I’ve no idea what the picture was, but there a female in the picture i think? I’ve no idea if the picture was painted for the Grand theatre, or for Pizza Showtime or for the food hall?
The hotel on Wellington Street that was demolished was the Imperial Hotel. A good source for finding what was where until 1949 is the WA Postal Directories site. Until Friday September 2nd in Grand Lane at Museum of Perth – a small museum – there is an exhibition on that you might be interested in. http://www.museumofperth.com.au/
There is a photo/picture of a Pizza Showtime token on the Chuckie Cheese token website.
http://watvhistory.com/2013/05/factors-that-moulded-entertainment-in-perth-part-3/
My memories of the Grand Theatre are different. I would have said in the 1940s it became quite run down and was often referred to as ‘the flea pit’. Serials (e.g. Captain Marvel) were shown there with an actor visiting schools for publicity and I do remember seeing The Mummy’s Curse there in the 1940s and being quite frightened – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mummy%27s_Curse I thought it was in the 1950s that it had a refurbishment and English films were shown there with a big billboard on the Horseshoe Bridge advertising them. After it closed as a theatre there was a Chinese Restaurant there at one stage. I remember down the lane next door a dance marathon was held in the late 1950s.
There is pictures of the Grand Theatre in the book “Lost Perth volume 2”(pages 16,and 40) showing the Grand Theatre to the right of the Boans Department Store(now Myers Department Store), and the old(Woolworths Variety Store). The Arcade there now is called Central Arcade, with Grand Lane next to it on the right hand side(named after the Grand Theatre). The address for the Woolworths inside the arcade(on the ground floor) is 166 Murray Street.
The Grand Theatre was across from what is now the David Jones Department Store in the Murray Street Mall close to the Barrack Street Intersection.
The pizza restaurant was called Pizza Showtime,it opened(1980?),and closed(mid 80’s?),and turned into a food hall until it was closed and demolished in 1990 along with the Woolworths Variety store next door to the theatre,and the hotel behind it(name unknown?)in Wellington Street. The site is now an arcade including a Woolworths Supermarket