Opening of the Woolworth's Variety Store, Pennant Hills

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Identifiernot specifiedDateDecember 1958Photographernot specifiedDescriptionIn December 1958 Woolworths opened a variety store in Pennant Hills. The site chosen was a vacant allotment on the main road known as Savage's paddock, where the local butcher kept his horse and cart. The site had at one time been under consideration for a picture theatre but the owner refused to sell the site for that purpose.

Eight years later on 3 June 1966 fire broke out at the rear of the supermarket and the stockroom and staff amenities took the brunt of the flames with the intense heat shattering the front display windows. Everything in the store was either burnt or damaged by heat, smoke or water. Such was the damage that although the structure of the trading area remained sound, the fire had weakened the rear portion of the building to such an extent that the store had to be closed. In 1967 the store reopened as a supermarket. The store traded successfully until Franklins opened in the Pennant Hills Market Place in 1974 and the Woolworths store was forced to close through lack of patronage.Physical FormatPennant Hills Last edited by: Neil Chippendale