CLARK’s has been a Swan Hill institution for as long as most locals can remember, and now in its eighth decade, it shows no signs of slowing down.
The retail icon is one of a number of family businesses that have truly stood the test of time, and is the first in a series of beloved local stores The Guardian will be highlighting.
The story of Clark’s begins back in 1923 when Miss Melba Weir moved to Swan Hill to take up a secretarial position with Swan Hill Cooperative Stores.
There she met fellow employee Mr Jack Clark, and they were married in 1928.
The couple continued to work there until 1937, with a brief two-year-stint in Casterton before returning to Swan Hill.
On their return they struggled to find work, their Graeme explained, so they set up their own business, beginning by providing plants and seedlings Mr Clark grew himself, sea-grass baskets crafted by Mrs Clark, and a suitcase full of gifts she had bought in Melbourne.
The Guardian’s archives reveal that Clark’s Gift Salon and Garden Service opened for business at 64 Campbell Street Swan Hill on May 13, 1939, and that the Clarks sold most of their stock on the first day, taking in 17 pounds.
An avid gardener, before opening the store, Mr Clark had won the 1934 Cottage Garden competition, with the judge (Mr A Rumball of Bendigo) pronouncing it as one of the best gardens in its class that he had ever had the privilege of inspecting.
Mrs Clark was talented at gardening herself, having completed a two-week floristry course in Melbourne while Graeme, then four, was being cared for at a Flinders Street creche.
This enabled her to offer the service of making bouquets, wreaths and floral arrangements.
“Sometimes we stayed up all night completing orders,” she told The Guardian in 1989.
“We collected the boxes of flowers from the 10pm train (sometimes getting in at midnight) in a wheelbarrow and often had orders to fulfil and place on the 5am bus to Sea Lake and Woomelang.”
Around Swan Hill, in those days the deliveries were made by bicycle.
Mrs Clark said she was fond of all kinds of handicraft, and when craft supplies were added to the stock, she took a keen interest in advising customers on their requirements and answering their queries.
Six months after opening, the Clarks moved their business to 213 Campbell Street, where they stayed for about five years before they purchased the shop at 173 Campbell Street from Royal Hotel Licensee Nan Barwick in 1945.
The premises had been empty for some considerable time, and the fire brigade had to pump water out of the cellar before they moved in.
Initially, the shop was divided in two, with gift lines in one half and plants and florist supplies in the other.
But Clark’s later sold their floristry business, taking down the dividing wall and adding babies and infants’ wear to their stock.
In vintage interviews with The Guardian, Mrs Clark said those early days in business were always exciting and satisfying, and due to the popularity of the shop, the building was extended in 1968 and again in 1972.
Further expansion occurred in the early 1980s, when the wool department and nursery furniture were relocated into the basement.
Clark’s finally found its home at 183 Campbell Street in 1989, where it still stands today.
In addition to running the business, Mr Clark was a founding member of the Swan Hill Horticultural Society, and was semi-retired when he passed in October 1976.
Mrs Clark continued to take a vital interest in the business, helping out in busy times until about 1987, when she retired at the age of 86.
The store was then run by Graeme Clark and his wife Margaret, however Melba, ever the dedicated businesswoman, was on hand to celebrate Clark’s 50th birthday in 1989.
Melba passed away in 1996 at the age of 95.
She was heavily involved in the Swan Hill community as a member of the Country Women’s Association, the Swan Hill Bowling Club, the Swan Hill Business and Professional Women’s Club, the local garden club and Swan Hill Inner Wheel.
She was an expert in all types of raffia work, and as a leading member of the CWA, gave many demonstrations in the Western districts of her craft.
Graeme Clark started work at Clark’s at the age of 16, and even though he is now retired at the age of 89, he is as hardworking as his parents, coming in to help clean in the mornings.
An only child, he described himself as “a spoilt brat” – but he was anything but in reality.
He stepped up to help his mother run the store after his father’s death, and said he has never had to fire anyone in all his years.
The store is now in the capable hands of his son-in-law Phil Barkman, a former accountant from Dunedin who is married to Graeme’s daughter Jan.
“It’s all very different now with computers, but Phil has plenty of experience,” Graeme said.
With Graeme’s 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, this family business may well continue for another 80 years.
Many thanks to the Swan Hill Genealogical and Historical Society for their research assistance.
