The year 1892 was quite a significant year; the Collingwood Football Club was founded, the Sheffield Shield began, and William Gyles opened the doors to what would become one of Corowa’s most iconic retail businesses.
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Fast forward 130 glorious years, and Gyles Newsagency still stands proud in the heart of Sanger Street with William’s great grandchildren and twins Sandra Dunn and Peter Tait operating the business.
It all began when English-born William Gyles and his wife Elizabeth moved to Corowa from Melbourne in 1892 and purchased the newsagency for 300 pounds with Mr E.J Buzza.
‘Gyles and Buzza’ were renowned for their collection of books, toys, stationary and elaborate window displays. However, Mr Buzza decamped with the business money to Western Australia in 1895 leaving debts to be repaid by William and his family.
William subsequently died in 1896, and so his wife Elizabeth carried on the business for 45 years rather successfully.
After returning from WW1, her son Murray Gyles who worked at the Corowa Post Office began helping his mother at the newsagency, eventually taking over in 1942 when she passed.
In the early days the papers (Sun, Argus and Age) used to arrive in Wahgunyah by train at 3pm and were brought over to Corowa by horse and wagon.
Murray’s son Gordon began working in the shop in the late forties, initially as a paper boy. In 1963 he purchased the business from the estate, continuing the family legacy for over four decades until his death in 2011.
Gordon and his brother Graham worked together and were particularly well-known in Corowa. Gordan Gyles was even awarded an OAM in 1977 for services to the community and scouting.
Gordan’s niece Sandra, who worked for the National Bank for 10 years joined the business in 1986 followed by his nephew Peter in 1990.
When Gordon died, the siblings took over the family business.
“It’s very special to still be here after all this time,” Sandra told the Free Press.
“I think our great grandparents would be stoked to see the business still operating and still in the family name.”
Peter and Sandra both have fond memories growing up around the business.
“The Sun would come in on Saturday at 2 o’clock and we would be asked if we wanted to come for a ride in the back of the car town for the delivery. Mind you, you could never do that now. At the end you would get an ice cream or chips at the hospital shop,” Sandra said.
Peter also recalled the time he ran up the back of a Ute while delivering.
“I was up in Thomas Avenue and did a U-Turn in the driveway, dropped the papers and next thing I’ve run up the back of a Ute. The Ute didn’t get one scratch, but the car had $6,500 worth of damage.”
The business underwent many changes in Sandra and Peter’s time including the upgrading of equipment, computers in 1993 and even a refurbishment in 2016.
“We had to rip up the old Murray Pine floorboards because it was rotting. We worked around it which was a pretty horrendous time,” Sandra recalled.
“We moved the counters back up the front too.”
“The lotto certainly changed, we had to manually balance it every Friday and send it off to Sydney,” Peter added.
Sandra and Peter said they still love turning up to work every day.
“I love the relationship we have with our customers,” Sandra said.
“As a small community, you get to know them all. I’ve made some great friends who I wouldn’t have known without this shop.”
Peter agreed with his sister.
“I wouldn’t be coming to work at 3:30am if I didn’t enjoy it,” he said.
“Banter starts here at 3:30am and it’s great talking to customers early in the morning.”
Many customer highlights have also been celebrated at the store including big lotto wins. The most recent significant wins being $1million in December last year, and a $24,000 win on a $5 instant scratch-it the following week.
“We’ve had lots of wins over the years,” Sandra said.
“We get a big kick out of major prizes and large prizes. You feel so excited for the person, even if it’s just $300, it’s still a very special feeling.”
Over the years, many family members have worked at the shop including parent’s, aunties, uncles, cousins and children.
“It’s something we are very proud of,” Sandra said.
“We’ve had many employees over the years who still pop in and say hello and reminisce about the old days.”
Both Sandra and Peter agreed the secret to their longevity was devotion, hard work and family loyalty.
“Our customers are also so special to us. We have a customer who makes sure we have a trolley to take papers across the road and another one who bakes beautiful shortbread biscuits for us.
“It's just things like that which make every day, week, and year worthwhile.
“We can’t thank the community enough for their support”
Gyles Newsagency celebrated their 130th birthday last Friday (July 15) but will continue to commemorate the milestone until July 30 with birthday hamper giveaways, weekly discounts, $130 Instant Scratch-It Raffle, and major prize draws at the end of the month. On July 30, to coincide with the major draw, the business will also celebrate with a barbeque out the front.