Johnson’s Grocer
(now seddon Foodworks)
87 Charles Street, Seddon 3011
Ian Johnson, president of the Footscray Historical Society since 2016, has been connected to Seddon all his life, growing up on Lawrence Street.
Mr Johnson’s great grandfather opened a grocer store in Footscray in 1875 - having come from a line of grocers in England. Then, in 1927, aged just 21, Ian Johnson’s father Ern started his own grocery store in Charles Street, Seddon.
Ian Johnson joined his father in the store in 1955 when he was just 16, and became manager before taking over as owner after the death of his father in 1976, retiring after 45 years in 2001. The family owed the business for 84 years.
“We had these long counters and shelves that went right up to the ceiling,” he recalls. “Everything was loose and you weighed it out and bagged it up for people.”
The store became FoodWorks after the Johnson’s and can still be found in the same building on Charles Street.