Eaton Mall has undergone radical changes throughout its history, not without accompanying controversy, but today it is the street by which Oakleigh is best known across Melbourne. Eaton Mall has become the heart of Greek café culture in Oakleigh and it now resembles an Australian variant of the Greek village square, with its tavernas and kafenions. Crowds come daily to enjoy the convivial atmosphere, the indoor/outdoor dining and multicultural cuisine. But until the late 1800s, Oakleigh’s commercial hub was elsewhere.

Easton’s Pastry Cooks cnr Atherton Road and Eaton Street 1913. Source: History Monash Inc.

The original township of Oakleigh lay along the north and south sides of what is now Dandenong Road, mainly between Warrigal Road and Atkinson Street. However, when the railway line from Sale to Oakleigh opened in 1877, and then the line from Oakleigh to the city in 1879, the precinct between Atherton Road and Portman Street developed as the main commercial area . Eaton Street was a through street between these and it was named, it is believed, after various locations in London called “Eaton”: Eaton Square (in Belgravia), Eaton Street, Eaton Place and Eaton Terrace. Eaton is also the name of towns in various English counties.

A glimpse at the businesses which operated in Eaton Street in its early years shows a variety of shops vying to meet the domestic and business needs of Oakleigh residents. By 1928, these included the National Bank (built in the 1920s on the eastern corner with Atherton Road), a music shop, a hairdresser, an ironmonger, a tailor, a fishmonger, two grocers, a draper, two butchers, a fruiterer, two shops selling dairy produce, a jeweller, the State Savings Bank (opened here in 1913), a fancy goods shop (ornamental goods/knick-knacks), two mercers and a draper (textiles), a greengrocer, a timber merchant, a confectioner, a milliner, a boot repairer, motor and cycle works (corner of Chester St, west side), a fancy repository (decorative items like toys and embroidery), and a hay and corn store next to the railway siding on the west side. Over one hundred years before the advent of the current well-known patisseries in Eaton Mall, there was a pastrycook at number 1, Atherton Road: Easton’s Pastrycooks, established in 1906. This business included tea rooms in later years. There was also a pastrycook at 25 Eaton Street in 1928.

In the mid ‘70s, Eaton Street shops included men’s and women’s wear, a pharmacy, shoe shops, a sports store, banks, furniture, a pet shop and two grocers: Coles and Nancarrows. The emerging threat to Eaton Street, and indeed to all of the Oakleigh traders, was the Chadstone shopping centre, which opened in 1960. This had a greater variety of shops and plentiful parking and was taking custom away from Oakleigh. As an attempted remedy, the concept of a pedestrian mall was proposed by the Oakleigh Chamber of Commerce, and Eaton Street was consequently closed to motor vehicles from September 1972 for a six months’ trial. At that stage there was strong opposition from many of the Eaton Street and nearby traders who were worried that if that customers could not park outside their shops, they would desert Oakleigh. (1)

After reviewing the results of the trial, later in 1973 Oakleigh’s Town Planning Committee recommended to Council that the southern end of Eaton Street be re-opened to traffic but the northern end of the mall remain a pedestrian mall. Council supported the recommendation, apart from two councillors who, ostensibly on behalf of Eaton Street traders, proposed abandoning the mall altogether. Councillor John Perryman said that the mall development was “doomed from the outset”.(2)

The mall (between Atherton Road and Chester Street) was formally closed to vehicles on 7 April 1977. (3) In September of that year the Oakleigh Chamber of Commerce exhorted the public to submit designs for the appearance of the mall, its own design proposal having been rejected by Council. (4) The Chamber’s Chair, Mr Alan Rice, also urged traders in Oakleigh to brighten up the shopping precinct, for example, ‘with a coat of paint’ or through replacing old awnings, pipes and spouting. (5)

Eaton Mall 1981. Source: History Monash Inc.

In April 1987 the Standard Times reported that work would commence on an extension to what was already called Eaton Mall, that is, closure of the southern end of Eaton Street. (6) The extension was a project jointly funded by the State Government and the City of Oakleigh, with the stated aim of providing a safe, convenient and comfortable shopping experience.(7) The projected ‘attractive pedestrian precinct’ would have patterned brick pavers, planter boxes and street furniture. In the official announcement there was no mention of creating a café precinct.

The section of Eaton Street between Chester Street and Portman Streets was permanently closed in October 1987, with an official ceremony attended by councillors and council officers. (8) Shoppers were treated to a chicken and champagne breakfast. The Oakleigh Central shopping complex had opened on the former railway yards in 1987, and the entrance to this in Portman Street was close to Eaton Mall, creating an easily accessible, larger retail experience.

In 1989, parts of the Mall were repaved. This caused anger amongst some of the Mall’s shopkeepers because of the business disruption, but it was justified by the City of Oakleigh Deputy City Engineer in terms of making Oakleigh more competitive:
‘We’ve got to lift the tone of the Oakleigh shopping centre and this is going to give it a quality finish which will enable it to compete better with Chadstone.'(9)

Eaton Mall and the Oakleigh shopping precinct took some time to develop its current character. In 1995, a report prepared for the City of Monash identified that the area still did not fulfil its potential to be a regional centre: ‘… the cosmopolitan nature of the centre should be used as a resource to build on’.(10)

In 2013, Eaton Mall received a substantial upgrade via an initiative of the Victorian Multicultural Commission’s Cultural Precincts and Community Infrastructure Fund. The aim of the Cultural Precincts initiatives, which were led by the Chair of the Commission, George Lekakis AO, was to promote and preserve diversity of identities and heritages through enhancing existing community spaces. In this instance the goal was to revitalise Eaton Mall and to give it a Mediterranean atmosphere whilst making it friendly to many other communities. (11) The project, which was co-funded by the City of Monash, included better paving, lighting, trees and public seating, and new sculptures.

The COVID epidemic lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 took their toll on the central business area of Oakleigh. A number of businesses, including some in the Mall, closed due to poor patronage when customers were not allowed to gather or shop there.

Eaton Mall is now, however, a pedestrian strip bustling with patrons, with a distinctly Greek flavour. Two particularly well known businesses are Nikos Cakes and Vanilla Lounge. Nikos Cakes moved to its current location in the late 1990s, after opening as a cake shop in Portman Street in 1986. Ironically, Nikos and Tass Papouzas, the founders, were originally warned by a real estate agent that Oakleigh was too quiet for such a business and they would lose their money. People now come to Oakleigh from far and wide to patronise Nikos, including Australian politicians and visiting Greek notables, including the Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis in 2008. Nikos is credited with encouraging other Greek businesses to move from Lonsdale Street, Melbourne City, to Oakleigh.

Another large and popular landmark in Eaton Mall is Vanilla Lounge. Opened in 2008 by Thanasis and Helen Spanos, Vanilla broke new ground in Eaton Mall by providing a large café/restaurant area, often featuring live music, to complement its patisserie business. It also had extended opening hours which enabled patrons to linger in Eaton Mall into the evenings. Vanilla Lounge received national publicity on 8 July 2016 when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Oakleigh to congratulate Julia Banks on her election as a new Liberal Party Member of the House of Representatives.  The Prime Minister and Ms Banks had coffee at Vanilla Lounge and met local people in Eaton Mall. 

At the northern end of Eaton Mall, Alimonakis Pharmacy, which opened under this name in around 2004, sits prominently on the corner of Atherton Road, on the site of what was Easton’s bakery until the 1930s, then the former Hattam’s drapers until at least 1974, then Fossey’s department store. With all of its counter staff able to speak Greek, Alimonakis Pharmacy supports customers in a culturally sympathetic way and, like most other businesses in the Mall, projects a Greek character.

Atherton Road, around the 1980s, now occupied by Alimonakis Pharmacy. Source: History Monash Inc.

Alimonakis Pharmacy, 2024. Source: History Monash Inc.

The significance of Eaton Mall to multicultural Victoria was underscored in February 2025, when a team from SBS filmed people and Greek businesses in the Mall. This segment will be part of a documentary on multicultural neighbourhoods which will help to celebrate the 50th anniversary of SBS.

Footnotes:

1. Standard Times 31 January 1973 p.1. ‘Little men want the Mall down’.
2. Standard Times 14 August 1973 p.5. ‘Mall move fails in Council’.
3. Standard Times 6 April 1977 p.4. ‘Looking for Mall money’.
4. Standard Times 14 April 1977 p.5. ‘Chamber proposal’.
5. ibid
6. Standard Times 22 April 1987 p.5. ‘Mall work gets off the ground’.
7. The Standard Times of 22 April 1987 reported that the State Government would give $90,000 to the project.
8. Standard Times 11 November 1987
9. Oakleigh Springvale Times 22 March 1989 p.3. ‘Anger over Mall mess’
10. Oakleigh District Centre Strategic Directions Statement prepared for the City of Monash by Ratio Consultants September 1995, quoting a previous study.
11. www.outdoordesign.com.au/environment/eaton-mall-project/585.htm: Eaton Mall Project