By Shelby Brooks
For almost 25 years, the Pakenham Hills General Store has been at the cornerstone of the community.
Vincenzo (Vince) Di Dio will be a familiar face for everyone who has lived in the area, offering a smile and a chat for anyone who wants one when they visit his store on the corner of Army Road and Leigh Drive.
But now it’s time for Vince to retire, having made the tough decision to sell up last month with the last day of business scheduled for 30 June.
“Enough was enough,” Vince said.
“I tried to retire once before but it didn’t work. But I’m not getting any younger.”
Vince built the house with attached shop in 1997 with partner Jo van der Velde, opening just a few months after the Pakenham Hills Primary School opened.
At the time, there were only 65 houses in the area.
“I knew it wasn’t going to stay like this forever. It might be quiet for one year, or two,” Vince said.
Although there were some early struggles to keep the business afloat, it soon became a thriving store following the subdivision of nearby paddocks.
“We used to be flat out,” he said.
“We just about couldn’t keep up!”
The store won a highly commended award in the Community Store of the Year 2008.
And the shop is still popular with primary school students buying lollies and hot food before and after school, for locals buying their daily newspaper, local tradies needing a coffee or neighbours who forgot that one item they desperately need from the supermarket.
Vince had many years’ experience in milk bars prior to opening Pakenham Hills.
Vince was 12 when he started working in hospitality in his home town of Napoli, Italy.
Moving to Australia in 1957 at aged 16, Vince began working as a vegetable picker in Mildura before heading to Melbourne and started working in his first of many milk bars.
He went on to buy his own milk bars in Wantirna South and Ringwood before managing stores in Frankston.
He met Jo when he would deliver bread to the cheese factory she worked at in Dandenong, and they went on to become business partners in Vince’s milk bar in Cranbourne before deciding to build in Pakenham Hills.
While the Pakenham Hills store was establishing itself, Jo would run the Cardinia General Store, which was later taken over by Vince’s son.
Jo passed away a few years ago so her daughter Dianne took over her side of the business.
“She was a hard working woman. She was very determined to succeed in business. She and Vince were on the same level and shared the same vision,” Dianne said.
Vince doesn’t blame Covid-19 or the ubiquitous supermarket for the decision to sell up.
“Supermarkets didn’t bother milk bars at all. People have this thing about the supermarket,” Vince said.
“The worst thing to happen was the garages [petrol stations].
“Once upon a time, the garages would sell petrol and that’s it. Now you go and look in there what they sell! Milk, chocolates, bread… That’s my customers they steal from the milk bars!”
The new interstate owners of the premises haven’t revealed what they plan to do with it yet, LJ Hooker Pakenham real estate agent Sam Paynter said.
But Vince is convinced if it does become some type of food store, it will be successful.
“It’s all about position,” he said.
“As a corner store, you have traffic going by on all sides.”
The Pakenham Hills General Store has had loyal customers who have been frequenting the shop since its beginning and Vince and Dianne have had great pleasure watching primary school children grow up and eventually bring their own children into the store.
“From the beginning, we appreciate everyone’s support and hope we’re still friends when they see me in the street, to say hello- that won’t change,” Vince said.
