Woolies history Writers haven

With the new parking arrangements now open at Kiama Village (owned by Woolworths), many Kiama locals would be unaware of the strong historical connection between Kiama and the grocery store giant.

Woolworths was started in Sydney, 5 December 1924 by Percy Christmas, who was born in Kiama and was the son of a local bank manager, Robert Christmas, and his wife Mary Caroline King. Robert was the manager of the NSW bank, and he lived upstairs in the Kiama heritage building that was most recently the Westpac bank building in Manning Street.

The Kings are a very well known family around Kiama even today, and included such respectable members such as Alexander King. J.P. (farmer, storekeeper and magistrate) and Moses King, George’s aunt Ada King, who married Sir George Fuller who went on to become Premier of NSW and therefore Percy Christmas’ uncle.

So it didn’t hurt that Percy’s uncle by marriage was the current NSW Premier, also from Kiama, when he started the store.

The new Woolworths store was innovative; it was the first variety store in the world to use cash registers that print receipts for customers.

Older residents will remember that the colours of Woolworths were for many decades red and white before the rebranding in green as Fresh.

Percy introduced the red and white colour scheme after opening Woolworths’ second branch in Pitt Street, introducing new uniforms to shop assistants who knew him as ‘Father Christmas.’

You can read more about the Kiama and Woolworth’s connection in their official history book called ‘The Woolworths Way - A Great Australian Success Story 1924-1999’.

Percy died in France on April 12 in 1947 at the age of 63.

We’ll have to see whether Kiama will be acknowledged when Woolworths celebrates its 100th anniversary on 5 December 2024.

The South Coast Writers Festival returns in August for its highly anticipated second year, promising three jammed-packed days celebrating Australian writing talent bringing their stories to life.

The line-up features an impressive program of acclaimed Australian and South Coast authors across genres including Crime, Poetry, Politics, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction and young adult novels.

The line-up was announced at the launch at Wollongong Art Gallery, where screenings of music created an immersive experience which set the perfect tone for this year’s festival.

The festival prides itself on celebrating local authors, with over 50 per cent of the program featuring homegrown talent, including Prime Minister Literary Award Winning Young-Adult writer, Helena Fox, leading science writers Tim and Emma Flannery, as well as Kate Scott who will appear in conversation with Susan McCreery to discuss their novels, both set in NSW coastal towns.

Joining the festival this year are several highly acclaimed authors who have garnered recognition for their outstanding contributions to literature, including John Birmingham, renowned for his memoir He Died with a Felafel in His Hand and his diverse novels spanning history, science fiction, military thrillers, and time-hop adventures.

The state of Australian publishing, and the $18,000 average yearly earning made by Australian authors, will also be put under the microscope in a conversation between Kate Holden, publisher Radhiah Chowdury, and Australian Society of Author’s board member Sarah Ayoub.

The Festival closes on Sunday 20 August with the announcement of the South Coast Writers Centre 2023 Poetry award at Wollongong Art Gallery.

Tickets and the full 2023 program can be found at southcoastwriterscentre.org