The Ritchies Story

Thomas Ritchie was born in 1834 on the Isle of Man, United Kingdom. On November 25th 1851 he sailed from London, bound for Melbourne on the ship Isabella Watson. The voyage took 117 days. The ship collided with Corsair Rock near Point Nepean at the heads of Port Phillip Bay and Thomas was one of the survivors (minus his cargo of shoes bound for the goldfields). He moved to the small fishing village of Frankston in 1854 and married Margaret Kennedy in June 1856. In 1863, Thomas and Margaret Ritchie’s four children were lost in a house fire, only the baby Rose survived thanks to the local farmers who came to her rescue as the roof caved in. Thomas and Maggie never forgot this support from their community.

The Start of Something Special

In 1870, Thomas Ritchie established the first Ritchies grocery store in Bay St (now Nepean Highway) Frankston. Ritchies was granted their first liquor licence in 1873. On 15th September 1907, Thomas passed away aged 73 and his daughter Rose became the face of Ritchies from this point on. In 1928 Rose retired and sold the Ritchies store to Melville Tomasetti. On October 9, 1933 Melville moved the business across the road to 457 Nepean Highway, Frankston. Nelson and Elsie Morris, good friends with Mr Tomasetti, took over the lease of Ritchies Stores in 1945. Ritchies first full self-service supermarket opened in 1956 in Thompson Street, Frankston.

As the proud CEO of Ritchies Stores, I am honoured to pay tribute to our founder Thomas Ritchie and to the dedicated people who continue the stewardship of Ritchies Stores up to the present day. We dedicated 2020 to honouring Thomas and celebrating Ritchies’ 150th Birthday − a unique milestone in Australian retail history.

During world wars and peacetime, recessions and booms – through bad times and many, many great times – Ritchies has proven that with dedication, passion and commitment, an Independent can succeed in a market dominated by the big players.

Ritchies has continued Thomas’s philosophy of supporting local communities. Inspired in part by his “shilling for every pound” scheme, our Community Benefit program has provided much needed funds to many Clubs, Schools and Charities. It was extremely pleasing to have paid our 50 millionth dollar to a worthy beneficiary early in 2020.