Swansea Street Markets

Since their establishment in 1979, the Swansea Street Markets have been a familiar part of everyday life in East Victoria Park. Locals came for fresh fruit and vegetables, meat from the butcher, deli goods, spices and imported foods that weren’t always easy to find elsewhere.

 

Before the markets

Construction of the warehouse-type building at 178 Swansea Street East began around May 1967. Before then, the site had been nothing more than a vacant block of land. At the time, East Victoria Park still contained a significant amount of industrial and light-industrial land and this part of Swansea Street was not intended for retail use.

 

Constantinos ‘Con’ Kailis, a Greek-Australian businessman active in Perth from the post-war period onward, bought the 580m² property on 12 December 1974. Like many migrants of his generation, he invested in small businesses and commercial property, particularly in inner and middle suburbs that were still industrial or semi-industrial.

 

The Psaltis and Sardelic Families

Nicholas Psaltis, who came from a Greek family involved in market gardening (p.48), first opened a shop on Albany Highway in the 1950s under the name Saltis Brothers. The spelling was simplified by dropping the “P”, as the original surname was often difficult for customers to pronounce and spell.

 

Produce was initially sourced from the West Perth Markets and later from the Canning Vale Markets, before being sold through the Swansea Street Markets, which opened in 1979. The former warehouse was adapted with fit-outs such as cool rooms, butcher facilities and deli counters, transforming an industrial shell into a functioning produce market. The building itself remained largely unchanged structurally but its purpose shifted completely.

 

While the markets are said to have been established with the involvement of both families, the Sardelic family’s role appears to have been limited to that of a co-operator. By the late 1990s and into the 2000s, the markets would publicly and operationally be associated primarily with the Psaltis family.

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By the late 1980s and 1990s, the site was well known locally as the Swansea Street Markets, operating as a combined grocery, deli and butcher.