By Shamsiya Hussainpoor
Olinda’s cherished Mangana has closed its doors permanently, ending a beloved chapter after more than forty years of serving the community.
Founded in Olinda in 1983 by John and Judy Ischia, Mangana has always been owner operated, nestled within two historic buildings dating back to 1900, throughout the years, the store has undergone thoughtful restoration and renovation and an elegant walkway connected the two buildings – enhancing both accessibility and the overall sense of spaciousness.
After 41 years of operation, they chose not to sell it but to close it as they embark on their retirement journey.
“It was a very good business, it was successful right to the end,” she said.
“Because the shop was so unique to us, the best thing for it was to just retire, rather than somebody else trying to take it over – it retired with us.”
When they announced the closure of their business a couple of months ago, the couple were surprised by the outpouring of reactions from the community.
“We didn’t know the depth of feeling people had with our store, and I don’t think they knew either, until they realised that we were closing,” she said.
“It was a surprise to us to learn how much we were appreciated, but everybody was happy for us as well when they realised, we were retiring.”
“I’ve gone from 24 years of age to 65 years of age, and it was just time to retire together.”
Mangana Olinda has been a cherished family-owned business for over 35 years, evolving into one of Melbourne’s favourite homewares and lifestyle stores.
The couple described their experience of their store similar to stepping into an ancient era, with every item, carefully selected by them for its beauty, charm, and timelessness, and was sourced from skilled craftsman around the world.
The collection displayed was like an Aladdin’s cave, featuring a diverse array of treasures, including museum-quality scientific and maritime instruments, leadlight lamps, Australian sheepskin footwear, solid timber furniture, genuine gemstone and silver jewellery, leather goods, and other exclusive, finely crafted pieces.
“The main thing for our store was being a big part of people’s lives because they’d been visiting it as long as we’d been there, we often have three generations of customers that came in and I think the crux of it was that we sold things to people for very special occasions,” Ms Ischia said.
“We’ve got very special people, when they were up in the hills for a nice day out to celebrate or to find a present – we were always associated with that.”
“All those feelings just rose up in people as they discovered we were closing, and all those memories that they had that were important to them just made them feel very emotional.”
Like life, business has its ups and downs, but Ms Ischia prefers to focus on the positive aspects of her experience and leave the challenges behind.
“The highlights for us were serving people for 41 years, we found interesting things that nobody could get anywhere else, our customers always knew they could get something that they would like for somebody or themselves,” Ms Ischia said.
“We made good connection with the local, we employed locally over those years, we were part of the community and we loved doing what we were doing – we believe we brought something unique to the area.”
In the last four months since announcing their closure, they have held a sale on everything in the store – something never done before.
“We sold 90 per cent of our stock, which was the large shop including our warehouse as well,” the 65-year-old said.
“What’s left, we will sell on to other shops, probably over time.”
While the couple operated the business together and worked towards the same goal, but they didn’t work together at the same time in the shop.
And now, the couple are looking forward to enjoying their Sundays off and spending more quality time with their families.
“It was seven days a week, real commitment that we made to something that we loved, but seven days a week for 41 years is quite a big to do – we are very much looking forward to having weekends off and spending more time with family and traveling and enjoying our home in Sassafras,” she said.
“we will certainly miss the connection we’ve made with all the people who come in to our shop over the years, and finding and bringing wonderful things to the store for people to enjoy and buy.”
