About

Opening:

Saint Side opened its doors in January of 2009 at the Workshop location, 22 John Street, St.Albans, Melbourne Victoria.  Specialising in the restoration of bicycles, vintage items, collectibles, homewares, clothing and the design of its own products.

In 2011 Saint Side opened its second location in the Melbourne Central Business District at Level 2, 15 McKillop Street, Melbourne.  Closing this store in 2020.

Saint Side now solely operate from the workshop in John Street.

 

Customer Sales and Service:

Saint Side can be engaged through a variety of streams, social media, webstore, eBay, forum, phone and physical store.

Through these, Saint Side has dealt with thousands of customers, which can be seen via customer testimonial, referral, online feedback and more.

We are here to connect the right person with the right product, and assure we assist before, during and after the sale.

Great customer service is a commitment we take seriously. Our business is a direct result of incredibly strong relationships with repeat customers.

As we specialise in custom, project and restoration bicycles, we prefer to deal with a small number of clientele.

There is no issue, incident or problem we are not prepared to assist with. If there is absolutely any concern, we urge you to contact us, and we will help you work it out, or assist beyond.  We do not leave customers in the dark, we want to assure the service at Saint Side is everything you heard from your friends it would be. We value referral, our quality of customer service is testament to that.

 

Confidence: 

Saint Side is here to provide specialised products, a great sales experience, and complete support.

We are in it for life, and are functional part of the communities that we are involved in.

 

It's all in the name:

The name Saint Side was adopted from the first physical location and work shop store.

Saint Albans on the West Side of Melbourne; Saint Side.

St.Albans being the suburb most of the team hail from, and continue to live in and support.

Located 15km north west of Melbourne, St.Albans is a working class suburb and was the original western suburbs ‘end of the tracks’ up until recently where growth and extension saw the domestic train line run through.

Suburb history goes back as far as 1887 as a stop over town during the gold rush, but slowed economically until after World War 2 with a large influx of European non English speaking residents during its first baby boom in the 50s and 60s. It saw a large influx of Vietnamese, Filipino, during the 70s and 80s, and Balkan, Arabic, Indian and African residents from the 90s til present. 

Currently 53% of its population were born overseas, and still has a high percentage of non english speaking residents.

The diversity is what makes the suburb such a powerful place.

It's important to recognise the socioeconomic level of an outer suburb, melting pot of immigration, and working class grit of the area that consumed occupants through the 80s, 90s and 00s.  Caught between town planning that allowed connectivity between neighbourhoods within, the creativity of graffiti, music, automotive interests, and the notoriety of crime, domestic issues and gang culture, all of which sat down together around a table at dinner time over foreign food, has strengthened the camaraderie of those within it.

Not to celebrate, but recognise.

We also acknowledge the Indigenous history, the Kulin nation; Kurung-Jang-Balluk and Marin-Balluk clans of the Wurundjeri people as the traditional owners of this land, 40,000 years before European settlement to this area.

 

John Street Store History:

John Street, St.Albans. 1974.

The first store was built by European migrants starting life in the early 1970s as a neighbourhood milk bar selling bread, milk and daily grocery. Shortly after with a boom of similar stores, it was taken over and ran by a local dress maker, Adela, who served the western suburbs with her dress making craft until 1996.

John Street itself boomed with a strip mall business during the 1970s and 80s. The street was made up of a butcher, a grocer, fish and chippery, milk bar, a land surveyor and our current store inhabited by a dress maker.

During the 80s chain stores began expanding, 7 day trading was introduced along with later trading hours, the small fresh food stores began to fade away, and business in John Street began shifting to include a larger milk bar, a tv sales and repair shop, a dentist and hair dresser, among variety stores.

During the mid to late 90s, St.Albans as an area battled many working class demons, domestic and social problems, a disconnect with the 2nd generation immigrant baby boom, assimilation issues with a variety of cultures and religions, and rampant drug and alcohol abuse. During this era, the street business owners closed most of their doors, with a Cash Trader and Tattoo shop moving in for a short period of time.

The street saw a turn around during the 2000s, and proudly displays a variety of new business’ supporting the community including our own Saint Side Workshop and Retail store.

In 2024, we have relocated to a new larger space at Unit 90, 90 Cranwell Street, Braybrook. About 15 minute drive away toward the inner west. 

Our John Street location will be activated into a new space with a variety of community projects and pop up business' in early 2025.

 

Projects and Collaborations:

Pictured: Working with Australian Artistic Legend Geoff Hook (Jeff) OAM on a product range and event, sponsored by Rekorderlig Cider and Coca Cola, Mount Franklin, 2012. 

Saint Side has worked with brands, and artists across a variety of mediums. Creating product with story telling to merge online content and off line special events in activations. Collaborators include Brimbank Council, Sneaker Freaker, Nike, Puma, Nulon, Mercedes Benz, Stockx, Ebbets Field, Kuumba International and a variety of Australian creatives, performers, musicians and print/visual artists.

 

Saint Side Annual Show and Shine:

Saint Side Annual Show and Shine is held in February of each year.

Comprising of primarily a vintage and custom bicycle show, it encompasses a festival which involves local business’ including food vendors, stall holders, a car show, music and a variety of entertainment.

For further information, or to be involved in this event please contact us.