W. Waters & Sons

William Waters opened a general store in Unanderra in 1895. In 1905 he opened a store at 313 Crown Street Wollongong and diversified into hardware and homeware and his sons later joined the business. The Waters served the local community and their stores earned the loyalty of many local people. The store relocated to Stewart Street in 1988 and continued there until 2002.

Staff members have many recollections of their time working in W. Waters & Sons, the products, retail service, changes in technology and memories of social activities and the ways they were valued and offered development opportunities by the company.

Stuart Waters

Stuart is one of the 4^th generation of the Water’s family in the Illawarra. He speaks about his family, their work and connections with the community.

Listen to Stuart’s story here.

Help edit the computer generated transcript of Stuart’s interview here.

Barry Williamson

Barry worked at W. Waters and Sons from 1959 until 1977 in the plumbing and electrical departments. He enjoyed the work environment and social events and valued the training he was given.

Listen to Barry’s story here.

Help edit the computer generated transcript of Barry’s interview here.

Jolanda Fensom

Jolanda worked at W. Waters & Sons from 1971 until 2002 in many different positions including accounts and setting up the first retail computer system in Wollongong. She was later store manager.

Listen to Jolanda’s story here.