Isaia Lane
Named for the Isaia family who came from Regina Calabria, in the south of Italy, Isaia Lane is a right-of-way running parallel to Albany Highway. It runs from Miller Street through to Mint Street. Rocco Isaia started R Isaia and Sons, a liqueur manufacturing company on the site in 1955. By 1961 R Isaia and Sons amalgamated with another business called Clarevale Wines and became Clarevale Isaia Pty Ltd.
As Rocco Isaia Jnr recalls…”and then with the wines came a few other Australian spirits such as brandy, run and then slowly slowly as the business became more known and there was more demand we started to grow and expand and started including a lot of other products. We started importing from overseas you know the whisky, the gin, the vodka, the French brandy, bourbon, tequila, and we use to import all our flavourings and essences that we needed for the manufacturing of liqueurs from overseas, from Italy, France. And we used to buy the alcohol that was required for the manufacturing of liqueurs from Colonial Sugar. That was the spirit that we bought and the range of our products just grew you know we finished up with a very large range of products.”(1)
From the late 1960s “Maria’s Gift Shop” operated as part of the business and was very popular, staying in operation right till the business was closed in 1998. As Rocco Junior explains “ Dad [went] back home to Italy [in 1967]… while they were over there they sort of looked around and came back and they bought all this these gift lines and made contacts over there of suppliers of gift type products and that’s when they opened up a shop that we called Maria’s Gift Shop, which was right next door to the factory. Under the same roof! Because when Pop built the factory originally you know that was let out to real estate agents and things like that but then you know different people that were looking for office space in Victoria Park and then when they went to Italy and came across all these gift lines and gift ideas and chandeliers, crystal chandeliers and some beautiful Meranno Venetian glass wear and all that sort of stuff that they brought over. Some beautiful items! The chandeliers were exquisite and any way they more or less let the tenant know that they required the shop and that’s when they started the gift shop which went very well for a while there as well. My sister was running that for a while, my sister Mary. That’s who it was named after and you know that was in 19 say roughly 19…late ‘60s, ‘68, ’69 and they got the shop going and that was there pretty well right till the end, until you know we closed down the whole operation.”(1)
Clarevale Isaia Pty Ltd was a distinctive landmark in the area and is well remembered by current and former residents, as well as by many people from the wider Perth area. The family themselves were well loved and respected community members also. The iconic pine tree in the park at Isaia Corner was planted by the Isaia family in what was then the backyard of their home and of their liqueur shop outlet. The exact date it was planted is unknown but aerial photographs show that is was planted sometime between 1953 and 1965.
References:
‘Interview with Rocco Isaia Jnr’ 2004, Jan McCahon Marshall, Victoria Park Library Oral History Collection.
Images:
Clarevale Isaia Pty Ltd and Maria's Gift Shop, 684 Albany Highway, East Victoria Park, date unkown.
Isaia Lane, East Victoria Park
Former name: Right-of-way (ROW) 107
Official date of naming: 19 March 2019
Naming method: A recommendation was submitted to the 19 March 2019 Ordinary Council Meeting to rename ROW 107. Council supported the recommendation to change the name of ROW 107 to Isaia Lane. This was formalised in Resolution 14.3.1/19032019.
Read Resolution 14.3.1/19032019