Olympia Milk Bar in Sydney’s Stanmore up for sale after owner went to nursing home

The building housing a beloved milk bar frozen in time for six decades is up for sale after its elderly owner moved into a nursing home.

Nick Fotiou ran the Olympia Milk Bar in Sydney’s inner west and barely took a day off after buying it with his brother, John, in 1959 – even as the building crumbled around him.

As the streetscape of Parramatta Road in Stanmore changed around him, the Greek immigrant suited up in his apron and served milkshakes, tea, and burgers.

However, the building fell into disrepair and Mr Fotiou refused all offers to help maintain it even as the local council tried to force him out over safety concerns.

What’s left of the two-storey shopfront will be sold at auction on March 7, with its front boarded up and covered in graffiti and posters advertising music gigs

Olympia finally closed in early 2021 when its defiant owner moved into a nursing home aged 91.

What’s left of the two-storey shopfront will be sold at auction on March 7, with its front boarded up and covered in graffiti and posters advertising music gigs.

Raine & Horne Commercial advertised the 214sqm building as a ‘rebuild or redevelopment opportunity’, despite it being listed on the NSW Heritage Register.

‘The zoning and building controls allow for a multitude of uses and redevelopment options. The property will appeal to a wide range of owner-occupiers, investors, and builders/developers,’ the ad read.

The property, which is being sold by the Public Trustee on Mr Fotiou’s behalf, is expected to fetch between $600,000 and $1 million.

While the shopping strip is now unrecognisable, hardly anything changed inside since the shop was fitted out in 1939.

Owner Nick Fotiou has been a constant presence on Parramatta Road in Stanmore in Sydney’s inner west, but has now moved into a nursing home

Even as the streetscape of Parramatta Road in Stanmore changed, the store stayed the same

Decades-old posters lined the walls, including for 1970s band The Street, and the shelves were stocked with old boxes of chocolate bars and drink cans.

Mr Fotiou would emerge from the shadows to take orders and process payment on an ancient cash register.

Lights in the milk bar were always turned off, and Mr Fotiou lived above the shop and was reluctant to speak about his private life. 

He refused to quit even as dust collected on the antique decorations and mould started appearing – or when the ceiling caved in.

The building became so decrepit that the local council, after a long battle, closed him down in 2018 until repairs were taken out.

But the elderly proprietor refused to be hurried, and insisted he was able to carry on and fix the asbestos, rodent problem, and leaky ceiling at his own pace.

 The decrepit building has been decaying for many years and is now boarded up

While the shopping strip is unrecogniseable barely anything changed inside since the original Olympia he bought was fitted out in 1939 

Mr Fotiou would emerge from the shadows to take orders while hunched over the bar and process payment on an ancient cash registe

Decades-old posters lined the walls, including for 1970s band The Street, and the shelves were stocked with old boxes of chocolate bars and drink cans 

He even briefly reopened in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.

‘I’ve had troubles and troubles and troubles,’ Mr Fotiou told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2018 of his struggle to keep the place open.

‘Slowly, slowly, slowly… But not to rush me. How long it will take, no idea,’ he said in broken, heavily Greek-accented English about his plans to restore his shop.

The shop had legions of fans, including a 4,500-strong Facebook page, but the proud owner refused all offers of help to fix it.

‘He talked like he is planning to do the repairs himself,’ one person wrote on the page during a 2017 effort to avoid the council shutdown.

‘Without prompting he admitted his ladder is not safe to use when he is alone. I strongly discouraged him from getting up there. 

‘When I asked him if he would accept money to assist with repairs like a grant or a gift with no strings attached, he said, “I tell you what I told the council, I want my customers to come back”.’ 

Olympia had legions of fans, including a 4,500-strong Facebook page, but the proud owner refused all offers of help to fix it 

All he allowed was some temporary, and ultimately fruitless, work the patch up the ceiling 

Mr Fotiou bought the building with his brother John in 1959, and the property retains its original fitout dating back two decades before that (pictured is the interior)

Known as Dr Death or Dracula because lights in the milk bar are always turned off, Mr Fotiou lives above the shop and is reluctant to speak about his private life (pictured is the milk bar)

All he allowed was some temporary, and ultimately fruitless, work to the patch up the ceiling. 

Now the milk bar is boarded up, and Mr Fotiou has finally accepted the end of an era and moved into a nursing home.

The NSW Heritage Register describes the milk bar as ‘of historical significance as evidence of the development of commercial leisure related activity along this section of Parramatta Road from 1912’.

Originally a pool hall, it reopened as a milk bar in 1939 and has kept its name and furnishings since then, including a coloured terazzo saying ‘Olympia’ on the floor.

The Olympia featured in at least one novel, two songs, several artworks, was the subject of a radio documentary. 

Any redevelopment of the shop would have to meet strict requirements to keep its wealth of history as intact as possible. 

Some photos provided by Eamon Donnelly, taken for The Milk Bar Book.

The Olympia has featured in at least one novel, two songs, several artworks and been the subject of a radio documentary 

Mr Fotiou suited up in his apron every day and served milkshakes, tea, and burgers