Friday, 29 March 2024
122 Nicholson Street, Orbost, VIC 3888 - P: (03) 5154 1919

Local News

End of an era for Bensi family ... and Orbost

End of an era for Bensi family ... and Orbost

Bensi TV & Electrical is one of those iconic businesses the people of Orbost think of as family.

The store, started by newly arrived immigrants Sergio and Nina (pictured) Bensi 54 years ago, will close its doors at the end of this month.

The Bensi’s son, Orlando, has worked in the shop since he was a 14-year-old schoolboy and joined the business full-time when he turned 16.

The family arrived in Australia from Trieste, Italy, in 1956 when Orlando was just three years old.

Mr Bensi had secured work in Orbost with Mr Selwyn Dicken fixing televisions and radios.

After six months he sent for his wife and son to join him in Australia.

Nina Bensi recalls being picked up in Melbourne by her husband and Mr Dicken.

“Sergio told me I wasn’t to speak for the entire drive to Orbost,” she recalls.

“Because I couldn’t speak any English, Sergio said it would be rude to speak in Italian because he thought Selwyn would think we were talking about him and that would be rude,” Mrs Bensi laughs.

Upon arriving in Orbost, Mrs Bensi said people were very welcoming.

“They knew I was arriving and who I was and they all smiled at me.

“Sergio told me to just smile back, so I did, but honestly I felt like crying because it was all so different to me.”

Mrs Bensi had come from a city to the country, so adjusting took some time. Finding food items for her Italian cooking also proved a struggle.

Orlando says in those days you couldn’t buy olive oil for cooking at any of the regular food stores.

“It was sold at the chemist as a laxative, so mum had to buy it there,” he said.

In 1964, after eight years working for Mr Dicken, Sergio Bensi decided he wanted to open his own business.

Bensi TV & Electrical was originally a couple of doors down from the IGA and moved to its current premises some years later.

Son-in-law, Ian Hilderbrandt, joined the fold in 1977 as an apprentice technician.

The family has worked in the shop ever since.

They recall when black and white televisions arrived in Orbost in the 1960s. While television sets were being sold in Melbourne in time for the Olympic Games in 1956, it was some years later before country Victoria saw any.

“They were expensive to buy back then,” Orlando said.

“We used to have a speaker out the front of the shop so people could listen and watch TV through the windows.”

“The only channels were two and 10 in those days,” Ian chimes in.

“And it was very snowy,” he says.

“They were considered a luxury item really, the common worker couldn’t afford one,” Orlando said.

Both men remember the local farmers snapping them up.

When colour television arrived in the ‘70s, the store was often opened at night so people could drop by and watch colour TV.

“Especially when the Miss Australia contest was on, there’d be hordes of people busting to get in,” Ian said.

Whether people had more money in the ‘70s or the price of television sets had dropped the family aren’t sure, but attest to TV’s “selling like hotcakes”.

Orlando’s wife, Leanne, says “hire purchase was very popular back then, so most people were able to purchase a television.”

Ian said with the advent of technology over the years, the store grew to accompany a range of products, namely, video cameras, DVDs, dryers and microwaves.

Today, the bulk of the work the men carry out relates to fixing appliances, replacing televisions, putting in additional TV points and erecting antennas.

However, after much consternation, the men decided now was the right time to close the store.

A downturn in the timber industry in East Gippsland has resulted in less customers.

The death of Sergio Bensi two years ago and some other health issues made the decision making easier.

Nina Bensi isn’t happy with the decision though.

The 83-year-old is a daily visitor to the premises to deliver the lunches and also vacuums the shop.

“I’m not happy about it, but I understand,” she smiles bravely.

“It’s just really sad, the end of an era.”

Her son has a different opinion.

“I want to see what a holiday’s like,” Orlando said.

While he and wife, Leanne, are planning to retire, Ian plans to carry on as a technician in the town and will still be available for servicing, repairs and installations.

Bensi TV & Electrical has advertised with in the Snowy River Mail for more than five decades.

Managing director, Bob Yeates, said 51 years of front page advertising in a local newspaper may well be unprecedented anywhere in the world.

“The loyalty the Bensi family has shown has been greatly appreciated and we congratulate them on providing 54 years of excellent service to the community of Orbost,” Mr Yeates said.


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Snowy River Mail

122 Nicholson Street
PO Box 272
Orbost, VIC 3888

P: (03) 5154 1919
F: (03) 5154 2099

Publication Day: Wednesday
Circulation: 3,531

Yeates Media

Cnr Macleod & Bailey Streets
PO Box 465
Bairnsdale, VIC 3875

P: (03) 5150 2300
F: (03) 5152 6257