FROM THE WYNNUM MANLY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC.
Zelda Arcade is on the same side of Bay Terrace as the old post office but a little further north, close to Cedar & Pine Bar.
The arcade was the second to be built in Wynnum. The first arcade was built in 1957 for Mr Woodforth, over the site of his garage, and he had a petrol pump on the edge of the footpath. The location was Woodforth Arcade, almost directly opposite Zelda Arcade, across Bay Terrace.
Zelda Arcade was built on the former premises of Real Estate Agent LP Crawford and the shop of Miss Grace Emma Waldren. At least six first-class shops were planned for this new brick building erected for Miss Pearly Fabian.
In the Herald dated 21 March 1958, Henry Roebuck announced that his store was to “Open soon in the new Zelda Arcade”, selling “modern household furniture”.
On Monday, 29 September 1958, LP Crawford and Co. Real Estate Agents moved back to its original location, into a new shop, in the recently completed Zelda Arcade.
Shanahan’s, The Trouser Specialists, opened a menswear shop in October 1958, which diversified to include a book bar with books such as Bridge Over the River Kwai and Elephant Walk.
In June 1959, a Herald advertisement suggested a visit to George Wilcox, in Shanahan’s in Zelda Arcade, for a new suit.
In 1960, Mrs FE Fuller opened an up-to-date salon for the “Mother-to-be and Baby”. There was now a Singer Sewing Machine Company shop at number 3 Zelda Arcade and Waldron’s Casket Agency at number 1, right next to the arcade’s entrance, opening out to Bay Terrace.
The arcade was refurbished in 2021, and its name was mounted above the arcade entrance.
