The birth of Salvos Stores

The first Salvation Army recycling depots were opened in Australia in 1880 and provided work, accommodation and food for men leaving prison – known as a “Prison Gate Brigade Home”. With little or no machinery, the work provided was labour-intensive and was ideally suited to the target population.

Collecting, sorting and baling waste paper was one example of an early environmentally-friendly project that many centres engaged in. In time, “jumble sales” were added, which enabled the poor to clothe themselves and their children with items discarded by the “better off” members of the community.

Later, other household items were also recycled by what was known as “Salvage Departments”.

The Salvation Army in Sydney first operated a “Prison Gate Brigade Home” in Castlereagh Street (now buried under the Central Railway Station) from 1886–1887. This moved to 169 Albion Street, Surry Hills (1887–1891); 21 Parramatta Road, Ashfield (1891–1894); Silver Street, St Peters (1894–1902); Edgeware Road, Enmore (1902–1910); and finally to Bellevue Street, St Peters (1910–to date).

Bellevue Street, St Peters, was built around 1860 for a wool merchant named Captain George Talbot. The Salvation Army bought the house and land in 1904 and converted it to a “Prison Gate Farm” which opened in 1910. It was initially a 15-acre site, although The Salvation Army has sold much of this land over the years. It had a piggery, housing up to 200 pigs, and stables to accommodate up to six horses. 

The house was a two-storey Georgian-style villa of brick. The house was described in 1904 as being one of the most beautiful in St Peters and Tempe.

From these humble beginnings The Salvation Army has developed a multi-million-dollar recycling service. Salvos Stores currently operates the largest international network of collection centres, retail stores and recycled clothing export services.