Lutveys

The Lutvey family were catholic Lebanese and migrated to Australia due to religious persecution from Zahle in eastern Lebanon. Bernard Lutvey was born in Australia and lived in Gayndah. His family had stores similar to Lutvey's in Gayndah and Nanango as well as in Ipswich.

Bernie married Rose Taffa in 1944. Rose was also born in Australia, and she lived in Braidwood in Canberra. Her Father was also a shopkeeper and Rose learnt English to be able to handle the business dealings in the shop, as neither of her parents spoke much English. Rose drove a car, which was a novelty at the time. The couple had a daughter, Lesley.

Rose's sister Mercy married Reuben F. Scarf, and so some of her siblings also worked in Scarf's stores, which are still operating today.

About a year after they married Bernie purchased George Mansour's store at 175 Brisbane Street. They would have taken on the stock in the store and paid George on a payment plan. George would have likely been a distant relative of the Lutveys.

Upon first moving to Ipswich the couple would have lived in a hotel, but they soon moved to accommodation in England Street and then to a flat in Brisbane Street. by the mid-1960s they lived at 10a Glebe Road. The older house on this property, which had been moved sideways on the block, was owned by either the Cribb or the Foote family.

The shop in 175 Brisbane Street was a menswear shop, and after World War II it sold socks and work wear. These were the most in demand items at the time. They sold this shop in about 1965.

The second store, opened at 185 Brisbane street was a womenswear shop. Rose regularly visited Brisbane, potentially Montague Street, to purchase items for her clients, including d'Arcy Doyle's Mother, Mrs. Prasser. She shopped specifically for her clients. As it developed the shop began to cater for brides (trousseaus) and mothers of the bride, robe petticoats and calypso petticoats (which were robe petticoats with coloured insets) were very popular.

Bernie died in 1973, Lesley and her husband moved to Warwick after the floods in 1974 and Rose retired in 1995 at the age of 80. She would die in 2008.