The iconic pastry shop “International Cakes,” a landmark in the heart of Melbourne and a reference point for our community, and beyond, has officially closed its doors after decades of operation.
On Monday, September 30, late at night, after yet another busy day, Bill Batz (Vasilis Batzogiannis), locked the door of his shop for the last time as he left.
The same way he had done for the past 55 years.
But this time, he did not return the next morning to reopen International Cakes for his beloved customers.
“I put the key in, turned it, my eyes filled with tears, and I didn’t look back,” he said, visibly emotional to Neos Kosmos, as he reflected on leaving not only the pastry shop behind but also a whole life.
Although filled with emotion, he doesn’t quite remember the exact last order he filled (there were many takeaways, he said), but he will never forget the love and support he has received from people over the decades and especially in the last few days after his interview with our paper and Iris Papathanasiou was published, where he revealed that International Cakes would be closing at the end of September.
“The response was incredible. I didn’t expect to receive so many messages and phone calls,” Batzogiannis noted, recalling how he joined the pastry shop 55 years ago, though it had existed since 1967. Before that, in the 1950s, it operated as a café.
It was a meeting place for Greek immigrants, and many of them, after arriving at Melbourne’s port by ship, would head there to ask for information on where to stay or work.
The Batzogiannis and Giovanoglou families, partners in ‘International Cakes’, expressed their gratitude to their loyal customers over the decades in a statement published in Neos Kosmos last Saturday.
“We deeply appreciate the relationships we have built with the Greek-Australian community and are grateful for your continuous support over all these years,” they stated, among other things.
“Your trust and loyalty have been the driving force behind our success, and we express our deepest gratitude to you. It has been an honour to serve you and be a part of your lives.”
“We extend our heartfelt thanks for the love and support we received after the announcement of our closure. We were deeply touched by your kind messages, the memories shared, and your heartfelt wishes. Although our doors are closing, we feel joy for the memories we were honoured to create with our beloved community, which will remain forever in our hearts.”
Signed with warmest regards and deepest gratitude to all,
Vasilis Batzogiannis, Emmanuel Giovanoglou, Giannis Giovanoglou, Mary Batzogiannis.
Also read: Diatribe – Diethnes
As Iris Papathanasiou wrote, “There’s no one in Melbourne, or even Australia, who doesn’t know ‘International Cakes,’ which has welcomed generations of Greeks—and not only—over decades at its location on Lonsdale Street, the street that once beat with the ‘heart’ of the Greek community.”
“With it, an important chapter of the Greek diaspora in Australia closes too.”
Unsurprisingly, news of the closure of ‘International Cakes’ spread across Australian media in the last 24 hours.
“One of the last Greek pastry shops in the city (in Melbourne’s center) has closed its doors after 60 years,” wrote the Herald Sun.
“International Cakes, the last remaining pastry shop in Melbourne’s Greek precinct, served its last baklava on Monday evening.”
“The response was incredible, and customers are very sad to see us go,” Batzogiannis told the Australian newspaper.
“Since they learned we were closing, people have come and bought all our cakes… They grew up here… I had the sweetest customers.”
For a “landmark” pastry shop, broadsheet.com.au noted,
“Situated in the heart of Melbourne’s Greek precinct, International Cakes has been an important part of the city’s Greek community…”
“People knew the store and wanted it to stay open. They want me to continue too, but unfortunately, I can’t… many people are sad to see us go,” Batzogiannis mentioned in the interview.
news.com.au, 7News, and other media outlets echoed the same sentiment, while ABC is reportedly preparing its own tribute to ‘International Cakes’.
‘Here, it was Greece’
If walls could speak, ‘International Cakes’ would tell endless stories about the Greeks who first arrived in Australia, the families they built, and how they evolved in the country that eventually became their second home.
Across from the shop, at Queen Victoria Hospital, thousands of Greek children were born, with fathers and relatives waiting anxiously for the births at the welcoming pastry shop of Vasilis Batzogiannis (Bill Batz) and Manolis Giovanoglou.
Next door were the offices of Neos Kosmos, where the staff would queue every day for their morning coffee, with Mr Vasilis learning the news of Greece and the community firsthand.
Even the newspaper’s well-known editor, Sotiris Hatzimanolis, worked there as a student on weekends, forging a friendship with Mr Vasilis that lasts to this day.
That’s why Bill chose Neos Kosmos to announce to his beloved customers that ‘International Cakes’ would permanently close its doors at the end of the month.
Though everything around the Greek pastry shop has changed—50-60 Greek businesses have left the street—’International Cakes’ stayed the same for more than half a century, with the same owners continuing to offer sweet tastes and the characteristic hospitality of the homeland.
“We have customers from everywhere. People come every day who have known us for a long time. Thousands of Greek kids were born right here across the street at Queen Victoria Hospital. They all remember and love this place. What can I tell you? They come with so much respect for our shop—they’re grown-ups now—and still call me ‘uncle.’ They love the shop for its history,” Bill said, emotionally.
“I loved this shop from the very first moment because it had a Greek element. It was like being back in Greece. Here, it was Greece!”
“I was Greek and remained Greek—I never became Australian. I loved the Greeks, my people—they’re wonderful. And here in the shop, there was immense respect. In 55 years, there wasn’t a single incident. Greeks are proud people. They’re the best customers you could have.”
“Here, you would hear Greek voices inside and outside—it was something else. Now, there are no Greeks here.”
“Since the ’90s, rents have gone up. But that wasn’t the only reason. The Greek community started to spread out, and it wasn’t easy to come into the city for every little thing. Once upon a time, you’d only come to the city for coffee. Now, you have to get through the freeways—it takes time—and then find parking. As people began living further from Melbourne, these businesses started moving out of the center, and the Greek community began assimilating into the Australian environment.”
His children worked at “International Cakes.” “My two daughters, at different times. But my partner’s son still works here. I’ve had a partner for 45 years—Manolis Giovanoglou. And Manolis and I got along well. To secure our business, we bought the building so no one could move us out. We worked as long as we wanted to work, and 4-5 years ago, we sold the building, intending to retire. And then COVID hit, keeping us here for a few more years.”
“Although I leave with a heavy heart,” Bill said, emotionally, “because I’ll leave so many people who will be disappointed. I tell my Australian customers, and they tell me how much they will miss us… they ask me, ‘Where will you go?’”
Many come every day, people from the old days—not just Greeks, but Australians, too—who walk into the shop as if it’s their home…
“I will miss the shop. I will miss the people—not just the Greeks. I did everything I wanted, offered everything I could, and I have nothing more to say than ‘Thank you’ to my customers for all their support.”
