Longstanding Port Adelaide furniture business shuts shop
Next month, Jaffers Furniture will close out 91 years of selling furniture in Port Adelaide, marking the end of an era for the iconic family business.
After 91 years, Jaffers Furniture on St Vincent Street in Port Adelaide will cease trading, with the heritage building it sits in to be sold.
It brings to a close a long era in the Port for the Jaffer family, with Mrs Jaffer herself – Heather – calling time on the family business.
On the front of the store are signs announcing the closing down sale reading “MRS JAFFER IS RETIRING”. At 80 years of age, and after working in the store for 45 years, she’s certainly earned it.
Heather Jaffer is the wife of the late Roger Jaffer, whose father Max Jaffer started the business.
Roger passed away three years ago, and “it’s not the same without him here”, said Heather, who currently owns and operates the business.
“We all used to have a good time and a laugh and a joke, but when it was busy we got down to work.
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“I’m suffering badly with arthritis at the moment. I just don’t know how much longer I can go on, and there’s not much point in going until the very end, because you can’t do anything outside of work and enjoy yourself. So I thought, now’s the time.”
Photo: David Simmons/InDaily.
Jaffers Furniture is easily one of the oldest still-trading businesses in the Port.
It began in 1934 when Max and Ena Jaffer purchased one of six cottages on St Vincent St. Eventually, they would purchase the five neighbouring cottages and turned them into the large Jaffers showroom that exists today.
In the 90 years since it began, the business developed a reputation for its customer service and range which, in more recent years, catered to seniors, largely due to Jaffers being a La-Z-Boy stockist.
The heritage building will soon hit the market, but the business will be wound up.
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“It’s been an interesting few years, and I’ll be sorry in a way that it’s finished, that the Jaffer name isn’t going to be connected with furniture anymore,” Heather said.
“But I know that if Roger was still here he would say: ‘No, let’s go. That’s enough.’ So, enough it is.”
Photo: David Simmons/InDaily.
Heather also lives in a cottage connected to the Jaffers showroom, and isn’t sure where she’s headed next. She said she would miss the Port.
“It’s a lovely place to be,” she said.
“Before my husband got sick we always had boxer dogs that needed a lot of exercise. He would cross the road here and walk right around the river and come back up the other end every morning. Sometimes I would go with him, and you’d stand there and watch the dolphins come up or talk to the guys fishing along there.
“One day we had to stop the traffic on St Vincent Road because there was a mother duck and she was determined to cross the street. She had about 12 little ducklings following. We led her across the road and I said ‘let’s walk up and see what she does’. She got to the other side and had the ducklings all standing on the edge and had them all jump one by one into the water. It was lovely to watch.”
Heather said she would miss the staff and the customers “because I’m a bit of a chatterbox”.
“We’re like one big family,” Heather said.
Jaffers Furniture’s final day of trade is Wednesday 26 February 2025.
