01/10/2026
How’s this for a trip back in time? This is Kangaroo Flat in 1979, inside the shopping centre we now know as Lansell Square! 🛍️
Back then it was known as Marong Village, or Marong Shopping Centre, and the whole place had that unmistakable late 70s shopping centre feel.
Packed walkways, old shopfronts, hanging signs, indoor plants, shopping trolleys and enough brown, orange and timber to wallpaper half of Bendigo! 😄
The centre opened in 1979 with Kmart, Coles, Safeway and dozens of specialty shops, becoming a major shopping destination for Kangaroo Flat and Bendigo’s southern suburbs.
The name Marong made perfect sense at the time. Kangaroo Flat then sat within the Shire of Marong, which became the Rural City of Marong in 1990.
That council disappeared during the Kennett Government's sweeping local government amalgamations in 1994, when Marong, Bendigo, Eaglehawk, Huntly and Strathfieldsaye were brought together to form the City of Greater Bendigo.
Over the years, Marong Village became Lansell Plaza, later Centro Lansell, and eventually the Lansell Square we know today.
The buildings have changed, the shops have changed and the fashions have definitely changed, but you can almost still look at this photo and recognise the bones of the place.
And just look at that crowd. No online shopping, no click and collect, no staring into phones while walking into a planter. Going to the shopping centre was an outing. 😂
Who remembers Marong Village like this? What shops do you remember, and does anyone recognise one of those old shopfronts hiding in the background? 💬
