The 82-year-old Greek immigrant, who came to Australia with barely a coin to rattle in his pocket, has become a part of Warrnambool’s CBD identity.

He worked seven days a week to raise and educate his family and purchase real estate in Warrnambool, Ballarat and Geelong.

As he looks out on passing traffic on the south-west’s busiest street he recalls boom times and gloom times in what is known as the retail Golden Mile and is quietly confident it will weather the current economic downturn.

Some of his customers today are grandchildren of the first wave of hungry mouths to pass through the doors when young George and his wife Helen moved into the business in January 1961.

Those were the days when there was no McDonald’s, KFC, Red Rooster or Hungry Jacks.

Takeaway food was either a fish and chip shop or hamburger kitchen.

Friday nights were the busiest with queues stretching out onto the street and closing time well past 9pm.

Slowly customer tastes changed with demand for more variety, but the staple feed of fish and chips deep-fried in oil and sprinkled with generous shakings of salt is still the favourite.

Orders of $50 or more are not uncommon, even one for $100 from a recent Christmas holiday visitor.

“We love Warrnambool, it’s been good to us and the people are wonderful,” Mr Politis said.

“When we started there was barely enough money to feed the family, but through hard, honest work and clean, quality food we succeeded.

“In the busy summer time we employed seven kids to help out.”

He takes pride in recalling how he used proceeds from the shop for a real estate investment in the early 1970s when he nervously bought a block of land in Ballarat where a KFC store was to be built. It proved a winner and a springboard to other purchases.

Considering he smoked 60 cigarettes a day until he quit the habit 30 years ago he’s still got a surprising reserve of energy.

“The doctor told me to do more walking, but I said I walk enough from the back of the shop to the front so many times.

“I still love coming to work seven days a week, but now can take time off when I need.”

Son Chris is continuing the tradition, having grown up in the shop since he arrived in Warrnambool as a three-year-old.

His brother and two sisters also help out when they visit at Christmas and Easter.

“Liebig Street does face challenges with high rent and high rates and parking costs,” Chris told The Standard.

“But it is a good street.”