But now, furniture king and local icon Franco Cozzo could shut up shop in “Footisgray” after putting his flagship furniture store up for a grand sale.

The 1088-square-metre building on Hopkins Street, near Footscray Station, has been home to Franco Cozzo since 1968 and is advertised as a “vital development site to the future of Footscray”.

While there is no price listed, the charismatic Mr Cozzo told Fairfax Media on Thursday he would accept “the more you can” for the building.

The 78-year-old father-of-10 said he had no intention of retiring, but rather was listing the building to see what price it could attract.

“Life begins at 80,” he said.

“Because the time to sell it, the property, is not bad over the price, so I think, you know, let’s see what we can get.”

 

Mr Cozzo said that if sold, he hoped to keep his business in the building, but conceded he might have to close the store if new owners had other plans.

“I don’t want to close it down because I’ve kids to carry on the business … [But] if they want to build apartments and they give the money I want, I will give [the building] to them,” he said.

“Footscray is the future of Melbourne, because it is near Docklands … Docklands and Footscray are same things, will be soon.”

Mr Cozzo arrived in Melbourne from Italy without a cent to his name in 1956 and was soon pacing inner-city streets selling refrigerators, televisions and washing machines door to door.

He opened his first Franco Cozzo store in Errol Street, North Melbourne, in 1959 and developed a successful business selling imported and often garish Italian furniture.

Mr Cozzo became a household name in the 1980s, partly due to late-night TV commercials in which he would spruik the furniture at his "Brunsawick” and “Footisgray" stores, in a mix of English, Italian and Greek.

He said there were no plans to close his second store, on Sydney Road, Brunswick, but that its long-term future would depend on how Australia’s economy fared over the next few years.