Butcher's shop on chopping block

There were 26 butcher shops in Leichhardt when John Elvy's father opened Elvy's Meats in 1954. ''I'm the only traditional Australian corner-store butcher left in Leichhardt,'' he says. Not for much longer.

Elvy has called for expressions of interest for the business and there isn't a single butcher among the applicants. Elvy says it has been a slow death for butcher shops such as his.

''They've retreated to strips and shopping centres,'' he says. ''The supermarkets are chewing us more and more. Health regulations ran a lot of butchers out of business because of the costs of replacing coolrooms, and there are so many other things for people to eat these days.''

Elvy was a seven-year-old when his father opened the shop and he took it over in 1973, but says he'll be the end of the line.

''My son helps out at Christmas time but he has another job and says, 'Dad, you are never home, you never take holidays.'''

Elvy remembers the days when Parramatta Road was lined with butchers and when the area was full of factories.

''They ate more meat because they needed fuel because they did manual work,'' he says.

Expressions of interest close on August 7, but it appears Elvy's regulars will be shopping for meat elsewhere. Applicants for the building include a physiotherapist, an architect, a cafe owner and a dentist.