“The market was opposite and Campion was one building back from the corner of Therry Street which had a laneway with back parking and all the trucks would deliver down the lane to the back. There was a huge flood in February 1972 and someone left Campion’s back door open and the water rushed in there from the market across the street. It was 3 feet above their floor level. That’s why they flooded.” (Previous Campion staff member Clare P).

Following the floods of 1972, Campion moved to 253 Flinders Lane just up from Degraves Street, then to 83 Franklin Street. “We used to sell a huge amount of books and stationery out of the Melbourne showgrounds. Armaguard trucks would come to the showgrounds to collect the cash from the customers as everything was paid for in cash or cheque. We also would load up lots of trucks to take orders out to schools for their book sell days. One of the sell day trucks got stolen from the showgrounds and was found in Wangaratta with a stolen motorbike and an angry bulldog in the back. We used to sell lots of greeting and birthday cards in the Franklin St store.” (Campion staff member Neville C).

Two Adelaide-based families bought the school resource distributor in 1996 and the business has since continued to grow to support schools, students and education Australia-wide.

Sites in the 90s included Middleborough Road, Box Hill and Mitcham Road, Mitcham. In 2014 Campion moved to the current Vic head office in Nunawading and opened the huge operational hub in Dandenong South. Today The Campion Group has nearly 20 sites across Victoria, NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia. The Group’s businesses include school supplier Campion Education, publisher Insight Publications, library supplier The Book House and education technology specialist EdSoft.

As a family-owned company, a number of Campion staff have been with the business for decades. The longest serving permanent team member started with Campion in 1976, and the number with 20+ years of service is extensive, bringing stability and experience to the business. Along with retail, operations and customer support, one of the largest staff groups at Campion today is the IT and web development team, helping the business stay ahead of the tech curve in building out platforms for school and student usage and maintaining tech security.