Jim (Jnr) and Albert Mills decided to start their own butcher shop and purchased land on the corner of Toolooa and Eden Streets. They opened Mills Butchers on 1st September 1939 – the same day that Germany marched into Poland – and war was declared two days later. Albert was called up for service in 1940 but, being a butcher, was given a reserved occupation certificate. Workers they employed at different times included John and Brian Bellert and Doug O’Sullivan. Jim and Albert closed the shop on 1st September 1979, exactly forty years to the day, from when they opened it.