It was a great pleasure to have caught up with one of Australia’s great picture framer Eric Baker last weekend.
Eric is the original owner of Port Melbourne Prints and Frames, an iconic picture framing business that was situated in Bay Street, Port Melbourne.
Eric started the picture framing business back in the seventies always trading from the Bay St, Port Melbourne factory and showroom. A couple of years later, Port Melbourne Prints and Frames was to have a sister business that Eric started called Albert Park Prints and Frames. Both businesses were a similar format with an extensive range of custom picture framing selections and a broad range of ready-made frames in both wooden and timber finishes that sat alongside the range of aluminium poster frames.
In later years, Eric opened a purpose-built factory in South Melbourne where he manufactured the custom picture framing and ready-made picture frames.
The Port Melbourne and Albert Park framing stores did a lot of corporate and wholesale work for many big advertising agencies in Melbourne. Being so close to St Kilda Road and South Melbourne, where there are lots of agencies always needing posters, prints, certificates, and presentations framed.
As Eric’s business interests diversified he started a winery on the Mornington Peninsula. Again, this was/is a successful business. However, the travel from the peninsula got the better of Eric and he chose to sell Port Melbourne and Albert Park prints and framing.
The new owners subsequently moved the business further down Bay St, Port Melbourne, and sadly a few years later the business closed down.
Today, Frames Now do a lot of the framing for the advertising and design studios in Port Melbourne, South Melbourne, St Kilda Road, and Albert Park.