Part 4 of the complete Great Oaks history, covering great oaks retail, motoring & business history.
The Great Oaks Service Station opened on 7 January 1963. It was run by the Southend-based Holmes & Smith business and combined a petrol filling station, workshop and car showroom. The dealership sold Rootes Group vehicles such as Hillman, Humber and Sunbeam and later became associated with Chrysler.
After the Holmes & Smith period, the site continued in the motor trade. Historical business records associate it with Ecta Motors, including Volkswagen and Audi commercial work and vehicle servicing, and later with Central Car Sales, a second-hand car operation that eventually relocated away from Great Oaks.
The former service-station/car-sales site was redeveloped for a large Office World superstore, which opened in November 1997. This marked a complete change in use from petrol and motor sales to out-of-town-style retailing, selling stationery, office equipment and furniture.
The site later became associated with Staples and Office Outlet. Planning documents for the present redevelopment describe the existing building as having housed Staples and a mobile-phone retail unit before demolition. A 2019 planning permission for conversion of retail units to a gym was granted but the proposed gym use was not implemented.
Separate from the former service-station site was the large Tesco unit beneath the cinema, opened in 1971. After Tesco left, it became Liberty Shopping Hall in 1984 and later QD. QD continues to trade at Great Oaks, meaning the building still has a retail role more than fifty years after the original supermarket opened.
Great Oaks demonstrates several different waves of retailing: motor showroom and petrol station, large supermarket, indoor independent arcade, office superstore, discount department store and retail-park development. Each reflected changing shopping habits and the changing role of the edge of Basildon town centre.