End of an era: Hitchens Removals & Storage 1957-2026

FOR almost seven decades, if you were moving house anywhere in Penrith and beyond, chances are Hitchens was involved.

From humble beginnings with just two trucks and no telephone, Hitchens Removals & Storage grew alongside western Sydney, helping thousands of families move into new homes while building one of the region’s best-known family businesses.

Now, after 69 years, that chapter has come to an end.

The removals business closed in August 2025. Storage King has now purchased the business as a dedicated self-storage operation.

For Trevor Hitchen, whose life has been intertwined with the company since childhood, it marks the end of an era that began with the determination of his father, Eric Hitchen.

In 1957, Eric purchased St Marys Taxi Trucks, operating from rented premises in Australia Street, St Marys. There was no telephone and customer enquiries were taken through the local hardware store.

When telephone services finally arrived, the first Yellow Pages advertisement listed the wrong number.

“So to make a living Dad would bag coke fuel and deliver it to local residents for their fires during winter,” Trevor’s sister Joanne said.

By 1959, with a working telephone number proudly painted on his trucks, the business began to grow. Deliveries for Hudson’s Hardware and Neal’s Furniture Store became regular work, while weekends often meant transporting heavy J-blocks to Sydney’s North Shore, with the whole family tagging along.

As Penrith expanded, so too did the business.

The family moved to Glossop Street, St Marys, in 1967, with the home becoming both headquarters and billboard for what had evolved into St Marys Removals.

Trevor laughs when he remembers how his apprenticeship in the family business began.

“It wasn’t uncommon for me to walk out of school and find Dad waiting in the truck ready to go and do a removal,” he said.

Trevor joined the business full-time in 1982. At that stage they operated just two trucks, but together father and son steered the company through challenging years.

By 1984 the business had outgrown the family home and purpose-built premises were constructed in Plasser Crescent, St Marys, complete with a storage warehouse to support the company’s growing interstate removal operations.

Just five years later, further expansion saw the neighbouring property purchased to increase storage capacity.

Trevor believes much of the company’s success mirrored the remarkable growth of Penrith
itself.

“Penrith – how it grew – Glenmore Park, there was no St Clair when I started with Dad.. Cambridge Park, Cranebrook, it was a period of strong growth,” he said.

Rather than simply offering removals, Trevor saw an opportunity to provide every service customers could need.

“People would want to rent a truck, they’d want a removalist, they’d want storage, so my thought process was, ‘Why can’t they just do it all under one roof?’

“So we offered courtesy vehicles, boxes and everything people needed. It became a one-stop shop.”

That vision led to another major milestone.

In 2009, Trevor recognised that self-storage was becoming an
industry in its own right and purchased land on Old Bathurst Road, Emu Plains.

The first stage of Hitchens Self Storage opened the following year.

“It filled within the first three months,” Trevor said.

Construction quickly began on stage two and, over the next decade, the facility expanded through six stages to include 800 storage units and 100 shipping containers.

Another turning point came when Hitchens secured a Defence relocation contract, requiring the company to move military families across Australia.

“The Defence contract was significant,” Trevor said.

“They move around 20,000 people a year and the level of service you had to provide was quality-based.

“Most of the work happened around Christmas, so it was an incredibly busy time. We made sure the staff were looked after and incentivised, because we wanted every job done properly.”

While trucks, warehouses and storage facilities became bigger over the years, Trevor believes the company’s greatest asset never changed.

“The main reason we were so successful was the staff we had over the years,” he said.

“Several were with us for 15 or 20 years. They are such good people who were committed to the business.

“We wanted to treat them well because we appreciated them so much.”

Alongside Trevor, Tricia, his sister Joanne and her husband Rob worked hard to ensure the success of the family business.  

Eric remained a constant source of encouragement throughout his long life.

“Dad was 96 when he passed away,” Trevor said.

“He was always very supportive.”

The story of Hitchens Removals & Storage is also the story of Penrith’s transformation into one of Australia’s fastest-growing cities.

As new suburbs emerged, families arrived in droves, and Hitchens was there to help them settle into their new lives.

The family says the company’s growth reflects “what vision and hard work can achieve.”

Now, after nearly seven decades, Trevor believes the time is right to step away.

“I’m  63years old and I think it’s time we relax and enjoy our life,” he said.

Asked what retirement looks like, Trevor’s answer was characteristically focused on others.

“We’d like to spend time giving back, helping local charities, travel and spend as much time as possible in Coolangatta, its our second home.

“Relax. Ride my motorbike.”

The Hitchen family has thanked the community that supported them for almost seven decades.

“We would like to thank all of our customers over the last 69 years for supporting a local family business,” Trevor said.

“We would also like to thank our staff over the years whose commitment and hard work made our company a success.”

While the Hitchens name is stepping away from the business, its legacy will live on through the thousands of families it helped move, the generations of loyal staff it employed, and the community it never stopped supporting.

For someone who has spent a lifetime building a successful local business, Trevor says success has always come with a responsibility to give back.

“The Penrith area has made us very successful, and we’ve always given back and we’ll continue to,” he said.