Mr Osbourne will mark 50 years working for Woolworths on Wednesday, two months out from retirement.

In his half-century in the aisles, much has come full circle for Mr Osbourne: Woolworths changed to Safeway and back again; he was one of the last people to drive a car through the Bridge Mall after night shift, and there were plans to open the mall up to cars again; plastic bags have come and gone as people move back to reusable alternatives.

The consistent, and what he loved most about his career, has been getting to know people from their weekly shop.

Mr Osbourne always had in mind he wanted to enter the grocery trade, like his father. He walked in to Woolworths, which was where the Reject Shop is now in the mall, and asked the manager for a job. Only, he was told there were no jobs.

A telegram that afternoon summoned Mr Osbourne to the employment agency in the old Curtis Street ranger barracks (now Dan Murphy's) where he sat an aptitude test, found out the manager had been sacked from Woolworths that morning, and he got he job.

At 16 years old, Mr Osbourne started as a packing boy.

"We used to have manual registers, no barcodes, and the girl at the check-out would have to press buttons to key in the price for everything. They always had a packer allocated to a check-out," Mr Osbourne said. "I would carry people's groceries to their cars, so you used to get out of the store a bit. To this day, I still see customers from back then."

Barcodes were a big deal. Stock no longer needed pricing and could just be put on the shelves. Mr Osbourne was among the first in the Ballarat store to work night shift stacking shelves, which partly came in due to a health and safety move to prevent boxes as tripping hazards for customers.

Mr Osbourne moved to the Sebastopol store, via Howitt Street, and was asked to be a licensee for Woolworths' new liquor store.

"They tended to ask people of good nature," Mr Osbourne said. "But I've still got the sign with my name as licensee on it that had to hang near the door."

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When the new Ballarat Central supermarket opened, Mr Osbourne shifted and has remained there in changing roles the past couple of decades.

When the new Ballarat Central supermarket opened, Mr Osbourne shifted and has remained there in changing roles the past couple of decades.

"I've worked a lot of departments, except meat and bakery, and back in the early days I liked general merchandise when there was a separate department for clothing and stationary," Mr Osbourne said. "Most of all I've always liked the people and the way the company treats you...I've got to know a lot of people over the years."

Now semi-retired and only working Monday to Wednesdays, he hoped a few familiar faces would change up their grocery day to say hello for his milestone effort.