"Seven days a week," he says with a thick Greek-Australian accent. Mr Fotiou might be sitting at one of the laminated tables. He could be moving between the shelves and the darkened room out back. Or he might be going through a batch of letters stashed in an old exercise book that includes correspondence about the milk bar's closure. Loading An Inner West Council spokeswoman says that after a report from police that the awning was in danger of collapsing late last year, representatives inspected the Olympia and found the inside was in a state of disrepair. "Council had no choice but to close the shop until repairs were carried out," she says.

So amongst the old milkshake makers, confectionery trays, boxes of ice-cream cones, an urn, an old cash register and cups covered with a layer of plastic, Mr Fotiou, half-hunched, grey-haired and intense, is alone. "I've had troubles and troubles and troubles," he says. Mr Fotiou won't say his age but is said to be in his eighties. He won't say whether he lives out the back, in the Olympia or somewhere else. He won't say whether he has family or friends who visit. While he mentions a pension, it's not clear whether he is getting one or has refused it. And while recognising there are problems that need to be fixed - he mentions asbestos and pests, with the ceiling also collapsing - Mr Fotiou believes the council should let him re-open. "Slowly, slowly, slowly," he says in broken English about how he wants to bring the Olympia back to life. "But not to rush me. How long it will take, no idea."

Inside the Olympia milk bar on Parramatta Road. Credit:Jessica Hromas A proud and private man, Mr Fotiou keeps the shelves stacked with confectionery boxes and a glass-fronted cabinet with soft drinks. But on closer inspection, the boxes and cans are all empty. Up the back is a blackened neon sign that shows what he once offered: "LATE SUPPERS, STEAK, SANDWICHES, SNACK BAR." Mr Fotiou served those meals and drinks on Parramatta Road for more than 50 years. With his late brother, John, he bought the building in about 1959. It had been operating as a milk bar for two decades already, next door to the Olympia De-Luxe Theatre, which later became the Stanmore Twin. It is now an apartment building.

The decorative tiled floor of the old Olympia Milk Bar in Stanmore. Part of a much-loved history of Greek milk bars and listed on the NSW Heritage Register, the Olympia has a Facebook fan page with more than 3700 members. But it has become a symbol of changing times, the isolation that aging can sometimes bring and the decline of Parramatta Road. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Mr Fotiou says he has been getting offers from developers but has no interest in selling.