Grace Bros
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From its location just outside Sydney's main business district, Grace Bros grew to become one of the city's largest department stores and by the 1960s had developed a huge network of branches in suburban Sydney and regional NSW. English immigrant brothers, Joseph Neal (1859-1931) and Edward Albert Grace (c1863-1938) established their first store in George Street West (Broadway) in 1885.
The story of Grace Bros up until the First World War is one of rapid and constant expansion. A new four-storey building was completed in 1896 to house furniture and ironmongery departments, another structure was completed in 1904 and a five-storey building in 1906. And to provide the latest power supply to light and operate these buildings, a private electricity plant was erected in 1903.
A general catalogue from around 1910 for Grace Bros, 'The Model Store' (TC 658.871 GRA) maps out each of the company's buildings and each of its departments on floor plans. The 1913 catalogue (TCQ 658.871 GRA) features photographs of Grace Bros' buildings including their new four-storey furniture palace and furniture repository in Bay Street, across the road from their main store.
Grace Bros imported most of their stock in this period, and in order to buy direct from English manufacturers they established a London buying office in 1908. However, the company began making their own clothing as early as 1899, and established a factory in nearby Chippendale from which by 1913 they were also fitting upholstery and making mattresses and picture frames.
Grace Bros removal service, established in 1911, became an important and highly visible part of the company's business portfolio: the 1923 furniture catalogue stated that the company specialised in interstate removals by road, rail or sea. And the numerous catalogues produced in the 1920s illustrate the huge range of stock and services offered by the company that boasted 3000 employees by 1923. The general catalogue of that year illustrated a pharmacy, hairdresser and portrait photography services, while the 1927 furniture catalogue showed colour images of the showroom floor with furniture extending across 3.5 acres.
Grace Bros' huge range meant the company could appeal to a wide variety of tastes and incomes. A comparison with other Sydney home furnishing stores of the period shows that the price of bedroom suites, for example, started at amongst the lowest prices available and stretched to some of the most expensive. The Queensland maple bedroom suite with oxidized silver gum leaf handles (1926 furniture catalogue, TCQ 749.20492 GRA/2) exhibited at the Empire Exhibition in London and the interior decoration and painted furniture by artists, Thea Proctor and Roi de Mestre, (The Home magazine advertisement, April 1927) were not only pricey, but also the latest in fashion.
The early 1930s were difficult for Grace Bros due not just to the depression, but also because the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and diversion of city tram routes affected passing trade. The construction of the substantial Morrow and Gordon designed Grace Building (1930) on land bounded by York, King and Clarence Streets proved to be an ineffective attempt at countering changed traffic flows. As a result, the company decided to open suburban branch stores, beginning with Parramatta in 1933 and Bondi Junction in 1934, while a five-storey furniture repository was opened at Chatswood in 1938.
Other suburban branches opened after World War II, the goal of management being to put a Grace Bros store within 10 minutes drive of every Sydney home. Arguably the most famous suburban store was at Roselands in the Sydney suburb of Belmore: built in 1965, it was then one of the largest shopping centres in Australia. The company also acquired the country shops of JB Young and coverted them to Grace Bros stores.
Grace Bros was eventually taken over in 1983 by rival Melbourne retailer, Myer Ltd, though the Grace Bros name lived on until 2004. The former Farmer & Co department store in central Sydney on the block bounded by Pitt, Market and George Streets, was owned by Myer but was badged with the Grace Bros name after 1983.
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