 Former FitzGerald's Department Store in 2017 with original lettering still visible. | |
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1886 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia |
| Founder | George Parker FitzGerald |
| Defunct | 1995 |
| Fate | Merged with Harris Scarfe |
Area served | Tasmania |
FitzGerald's Department Stores (FitzGerald's) was Tasmania's largest chain of department stores. The chain was rebranded and relaunched as Harris Scarfe in 1995, and the renamed stores continue to trade today.
FitzGerald's was founded in March 1886, when George Parker FitzGerald—one of the early scholars of Hutchins School—established a wholesale business at 79 Collins Street, Hobart (later occupied by W. Coogan & Sons, now called Coogans). [1] The original store was completely destroyed by fire in July 1911, [2] and was rebuilt within eight months, [3] with the new store opening on 21 March 1912. [4]
FitzGerald's was a Tasmanian majority family owned department store business until it was acquired by Charles Davis Limited in 1981. It was by far the largest Tasmanian department store retailer, with a substantial flagship store in Hobart with frontages to Collins Street, Murray Street and Elizabeth Street. FitzGerald's also had substantial stores in Launceston and Burnie (occupying the site of a former theatre), as well as stores in suburban Hobart (Eastlands and Moonah) and a small (600 square metre) store in New Norfolk (occupying a general store built in 1914). When the Venture chain of department stores collapsed in 1994, FitzGerald's acquired and rebadged the Venture stores at Devonport and Ulverstone.
Briefly, between 1993–1995, FitzGerald's operated a store at Forest Hill in suburban Melbourne. This was Harris Scarfe. It later became a Harris Scarfe store then Myer and now it is a Harris Scarfe again.
In 1995, after incurring annual trading losses exceeding $2 million, the FitzGerald's chain was merged with Charles Davis' Harris Scarfe department store chain, with all of the stores being brought under Harris Scarfe management and rebadged as "Harris Scarfe". Although the stores continue to operate under the Harris Scarfe banner, several have closed: New Norfolk in 2000, Eastlands in 2002 and Burnie in 2008. The Launceston store has been substantially reduced, with the store almost halving in size due to the sale of the Mikinlay's building, a former neighboring department store. In 2017, the Hobart store closed temporarily for a major redevelopment and reopened in 2018, however, closed soon after in 2020 due to financial problems. [5]
The history of Tasmania begins at the end of the most recent ice age when it is believed that the island was joined to the Australian mainland. Little is known of the human history of the island until the British colonisation in the 19th century.
Hobart College is a government comprehensive senior secondary school located in Mount Nelson, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Established in 1913 as Hobart High School, it was later renamed as Hobart Matriculation College in 1965, and subsequently renamed as Hobart College. The college caters for approximately 1,000 students in Years 11 and 12 and is administered by the Tasmanian Department of Education.
The mines of the West Coast of Tasmania have a rich historical heritage as well as an important mineralogical value in containing or having had found, specimens of rare and unusual minerals. Also, the various mining fields have important roles in the understanding of the mineralization of the Mount Read Volcanics, and the occurrence of economic minerals.
Harris Scarfe is an Australian retailer that sells bed linen, kitchenware, homewares, electrical appliances and apparel. It has a e-commerce retail presence in Australia and is considered a multi-channel lifestyle and homewares store.
TheMercury is a daily newspaper, published in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, by Davies Brothers Pty Ltd (DBL), a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. The weekend issues of the paper are called Mercury on Saturday and Sunday Tasmanian. The current editor of TheMercury is Craig Warhurst.
The Strahan–Zeehan Railway, also known as the "Government Railway", was a railway from Strahan to Zeehan on the west coast of Tasmania.
Australian rules football in Tasmania, has been played since the late 1870s and draws the largest audience for a football code in the state.
The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) was the former operator of the mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia. Formed in 1872, the railway company was managed by the Government of Tasmania, and existed until absorption into the Australian National Railways Commission in 1978.
Metro Tasmania, commonly called Metro, a Tasmanian Government business enterprise, is the largest bus operator in the state of Tasmania, Australia, with operations in three of the four largest urban centres of Hobart, Launceston, and Burnie. Urban services in Devonport are provided by a private operator, Merseylink Coaches. Services are provided by Metro under a range of urban and non-urban contracts with the Transport Commission, a division within the Department of State Growth.
John Martin & Co. Ltd, colloquially known as John Martin's or simply Johnnies, was an Adelaide-based company which ran a popular chain of department stores in South Australia. It operated for more than 130 years, from 1866 until its closure in 1998. Johnnies, owned by the prominent Hayward family for the majority of its existence, became an Adelaide icon, responsible for the famous Adelaide Christmas Pageant.
Boans was a department store chain that operated in Perth, Western Australia between from the late 19th century to the late 20th century.
Charles Davis Limited was a department store company established in Hobart, Tasmania in 1847 and is one of Australia's oldest companies. It had several businesses across the surrounding states in industries such as manufacturing, boating including yachts and races and hardware and electrical equipment.
Red Herring Surf is a brand of surfwear in Tasmania, Australia. It is strongly involved in local youth culture, sponsoring a local band and taking part in surf events. Tasmanian surfer Bill Thwaites founded the company in 1971, originally naming his store Seaworld. The store name was changed to its present form as more stores opened in the 1990s. Red Herring Surf was the first surf store opened in Tasmania, and now has over fifty employees. Since beginning operation in Hobart in 1971, the company has expanded with four stores now open, within the cities of Burnie, Launceston, Glenorchy, and Hobart.
Venture was a chain of discount department stores that operated in Australia between 1970 and 1994.
Terence Robert Cashion was an award-winning Australian rules footballer from Tasmania who played numerous representative matches for the state and also played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
The Zeehan and Dundas Herald was a newspaper for the West Coast Tasmania community, based in Zeehan and Dundas from 1890 to 1922.
The Tasmanian State Premiership was an Australian rules football tournament which was contested at the conclusion of the season, initially between the reigning Tasmanian Football League (TFL/TANFL) and Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA) premiers, and then from 1950 also by the NWFU premiers, to determine an overall premier team for the state of Tasmania. The state premiership was contested 57 times between 1909 and 1978.
Bass Strait Ferries have been the ships that have been used for regular transport across Bass Strait between Tasmania and Victoria in mainland Australia, as well as the various attempts to link Tasmania with Sydney. Historically, some regular shipping services in the twentieth century linked Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart with the Bass Strait ports: Launceston's various port locations, Devonport and Burnie. The distinction between coastal shipping and Bass Strait ferry has been blurred at times.
Chin Kaw, also known as Ah Kaw or Ah Caw, was a prominent Chinese Australian storekeeper, philanthropist, and mining entrepreneur in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, who recruited workers from China for the Tasmanian tin-mining industry and thereby helped Chinese immigrants settle in Australia.
The Burnie Theatre was a historic theatre in Burnie, Tasmania, Australia. The theatre, adjoining town hall, Burnie Institute and Public Library were all converted into a large FitzGerald's Department Store by 1978 and completely demolished in 2009.
