Mark Foy's

Last updated

Mark Foy's Limited
Mark Foy's
Type Public
Industry Retail
Founded Sydney, New South Wales 1885;138 years ago (1885)
FounderFrancis Foy, Mark Foy
Defunct1980;43 years ago (1980)
Fatedefunct
Headquarters
Sydney, New South Wales
,
Australia
Services Department store

Mark Foy's Limited or Mark Foy's was a department store in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, founded by Francis Foy and his brother Mark Foy. The department store was named after their father, Mark Foy (senior), and traded between 1885 and 1980.

Contents

Trading history

After first establishing their store on Oxford Street in 1885, [1] the Foy brothers opened Mark Foy's Piazza Store in 1909 on Liverpool Street. This was a three-storey store (two floors plus basement) designed by architects Arthur McCredie & Arthur Anderson with a turreted mansard roof. [2] The building was partially modelled on the Parisian Le Bon Marche department store. Its piazza, chandeliers, marble, and sumptuous ballroom made it a Sydney institution and one of Australia's foremost fashion stores. The store had Australia's first escalator. [1] The store stretched around a whole city block and gave rise to the colloquial saying, when referring to a person of overweening confidence, "You've got more front than Mark Foy's." [3] The store was remodelled in 1927. [2] The store was linked in 1926 to the newly opened Museum Railway Station [4] by underground subway. [5]

The company had its most profitable year in 1954/1955. With the decline of the Liverpool street area in the 1950s and 1960s, Mark Foys began to experience financial decline declaring its first financial loss in 1966/1967.

A store was opened at Rockdale in 1963 in the Southside Plaza (now Rockdale Plaza). The Rockdale store was extensively damaged by fire in 1967. [6] Rebuilt, it became a McDowells store and then was rebranded as Waltons in 1972. In 1964 Mark Foy's opened a store in the Sydney suburb of Eastwood [7] and in 1966 at Burwood in the Burwood Westfield Shopping Town. [8] [ citation needed ] The Eastwood Store became a McDowells store and then a Waltons. [9] Other stores were opened across Sydney's suburbs at Chatswood, [10] Northbridge, Double Bay, Bankstown, Bondi Junction Plaza, Pymble, Spit Junction, Roselands Shopping Centre, and Canberra, [11] as well as in Centrepoint, on 252 George Street as well as its mid-city attempt on King Street elsewhere in Sydney's central business district.

In 1968 Mark Foy's was taken over by McDowells Holding Ltd. [11] In 1972, McDowells was in turn acquired by Waltons. After Waltons was split in 1987, six stores were sold to George Bloomfield of Australian clothing manufacturer Wraggs. The stores still trading as Mark Foys, were sold again to Clothing retailer Richards in November 1986. [12]

In 1980, when it ceased trading after going into receivership, the City Piazza building briefly became "Grace Bros Piazza" until 1982. The natural shift of the retailing hub further north of the CBD, around Pitt Street Mall, led to its closure.[ citation needed ]

The City Piazza building is now used as a complex of state courthouses known as the Downing Centre. However, its former role is preserved in the ornate tilework on the facade and surroundings. The Mark Foy's warehouse is a heritage brownstone building located on nearby Goulburn Street, which has been converted into residential apartments known as Sydney Mansions.

Ice skating rink

An ice skating rink was installed on the fifth floor of the store as part of a Swiss alpine setting for the presentation of skating costumes and evening gowns. [13] The miniature rink opened at lunchtime on 11 April 1950 for the fashion parade titled "Fashion Fantasy On Ice", which would have a duration of 10 days. [14] There was the prospect of customers being able to use the miniature ice rink. [15]

Mark Foys and sectarianism

It is claimed that the Foy family, Irish-born Roman Catholics, would only employ Catholics and stocked uniforms of the major Catholic schools, in an environment when government organisations had a policy to not employ Catholics, and David Jones specialised in Anglican school uniforms. [3]

Other business interests

Mark Foy also founded the Hydro Majestic Hotel at Medlow Bath near Katoomba, [1] and Australia's oldest open-boat sailing club, the Sydney Flying Squadron, founded in 1891.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool, New South Wales</span> Suburb of City of Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia

Liverpool is a suburb of South Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 31 kilometres (19 mi) south-west of the Sydney CBD. Liverpool is the administrative seat of the local government area of the City of Liverpool and is situated in the Cumberland Plain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Jones (retailer)</span> Australian department store chain

David Jones Pty Ltd, trading as David Jones, is an Australian luxury department store, the store was owned from 2014 to 2023 by the South African retail group Woolworths South Africa. In December 2022, David Jones was sold to private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners for around $100m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macquarie Centre</span> Shopping mall in New South Wales, Australia

Macquarie Centre is a shopping centre in the suburb of Macquarie Park in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney and is located opposite the main campus of Macquarie University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastwood, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Eastwood is a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Eastwood is located 17 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of the City of Ryde and the City of Parramatta. Eastwood is in the Western Sydney region. The area is best known for being an ethnic enclave for immigrant populations in Sydney, mainly of East Asian origin but the suburb also has a significant number of other immigrant populations. Eastwood was originally its own town but due to the expansion of Sydney, was eventually absorbed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burwood, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Burwood is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of Municipality of Burwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockdale, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Rockdale is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rockdale is located 13 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Rockdale is one of the administrative centres for the local government area of the Bayside Council. Since 1985 Rockdale has been a twinned city with Bitola, in the Republic of Macedonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Bros.</span> Defunct Australian department store chain

Grace Bros was an Australian department store chain, founded in 1885. It was bought by Myer in 1983. There were 25 stores across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory plus a few in Victoria, until they were re-branded under the Myer name in 2004. Well known media personality Deborah Hutton was the face of Grace Bros for 10 years between 1984 and 1994 and employed slogans such as "Sure to get it at Grace Bros", "We are all the things you are", "We care about you" and "imagine more" to the tune of American singer Ultra Nate's "Free". Other slogans during Coles Myer ownership include "That's Grace Bros for you" (1991-1994), "Great prices and more at your Grace Bros store", "where else" (1999-2002), "Grace Bros is..." (2002) and the long-running Myer slogan still in use to this day, "My Store Grace Bros".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yagoona, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Yagoona, a suburb of the local government area City of Canterbury-Bankstown, is located 20 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is a part of the South-western Sydney region. Yagoona is an Aboriginal word meaning 'now' or 'today'. It was the site of the first McDonald's restaurant to open in Australia in December 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croydon Park, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Croydon Park is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Croydon Park is 10 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is divided between the local government areas of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, Municipality of Burwood and Inner West Council. Croydon is a separate suburb, to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool Street, Sydney</span> Street in Sydney, Australia

Liverpool Street is a street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downing Centre</span> Heritage-listed building in Sydney, Australia

The Downing Centre is a major heritage-listed former department store and now courthouse complex in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It features state government courts, including the Local Court, the District Court, and a law library known as the Downing Centre Library. The Downing Centre forms part of the Department of Communities and Justice and houses court services and sheriffs offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Hornsby</span> Shopping center in New South Wales, Australia

Westfield Hornsby is a large indoor/outdoor shopping centre in the suburb of Hornsby on the Upper North Shore of Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Burwood</span> Shopping mall in New South Wales, Australia

Westfield Burwood is a large shopping centre in the suburb of Burwood in the Inner West of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Waltons was an Australian department store chain, founded by John Walton (1904–1998).

Venture was a chain of discount department stores that operated in Australia between 1970 and 1994.

Marcus Clark & Co was an Australian department store chain, founded by Henry Marcus Clark in 1883.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burwood Plaza</span> Shopping mall in Burwood, New South Wales

Burwood Plaza is a small 1970s-style two-storey railway shopping centre located in the suburb of Burwood in Sydney's Inner West. Due to the lack in investment into the property by the current owner of Holdmark Property Group and socio-economic changes in the Burwood area, Burwood Plaza has lost such a significant amount of its former shoppers since its prime that despite its small size, has become one of Sydney's most notable dying malls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockdale Plaza</span> Shopping centre in the suburb of Rockdale, Sydney, Australia

Rockdale Plaza is a shopping centre located in the suburb of Rockdale in the St George area of Sydney.

Lighthouse is a mixed-use development in the suburb of Dee Why in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Walsh, G. P. (1981). "Foy, Mark (1865–1950)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN   1833-7538 . Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Mark Foy's Limited, Sydney - the new 'Piazza' store at Liverpool, Castlereagh & Elizabeth Streets, by night / Artist unknown".
  3. 1 2 McInnes, William (2010). The Making of Modern Australia. Hachette Australia. ISBN   978-0-7336-2780-4.
  4. Museum railway station
  5. "Sydney - City and Suburbs: Museum railway station, Mark Foy's entrance". 16 May 2011.
  6. "Mark Foys Rockdale Fire Dec 10 1967 sunday telegraph | Flickr - Photo Sharing!". www.flickr.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
  7. The Age, 31 July 1962, Page 6
  8. "The Shopping Mall Museum".
  9. Bastians, Kate: Swinging sixties shopping in suburbia: Video shows how much Eastwood has changed NORTHERN DISTRICT TIMES SEPTEMBER 19, 2014 5:25PM
  10. "Old catalogue link unavailable". 17 May 2017.
  11. 1 2 "Mark Foy's | the Dictionary of Sydney".
  12. Richards Buys last Mark Foys Stores, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 November 1986, Page 28
  13. "Ice Rink In City Store For "Parade"". The Sydney Morning Herald . 6 April 1950. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  14. "Lunchtime Parade of Easter Fashions On Ice". The Sun . 11 April 1954. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  15. "Ice Rink In City Store". The Sydney Morning Herald . 16 December 1954. Retrieved 23 July 2017.