 The Milne & Choyce building on Queen Street, Auckland, in April 1913. | |
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Genre | Department stores |
| Founded | July 1, 1867 in Auckland, New Zealand |
| Founder |
|
| Defunct | 1992 |
| Headquarters | Auckland, New Zealand |
Milne & Choyce, later trading as Milnes was a New Zealand luxury department store chain founded in 1867 and operating until at least 1992. At its peak Milne & Choyce operated at least seven branch stores around the North Island of New Zealand, alongside a Queen Street flagship.
On 3 July 1867, Mary Jane and Charlotte Milne took over the drapery shop of Mr and Mrs Wison at on the corner of Wyndham Street and Albert Street. [1] [2] The business was renamed Misses Milne. [1]
In July 1874, the Misses Milne acquired the drapery shop of Mr. B. Cass within Cheapside House, on the corner of Queen Street and Wellesley Street. [3] The original business on the corner of Wyndham Street and Albert Street continued to operate until operations were consolidated at Cheapside House in August. [3] Sometime between this relocation and 1875 the business was renamed to M. & C. Milne.
In 1876, Charlotte Milne's husband Henry Charles Choyce took over her share in the company, and the business was renamed to Milne & Choyce. [4] [2] In September 1876, a fire occurred in the photography salon of John McGarrigle above Milne & Choyce's upstairs storeroom and destroyed much of the stores stock. [2]
Milne & Choyce hosted a spring fashion parade in 1887, one of the first in Auckland. [1]
In 1901, Milne & Choyce went people, and became Milne & Choyce Ltd., Henry Choyce served as managing director. [1] [5]
131 Queen Street was purchased in 1908 for £50,000. [1] [6] Milne & Choyce would now be situated "between the banks [ Bank of New South Wales, Bank of New Zealand]". [1] [6] The company would relocate to 131 Queen Street store on 6 September 1909. [7] [8]
Mary Jane Milne retired at the age of seventy in 1909, though remained involved in the business until her death in 1921. [2]
In 1923, the wooden premises were replaced by with a nine floor building (seven above ground), designed by Llewellyn Piper. The new store had six lifts, fire alarms, a private telephone exchange, and a workroom to produce custom-order garments and in-house labels. [1]
Milne & Choyce purchased the Hooker & Kingston drapery of Hamilton in July 1950, it traded as Milne & Choyce from August 1950. [9]
In January 1959, it was announced that Milne & Choyce and D.I.C. would now be associated for future merchandising and purchasing activities, to be coordinated through a shared buying office in Wellington. [10] At the time Milne & Choyce had stores in Auckland (Central, Mount Roskill, Takapuna), Hamilton, and D.I.C. had stores in Christchurch, Dunedin, Lower Hutt, Wellington, and Whanganui. [10]
The C.M. Ross & Co. department store of Palmerston North was purchased in September 1959 for £219,375. [11] [12] The store would be rebranded as Milne & Choyce and remain in operation until 1966. [13] In 1966 the store was sold to D.I.C., in 1989 it was rebranded to Arthur Barnett. [13] Arthur Barnett would close in 1992 and since 1996 the building has been home to the Palmerston North City Library. [14] [15]
In September 1960, a branch store opened in Takapuna. [16]
In 1961, Milne & Choyce, Farmers, and Woolworths, entered into an agreement to purchase a plot of land in the Auckland suburb of New Lynn and develop New Zealand's first shopping centre. [17] The shopping centre opened on 30 October 1963 as LynnMall. [18] [19]
In 1965, a branch store opened in Remuera. It was the largest suburban store of the company to date and featured a coffee bar that overlooked Hobson Bay alongside a self service food hall. One floor showed on Remuera Road but the store was actually three floors with a basement for storage and a rooftop carpark which could fit 60 cars. [20] A Panmure branch store was opened around the same time.
In October 1971, a branch store opened at Māngere Town Centre. [21] [22] Milne & Choyce also purchased land in Howick for a new store. [23]
In 1973, Fletcher purchased a 31.25% stake in the company. Also in 1973 rival department store George Court & Sons. and Atlas-Majestic Industries attempted take-over bids of Milne & Choyce. [24] [25]
On 28 February 1975, 131 Queen Street store closed and was relocated to the Downtown Shopping Centre. [26] At this point, the company changed its name from Milne & Choyce to Milnes. The original 131 Queen Street flagship would become the Centrecourt Shopping Centre in 1986, Centrecourt would close around 2020. [27] Following the closure of Centrecourt the building was renovated for offices and retail. [28] In 2025, it was announced that Faradays department store would open its flagship store in the building. [29]
Fletcher attempted a take-over bid of Milnes in May 1975. [30] In January 1976, Haywrights took over Milnes and stores were rebranded to Haywrights. [31] In December 1976 four stores (Mount Roskill, Pakuranga, Northcote, and Papatoetoe) were sold. [31]
The Haywrights Downtown Shopping Centre flagship store closed in August 1979 as the company exited the North Island and retreated back to the South Island. [32]
Due to unknown circumstances the Milnes store in Remuera continued to operate following the Haywrights rebranding and North Island exit. The company was known as Milnes of Auckland/Milnes Group and had three stores around Auckland (Remuera, 151 Queen Street, and Glenn Innes).
In March 1989, Milnes entered receivership and began seeking a buyer in April. [33] [34] In May 1989, the Queen Street store (closed since April) began a receivership sale in attempts to save the Remuera store. [35] [33] The Remuera store was sold in late November 1989 and would continue trading as a speciality department store. [36] Milnes Remuera continued trading until at least 1992. [37]
| Metropolitan area ("metro") | Suburb or Neighborhood | Name/Location/Notes | Size | Opened | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland | Auckland Central | Misses Milne Located at 37 Wyndham Street, corner of Albert Street. | 3 July 1867 [1] | 16 August 1874 [3] | |
| Auckland | Auckland Central | Milne & Choyce Queen Street Located at Cheapside House, corner of Queen Street & Wellesley Street. | July 1874 | 1909 | |
| Auckland | Auckland Central | Milne & Choyce Queen Street Located at 131 Queen Street. | 6 September 1909 | 1976 | |
| Hamilton | Hamilton Central | Milne & Choyce Hamilton Located at 231 Victoria Street. | 21 August 1950 [9] | 1976 | |
| Palmerston North | Palmerston North Central | Milne & Choyce Palmerston North Located at 4 The Square. | September 1959 [12] | 1976 | |
| Auckland | Takapuna | Milne & Choyce Takapuna Located on Hurstmere Road. | 12 September 1960 [16] | 1976 | |
| Auckland | New Lynn | Milne & Choyce New Lynn Located at LynnMall. | 30 October 1963 | 1976 | |
| Auckland | Remuera | Milne & Choyce Remuera Located on Remuera Road. | 1965 | 1976 | |
| Auckland | Māngere | Milne & Choyce Mangere Located at Māngere Town Centre. | 16,000 sq ft (1,486 m2) [38] | 12 October 1971 [21] | 1976 |
| Auckland | Remuera | Milnes of Remuera Located on Remuera Road. | ~1992 | ||
| Auckland | Auckland Central | Milnes Located at 151 Queen Street. | 1989 |