The D.I.C. (originally the ''Drapery and General Importing Company of New Zealand Ltd'') was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

department store chain, founded in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

Bendix Hallenstein Bendix Hallenstein (c. 24 January 1835 – 6 January 1905) was a German-born Jewish merchant, statesman, and Manufacturing, manufacturer from Dunedin, New Zealand. He is best known for founding the retail clothing store Hallenstein Brothers, Hal ...

in 1884. It was bought out by one of its chief rivals, Arthur Barnett, in the 1980s. The site of the company's former headquarters and flagship store is now occupied by the

Dunedin Public Art Gallery The Dunedin Public Art Gallery holds the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located in The Octagon in the heart of the city, it is close to the city's public library, Dunedin Town Hall, and other facilities such as t ...

, although the façade of the Princes Street entrance still remains in largely original condition.

History

Hallenstein opened the first Drapery and General Importing Company store in 1884 in

Dunedin Central Dunedin Central was a parliamentary electorate in the city of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand from 1881 to 1890 and 1905 to 1984. Population centres The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the ...

. A second store opened in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in 1885. In 1977 D.I.C with the Canterbury Farmers Co-operative they took over the Beaths Department Store brand with D.I.C taking over the Cashel Street store and the Farmers Co-op took over the New Brighton store and the Ashburton store (which was closed as part of the takeover). In 1978 Beaths and D.I.C merged and the Christchurch store was rebranded to D.I.C-Beaths. In 1979 D.I.C left their original building in Christchurch and moved into the Beaths building. The chain had three stores in 1891, six stores by 1929, nine stores by 1976, and 16 stores by its takeover in 1988.

Stores

Prior to its takeover by Arthur Barnett, the D.I.C had stores in the following locations. Unless stated, they were rebranded as Arthur Barnett, with D.I.C. eventually closing in 1991: * Dunedin, corner of

The Octagon The Octagon may refer to: *The Octagon, Christchurch, a former church in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand *The Octagon, Dunedin, the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand *The Octagon (Egypt), the headquarters of the Egyptian Ministry of ...

and

Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...

(original store - closed in 1991) * Invercargill (rebranded Arthur Barnett in 1989) Closed in 1990 with

Farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

relocating to site in 1991. Location most recently occupied by Art Fun Wear and was demolished in 2020 as part of a redevelopment of the entire city block. * Christchurch, Cashel Street (opened in 1885, burned down in 1908 and rebuilt, merged with Beath's department store in 1978 and shifted into their premises, rebranding as Arthur Barnett/D.I.C, then again as Arthur Barnett, and closed in 2005) * Wellington,

Lambton Quay Lambton Quay (once known as The Beach) is the heart of the central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Originally, as the name implies, it was the high-water line of the foreshore, and sometimes the sea would roll ...

. Built 1928 on the site of the former D.I.C store, closed early 1980s. Building refurbished as the Harbour City Centre which opened March 1985. the Harbour City Centre is a registered Category 2 heritage landmark. The six-storey steel and concrete frame building consists of 2 stories of retail and 4 stories of offices. * Palmerston North - Former Milne & Choyce store, now the Palmerston North City Library. Rebranded as Arthur Barnett in 1989 and that store closed in 1992. * Whanganui * Hamilton - converted to the Central Library in Garden Place, which opened on 20 March 1993 * Napier * Hastings (D.I.C Westermans) * Lower Hutt, High St. * Rotorua * Pakuranga * Takapuna * Central Auckland (formerly George Court & Sons)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D.I.C. (Department Store) Companies based in Dunedin Department stores of New Zealand Retail companies established in 1884 Defunct retail companies of New Zealand History of Dunedin The Octagon, Dunedin