Gowings was a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

chain in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, established in 1868. Set on several floors, it specialized in men's casual clothing, camping gear and novelty items. It had a men's

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

and a dining restaurant.

Company history

In 1863,

John Gowing John Ellis Symonds Gowing (1835 – 2 October 1908) was an English-born Australian retailer and draper, who founded the eponymous men's department store Gowings, originally the company specialized in ladies gloves and silk umbrellas. Early year ...

opened a drapery business in Crown Street,

East Sydney, New South Wales East Sydney is a small inner-city locality in Sydney, Australia. It is situated immediately east of the Sydney central business district, adjacent to Hyde Park. East Sydney is a locality within the suburbs of Woolloomooloo and Darlinghurst and ...

. He entered into partnership on 4 November 1868 with his brother Preston Robert Gowing, who had been working as a storekeeper in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. They set up the Mercery and Glove Depot, at 318 George Street, which John managed for £200 per annum plus half the profits of the business. This store was located on the corner of

Market Street Market Street may refer to: *Market Street, Cambridge, England *Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia * Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia *Market Street, Manchester, England *Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ...

and George Street and the site was redeveloped in 1929 by John's son,

Preston Lanchester Gowing Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

, both as an investment and prime retail location. It became one of the most prominent and famous department stores in Sydney. In recent years Gowings embarked on an ambitious expansion plan, opening four more Gowings stores in other locations in Sydney. Gowings Dept Store

In 2001, Gowings divested the stores to an independent listed company, Gowings Retail (later G Retail), to enable them to concentrate on their investment and property interests. Although successful in the City, their locations in suburban areas failed to attract customers.

Acquisition

In November 2005, after three years of successive losses, G Retail Ltd entered administration. Attempts to sell the business were unsuccessful and the last remaining Gowings store was the one in

George Street, Sydney George Street is a street in the central business district of Sydney. It was Sydney's original high street, and remains one of the busiest streets in the city centre. It connects a number of the city's most important buildings and precincts. ...

, which closed its doors at 5:23pm on 29 January 2006. The building was then taken over by

Supré Supré is an Australian fast fashion women's wear chain owned by the Cotton On Group. Known for fashion items and basics at an affordable price point, the Supré product offering is aimed at the youth market. History Supré was founded by reta ...

. After 5 years, the building opened its doors to the public as Sydney's first ever

Topshop TOPSHOP (originally Top Shop) is a British fashion brand for women's clothing, shoes and accessories. It was part of the Arcadia Group, controlled by Sir Philip Green, but went into administration in late 2020 before being purchased by ASOS (r ...

store in 2011.

In Popular Culture

The department store was featured in '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie''.

Gallery

File:Gowings signage on George St in August 2010.JPG, Gowings signage on George Street, 2010 Image:Gowings department store, 2005.jpg, Gowings department store in 2005

References

;Notes ;Sources
Gone to Gowings
- PDF document about the history of Gowings.

External links

(

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

article 19 December 2003)
Next week Gowings really will be gone
(

article) Defunct department stores of Australia 1868 establishments in Australia Retail companies established in 1868 {{Australia-company-stub 2005 disestablishments in Australia Retail companies disestablished in 2005 Australian companies disestablished in 2005 George Street, Sydney Market Street, Sydney