John Martin & Co. Ltd, colloquially known as John Martin's or simply Johnnies, was an
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...
-based company which ran a popular chain of
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 ...
s in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. 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.
History

John Martin's had its origin in a single draper's shop "Peters and Martin" founded on Rundle Street by Otto Peters and John Martin on 24 October 1866. Peters withdrew from the partnership after a few years and opened his own store in Palmerston (now
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory.
It is the small ...
). He later died in the wreck of the ''
Gothenburg''. The partners had taken over two adjoining shops to the east, and in 1875 Martin took over two more, and by 1880 a further two had been purchased, giving the store a frontage of . The principals of the company were then John Martin, E. W. Hayward and Richard Martin, with a staff numbering 500. On 22 August 1889 the business was restructured as a
limited liability company
A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the United States of America, US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the Flow-through entity, pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole p ...
. John Martin died at his residence on 25 November 1889, of excess and debauchery said the ''
Kalgoorlie Sun
Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...
''.
A rebuilding program began in 1898, with the Charles Street corner block being replaced with a modern structure of two-storeys and a basement, then the central block was rebuilt, but was destroyed by fire on Easter Saturday 1901. The King of Hanover Hotel to the west was purchased in 1902, bringing the store's frontage to . In 1934 the central section was rebuilt seven storeys high, with a sub-basement for control gear, boilers, emergency generators etc., especially designed not to interfere with the Magic Cave.
John Martin's was a respected "middle market" retailer, with a reputation for quality, range and value. Indeed, for many years, their claim was that they were the "Big Store" in
Rundle Street
Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it beco ...
- Adelaide's major shopping precinct. They had business links with other major regional department store retailers (Sydney's
Grace Brothers
Grace Bros was an Australian department store chain, founded in 1885. It was bought by Myer (later Coles Myer) in 1983. There were 25 stores across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory plus a few in Victoria, until they were ...
and Tasmania's
FitzGerald's) with joint ownership of the "Intercontinental Buying Group". This was in an era when Australian department store retailing was largely state based. Also, John Martin's had significant shareholdings in other prominent South Australian companies.
When
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...
visited Australia in 1964, John Martin's sponsored their visit to perform in Adelaide (which was not on the original tour itinerary).
In the 1970s, John Martin's developed a national discount store chain
Venture. Ultimately, this chain was sold, and it operated under separate ownership until 1994 (when it closed due to financial problemsunrelated to John Martin's).
Decline, acquisition and closure
By the 1980s, department store retailing was becoming increasingly competitive, and regional chains were under pressure to consolidateto increase sales and cut costs (by spreading fixed overhead costs over a broader store network). John Martin's department store competitors were expanding nationallyfor example,
Myer
Myer (stylised MYER, sometimes known as Myers) is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store chain. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products a ...
acquired
Lindsay's (the basis for their "Target" chain),
Boans and Grace Brothers. Then, food and discount retailer
Coles took over Myer in 1985. Also, the discount store phenomenon was gaining momentum, with
Kmart
Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States.
The company was inco ...
and
Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
expanding rapidly, and the establishment of
Big W
Big W (stylized as BIG W) is an Australian chain of discount department stores, which was founded in regional New South Wales in 1964. The company is a division of Woolworths Group and as at 2019 operated 176 stores, with around 22,000 employ ...
.
Another pressure was the increased availability of bank credit cards. Before 1974, when Australian banks introduced "Bankcard", the majority of retail purchase credit was offered by department stores through "in house" credit cards. John Martin's was a major credit card issuer, with their distinctive "orange" credit card facilitating purchases in their stores. The wide availability of credit which was not tied to a particular store gave customers additional freedom to shop in a broader range of stores.
Against this background, John Martin's operated in a significantly more challenging business environment. In the early 1980s the publicly listed company was the subject of takeover activity. During this time, at one stage the major shareholder was prominent retailer
Solomon Lew
Solomon Lew (born 22 March 1945) is an Australian businessman. His principal commercial activities involve importing apparel, toys and other goods into Australia from China and investments, mainly in retail companies.
As a teenager, Lew suppli ...
. Ultimately, ownership settled in 1985 when the
Adelaide Steamship Company
The Adelaide Steamship Company was an Australian shipping company and later a diversified industrial and logistics conglomerate. It was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods b ...
controlled
David Jones Limited
David Jones Pty Limited, trading as David Jones (colloquially DJs), is an Australian High-End department store, owned since 2014 by South African retail group Woolworths Holdings Limited.
David Jones was founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh ...
acquired "Johnnies".
David Jones continued for some time to operate the John Martin's stores as a separate retail chain, more down market to their David Jones-branded stores. During the mid-1990s, John Martins operated in the face of more aggressive competition, including the continuing rise of discount department stores, and the expansion of local competitor
Harris Scarfe
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.
Founded in ...
(which expanded from its Rundle Mall base into suburban Adelaide locations). Retailing in this era was characterised by frequent "off price" promotions. John Martin's endeavoured to relaunch and counterattack, with a new logo in early 1994 and publicity of a "price match" policy. However, these measures did not improve sales and profit,
The stores at
Elizabeth Shopping Centre (now Elizabeth City Centre) and Westfield Arndale (now
Armada Arndale) were sold to Harris Scarfe. Elizabeth became Harris Scarfe in June 1997 and Arndale in November 1997, the Elizabeth store was sold to Myer in 2007 but again became Harris Scarfe in May 2015 after Myer did not renew the lease. The stores at
Westfield Marion
Westfield Marion (colloquially known as simply "Marion") is the largest mall in Adelaide, South Australia, located in Oaklands Park, serving greater Southern Adelaide. It contains approximately 342 stores, with anchor tenants including Davi ...
and West Lakes Mall (now
Westfield West Lakes) were rebadged as David Jones in late October 1996. The John Martin's outdoor furniture store at Keswick was also closed (this store was a former "Clark Rubber" store operated by another company within the Adelaide Steamship Company).
The last John Martin's store to close was the
Rundle Mall
Rundle Mall is a pedestrian street mall located in Adelaide, South Australia. It was opened as a pedestrian mall in September 1976 by closing the section of Rundle Street between King William Street and Pulteney Street, to vehicular traffic. ...
flagship store in the
Adelaide city centre
Adelaide city centre (Kaurna language, Kaurna: Tarndanya) is the inner city locality of Adelaide, Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaid ...
. Despite strong public opposition, the store was closed on 15 March 1998. Soon after, the Art Deco building was demolished to allow for the Adelaide Central Plaza complex which was to house a new smaller David Jones store and other retailers which opened in August 2000. The previous David Jones building was sold and reconstructed to become the Rundle Mall Plaza complex opening in 2002. The John Martin's car park had apartments built on the top of it and the John Martin's Plaza is still there but is now known as Charles Street Plaza. Several attempts were made to have the John Martin's building heritage listed, but all failed.
Locations
First opened in 1886, John Martin's kept an iconic local presence with its main six-level store in Adelaide's
Rundle Street
Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it beco ...
(later
Rundle Mall
Rundle Mall is a pedestrian street mall located in Adelaide, South Australia. It was opened as a pedestrian mall in September 1976 by closing the section of Rundle Street between King William Street and Pulteney Street, to vehicular traffic. ...
) while expanding into Adelaide's suburban shopping centres including
Arndale (opened 1963),
Elizabeth (opened 1964),
Marion (opened 1968) and
West Lakes (opened 1975) plus a Bulk Store warehouse in
Lockleys and outdoor furniture store in
Keswick. In total, there were 5 stores, the main city store and 4 suburban stores.
Its well-known legacy department store network in Adelaide was supplemented by a network of independent country retailers which operated as its agent in regional towns across South Australia.
Legacy
Since the closure of the stores, David Jones have returned ownership of the "John Martin's" name to the Hayward family.
The memory of Johnnies remains with former employees continuing to reminisce at staff reunions, and the continuing heritage of the annual Christmas Pageant.
During its operation, John Martin's contributed significantly to
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
n society. This included sponsorship of major events such as the
Adelaide Christmas Pageant and the
Adelaide Festival of Arts
The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...
.
The Christmas tradition of the
Magic Cave at John Martin's store in Rundle Street (now Rundle Mall) may date back to 1896.
In 1933,
Edward Hayward
Sir Edward Waterfield Hayward (10 November 1903 – 13 August 1983) was an Australian businessman, best known for owning and managing John Martin's, a chain of department stores in Adelaide, South Australia, and for instigating the Adelaide Ch ...
instigated the first John Martin's Christmas Pageant, which from 1934 has concluded with
Father Christmas
Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...
arriving at the store and entering the Magic Cave.
The Magic Cave tradition, including its connection with the pageant, is continued by David Jones. David Jones however does not continue the tradition in the same way that John Martin's had previously. John Martin's had a dedicated area set aside each year for the Magic Cave which was located next to the toy department and was surrounded by Christmas decoration and trim. A special Santa Express Lift was used to transport children direct to the Magic Cave. In David Jones the Magic Cave is much smaller and is located up near the furniture department. The pageant itself is now owned by the
state government, with naming rights given to the five major
credit unions
A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including deposit accounts, provision ...
. Following this the pageant was known as the Credit Union Christmas Pageant for 20 years. In early 2019,
People's Choice Credit Union announced they would be terminating their sponsorship of the pageant, leaving
National Pharmacies to win sponsorship of the pageant. The pageant is now called the National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant.
References
Further reading
*Atkinson, Bruce. "John Martin's icon about to fade from retail scene", ''The Advertiser'', 26 January 1998.
Wood, Leonie. "DJs Lifts Veil On $300m Adelaide Tower" (21 February 1997), ''The Age'' Retrieved 17 March 2017
''The Adelaide Review'': Spirit of Johnnies lives on− Staff reunion picnic exhibition at Carrick Hill, November 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:John Martin and Co.
Australian companies established in 1866
Retail companies established in 1866
Australian companies disestablished in 1998
Retail companies disestablished in 1998
Defunct department stores of Australia
History of Adelaide
Companies based in Adelaide