FitzGerald's was

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

's largest chain of

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

s. The chain was rebranded and relaunched as

Harris Scarfe Harris Scarfe is an Australian retailer that sells bed linen, kitchenware, homewares, electrical appliances and apparel. It was founded in 1849 in Adelaide, South Australia and has more than 50 stores nationally. In 2015, ownership of Harris Sc ...

in 1995, and the renamed stores continue to trade today.

History

FitzGerald's was founded in March 1886, when George Parker FitzGerald—one of the early scholars of

Hutchins School The Hutchins School is an Anglican, day and boarding school for boys from pre-kindergarten to Year 12 in Hobart, Tasmania. Established in 1846, Hutchins is one of the oldest continually operating schools in Australia. Hutchins is a founding-m ...

—established a wholesale business at 79 Collins Street, Hobart (later occupied by W. Coogan & Sons, now called Coogans). The original store was completely destroyed by fire in July 1911, and was rebuilt within eight months, with the new store opening on 21 March 1912. FitzGerald's was a Tasmanian majority family owned department store business until it was acquired by Charles Davis in 1981. It was by far the largest Tasmanian department store retailer, with a substantial flagship store in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

with frontages to Collins Street, Murray Street and Elizabeth Street. FitzGerald's also had substantial stores in Launceston and

Burnie Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...

(occupying the site of a former theatre), as well as stores in suburban Hobart ( Eastlands and Moonah) and a small (600 square metre) store in

New Norfolk New Norfolk ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#Big River, Leenowwenne/palawa kani: ''Wulawali'') is a river bank, riverside town located on the Derwent River (Tasmania), River Derwent in southeastern Tasmania, Australia. Established in 1807, it is Tasm ...

(occupying a general store built in 1914). When the

Venture Venture may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *The Ventures, an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 *"A Venture", 1971 song by the band Yes *''Venture'', a 2010 EP by AJR Games * ''Venture'' (video game), a 1981 arcade gam ...

chain of department stores collapsed in 1994, FitzGerald's acquired and rebadged the Venture stores at Devonport and Ulverstone. As at May 1995, it operated eight stores. Briefly, between 1993–1995, FitzGerald's operated a store at Forest Hill in suburban

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. This was

. It later became a Harris Scarfe store then

Myer Myer (stylised MYER) is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products across women's, men's, and child ...

and now it is a Harris Scarfe again. In 1995, after incurring annual trading losses exceeding $2 million, the FitzGerald's chain was merged with Charles Davis' Harris Scarfe department store chain, with all of the stores being brought under Harris Scarfe management and rebadged as "Harris Scarfe". Although the stores continue to operate under the Harris Scarfe banner, several have closed: New Norfolk in 2000, Eastlands in 2002 and Burnie in 2008. The Launceston store has been substantially reduced, with the store almost halving in size due to the sale of the Mikinlay's building, a former neighboring department store. In 2017, the Hobart store closed temporarily for a major redevelopment and reopened in 2018, however, closed soon after in 2020 due to financial problems.Harris Scarfe’s Hobart store will close its doors in the near future
''The Mercury'' 8 April 2020

References

* Charles Davis Limited 1995 Annual Report {{Authority control Retail companies established in 1886 Australian companies established in 1886 Companies based in Hobart Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Australian companies disestablished in 1995 Retail companies disestablished in 1995 Defunct department stores of Australia