David Jones Pty Ltd

BiographyInitially established in 1838 as a draper's store on the corner of George Street and Barrack Lane, David Jones & Co supplied women of colonial Sydney with fabric, ribbon, laces, parasols, gloves, and muslin dresses, while offering men buckskins, ginghams and waistcoat fabrics.

In 1887 the mail-order department was established, attracting customers from all over Australia, as well as King Kackumbo of Fiji and King George of Tonga and his Queen Consort. From 1914 David Jones Ltd, by now a public company, operated a factory in Surry Hills, producing over 100 products, including David Jones brand swimwear and fashions. In 1927 the flagship store on Elizabeth Street opened, moving the city's retail hub to the Hyde Park precinct.

Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, chairman of the company between 1920 and 1958, established the David Jones Art Gallery in 1944. Three years later the department store introduced Paris-style fashion parades, and in 1948 Chritian Dior showed pieces from his 'New Look' collection. In 1954 Queen Elizabeth II, the first British Monarch to visit Australia, was honoured by a State banquet held in The Great Restaurant on the 7th Floor of the David Jones Elizabeth Street store.

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