This tumultuous decade, both in economic and political outcomes, was one of the most trying times for the Queensland Shopfitting Industry. It included the great 1974 Brisbane/Southeast Queensland flood that decimated retail and manufacturing business properties as well as domestic homes.

There was the election in December 1972 of the Whitlam Government into Federal Parliament, a recession, mortgage rates at 17.5%, with business lending rates higher, wages in a dramatic climbing cycle, materials costs rising daily and cost of homes doubling, as well as skilled labour shortages. In Queensland there were industrial action/strikes occurring daily and protesting university students holding marches in Brisbane City streets in agitation against the Vietnam War and the Bjelke-Petersen State Government.

Through all the turmoil, it proved to be a record decade for major shopping centre construction, with the local shopfitting sector having possibly greater workloads at that stage than for the following decades.
The following shopping centre openings took place in Brisbane during this period:
1970 – Indooroopilly Shoppingtown in the western suburbs and Garden City Shopping Centre in the southern suburbs
1971 – Brookside Shopping Centre in the north-western suburbs
1979 – Mt Ommaney Shopping Centre in the western suburbs and Carindale Shopping Centre in the eastern suburbs.
The regional shopping centre openings were as follows:
1970 – Original Nathan Plaza in Townsville, and Booval Fair
1977 – Original K-Mart Plaza, Townsville, Westridge Plaza, Kirwan Townsville
1977 – Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, Broadbeach Waters Gold Coast
1978 – Sugarland Shopping Centre, Bundaberg
1979 – Caneland Shopping Centre, Mackay, and Kawana Shopping World, Sunshine Coast.

There were also many smaller shopping centres opening in this period throughout the state.
These centres had major growth expansion works in the following years, to meet population growth and infrastructure requirements. All these centres continue to provide a great source of turnover for the shopfitting industry in the state.

Indooroopilly Shoppingtown was the first Westfield constructed centre in Queensland, so there was much trade apprehension at the time, as the local shopfitters had never been exposed to the Westfield build process. When opened, Indooroopilly Shoppingtown was promoted as being the largest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere. It was an awkwardly accessible 4-storey structure, built on a previously suburban housing block site. The centre had renovations and expansion upgrades in 1998, and a major expansion in 2014 with the addition of a further 120 stores and the inclusion of some international brand stores.

Being built 16km away at the same time as Indooroopilly and fitted out soon after, the Garden City Shopping Centre at Mt Gravatt was constructed by Hooker Projects and pre-sold to David Jones who opened with a 3-level David Jones Department store. It also opened with a 2-level McDonalds and East Department store, a Woolworths store and a large Brisbane City Council Library, as well as numerous specialty stores. It was managed by AMP Limited, until being purchased by Westfield in 2003.

This centre has been through seven extensions/expansions and department store relocations. The last major expansion was in 2012, and included two department stores, another supermarket and a further 100 specialty stores, making a total of 470 outlets. It has recently been embroiled in a local battle over the re-naming of the centre.
There were approximately 100 QLD shopfitting companies trading at the time of the original construction of the above two centres and the third, Brookside Shopping Centre, only a matter of six months later. No doubt, there must have been some assistance from our shopfitting comrades south of the border to achieve the completion of these centres on time.

Some of the shopfitting shelving display system manufacturers/suppliers trading at that period were:
H M Cowdroy
U-Rect-It
Kingfisher
Bevlyn Industries
Modern Merchandising
Sylvan Wire Works
Apex Displays
Keylar Shelving
A few signage companies of the time:
Albert Smith & Son Pty Ltd Signs
Victor Day Signs
Daynite Sign Industries
Neon Corporation (Aust) Ltd
Plastic Products Agencies
Regent Sheet Metal Works
Reno Plastics & Signs
Brisbane Mirror Sign Co Pty Ltd
K Cunningham

A more comprehensive list of shopfitting/sign/sheet metal companies in QLD from that period is available on request.
The local supplier of Formica and Coronite board at this time was Realhome Pty Ltd, based at Rocklea. They also produced vanity units and toilet partitions. The owners were brothers Chris and Roger Bell and were well known in the industry. Formica purchased the company from the Bell Bros. in 1977 and relocated Formica to Colebard St Archerfield. Realholme as a company remains and still manufactures toilet partitions and joinery items.

Paramount Distributors were the local supplier of Laminex products until Laminex set up a larger distribution centre in their own right. Gibbs Bright were selling board products as well as timber to our industry. Sharp Plywood were manufacturing veneered board products and DAP board. Brims were producing plywood and pressing veneer products. Austral Plywood were manufacturing plywood at their Tennyson Plant. Bretts were still producing plywood at Windsor as well as making joinery and selling hardware and timber.

A couple of small shopfitting companies to commence in Brisbane in 1971 were Parker and Turner based at Pentex St Salisbury and R J Cecil Shop & Office Fitting at Bowen Hills. Parker and Turner had been at Christie & Walker and then went to Robb & Brown. There was possibly a connection between G James Glass and Aluminium and Parker and Turner.
Robert Cecil had been Alec Hartley’s first apprentice at J A Hartley Shopfitters and his business ran until recent times.

As well as fitting out traditional outlets, a new phenomenon was emerging –one that to this day provides work for our industry – the revolution of fast-food takeaway outlets. With the arrival of some overseas entities such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Hungry Jacks, Red Rooster, and McDonalds, came their own take on the branding of new and different fitouts to our shopping centres. Fortunately for shopfitters, most of these brand names keep renewing their images to entice a new wave of customers.

In 1972 (when little of Queensland’s History was highly valued), an iconic Brisbane landmark hotel, Lennons, was relocated from its long-standing George St address to a new high rise building at 72 Queen St, the former site of the Old Brisbane Town Hall. Local shopfitters were kept busy fitting out ground floor and lower floor specialty stores and cafes and the top floor restaurant /nightclub.

By 1973-1974 it was said that the new supermarket outlets across the country had at that stage captured 50% market share of retail trade.
In January 1974, South-East Queensland was severely inundated after a cyclone crossed the coast north of Brisbane and brought further non-stop rain, causing major flooding to towns from Gympie to the New South Wales border. As many as 14,000 homes were flooded in greater Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast canals and Ipswich. As well as the damage to homes, suburban shopping centres, Brisbane Central City shops and offices were under water. The Gold Coast was cut off from Brisbane by the Nerang River. Unfortunately, many industrial areas were also severely damaged, so before the rebuild/fitout works could commence, new machines as well as materials had to be sourced. Such was the devastation, that it took months to get industry reorganized, shopping centres back up and running and homes starting to be repaired.

In 1974, all workers under federal awards were granted four weeks paid annual leave, and in 1975, quarterly wage indexation was introduced.
In the mid-70s, a young cabinetmaker/shopfitter began in business as part owner of W R Emery at Fulcher Rd, Red Hill (on the current NRL Broncos site). His name was Les Wilson.
Les had served his apprenticeship at Crafts Furniture & City Joiners, then moved on to Wattle Products to become a leading hand at an early age. In 1978, he took total ownership of the W R Emery business and moved the business to the current location at Moorooka. At that time, he renamed his business Les Wilson Detail Cabinetmakers.

Les soon became well known and well respected for his honesty and immense knowledge of the industry, receiving most of his workload through well-known Brisbane architects. He had notable national clients such as Just Jeans, National Bank, ANZ Bank and Wendy’s Ice Cream. The business also carried out works for hotels, jewellers, fashion stores, professional suites and food outlets. Les had a close connection with McDonalds on their new outlets and the updating of their existing stores.

Over the years, Les usually had an average of 15 tradesmen and apprentices with many of his employees remaining loyal for 20-30 years. He was passionate about our industry and served on the Queensland and national IFA (then ASOFIA) committees and enjoyed attending many national conferences and being among his fellow shopfitters. He was awarded the QLD Icon of the Industry by his peers in 2009.
When considering retiring from his business, Les advertised the business for sale and – according to Les – out of the people interested in purchasing, there was one stand out applicant who he wished to sell to. That person is still the current owner, Mick McLoughlin. The business was sold to Mick in October 2003, with Les retiring 6 months later. Sadly, Les passed away in 2020. The business is now known as Bencee Fitout & Constuction.

A source of quality shopfitting works from 1975 onwards was the fitout works to international airlines and international shipping lines’ sales offices as overseas travel became more affordable and boomed as a result. It is said a million people a year were travelling from Australia then and it has continued to increase, until Covid times. Many travel companies have since opened in shopping centres and high streets. Domestically, the 2-airline system was predominant, and these airlines had outlets at larger regional towns as far north as Cairns, with fitouts that were updated from time to time.

In 1975, colour television arrived in Queensland and there was a need for specific retail outlets that only displayed the varying new cumbersome television sets. These stand-alone stores seemed to only last for a few years, as the product became mainstream in time.

Pacific Fair Shopping Centre was a new centre built on what had been swampland at Broadbeach Waters, and opened in 1977. The design layout was a far cry from the ultra-modern style of the current centre. Most of the retail outlets were external/open-air and the structures were designed to certain themes, which the shopfitters were expected to follow. There was the Olde England zone, South Pacific zone, New Orleans zone, French Quarter and Australian Colonial zones. There was also a Fisherman’s Island, Cotswold Village and an Indian Tepee Village. Altogether the concept worked and was a great drawcard for the Gold Coast tourist market as well as being well accepted by the locals.

The concept was to give shoppers a trip away each shopping day. Pacific Fair was developed by the Hooker Corporation and the Australian Guarantee Corporation and managed by AMP.
The centre has had numerous expansions over the years with a major 2014 overhaul to give it a modern appearance, to attract the thousands of tourists to the Gold Coast as well as the surrounding local community, making it a destination centre as well as a public transport hub.

In 1978, an Italian inventor, Dante Bini, arrived in Australia and was engaged to build a shopping centre using his reinforced concrete domed ‘Bini Shells’ method of construction. It was to be named Space City Shopping Centre, at Kallangur, about 40 minutes north of Brisbane. Six varying-sized concrete domes were interconnected, poured on balloon supports, then raised. This usually took just over an hour to reach finished height. The centre and Bini’s domes attracted national publicity as it was his first such attempt to construct a shopping centre and the first in the world.

To start with, the domes were a nightmare for shopfitters trying to design and then make joinery to fit the dome shapes. This challenge flowed through to the retailers, in making their surrounding walls meet the product requirements. Unfortunately, the complex was not a success – it closed in 1985, and was demolished a few years later. As an idea, it drew the crowds, mainly to look at, but sadly not to support the retailers.

Recently, I was surprised when I stumbled upon evidence of The Shopfitters Association of Queensland from 1978. It was in the form of a Certificate of Membership. I had heard that there was a loose connection to the Master Shopfitters Association of NSW at that time but didn’t realise they were organised enough to have support from a registered local industry association, the Queensland Confederation of Industry based at Wickham Terrace, Brisbane. At the time, they seemed to have about 20 member companies, with Stan Lewis as President. He was responsible for setting up of state body. They kept advertising as a state body until 1984, by which time all members had transitioned to the recently formed National Australian Shopfitters Association.

In 1978, there were two start-up shopfitting companies at Slacks Creek south of Brisbane, both of which grew and traded for many years. One was Shopfitting Services, started by Roger Harmer, and because of previous experience, he soon engendered a name for quality, which helped with the growth of his business. Some of his customers were Goldmark Jewellers, OPSM, Jon Le Court Hairdressers, Prouds Jewellers, Mathers Shoes, Cue, Witchery and Dotti. Shopfitting Services offered in-house design, as well as quotations on designs provided by clients. As the business grew, it was purchased by Malcolm Hicks and Bob Metcalfe was employed as General Manager. In 1995, and in expansion mode, the business was relocated to a company purchased building at Kingston.  Bob Metcalfe eventually moved on to start his own shopfitting company, The Shopfitting Solution and then later became the national agent/distributor of Demodeks, a European retail feature metal shelving system and the Demodeks Pharmacy automation system.

Rowe Furniture (later to be known as Rowe Shopfitters) opened in a factory at Machinery Drive, Slacks Creek. The business was started by Adrian and Jenny Rowe and after a few years growth, the business moved to their large factory at Production St Beenleigh. Rowe Shopfitters carried out retail fitouts throughout Queensland and interstate as well as office fitout projects. They were a major player in newsagency fitout works, in conjunction with greeting card companies, with Golden Casket and the Lott. They offered in-house design to their many customers and were a well-respected company employing many apprentices over the years and were always good supporters of ASOFIA with Jenny and Amy (their daughter) serving on the State Committees. Most of the family members worked in the company at some time over the years.

When Adrian and Jenny retired in 2012, their son Robert purchased the Beenleigh factory as part of his foray into becoming a major player in the fitout sector, nationally. Daniel Rowe (another son) now has his own project management company and makes use of local shopfitters on his varied projects. In October 1979, Kawana Shopping World opened (then known as Kern Shopping Town), being the first major shopping centre on the Sunshine Coast. The centre was built by the Kern Corporation for owners BHP and Shell and opened with Woolworths, Big W, Rockmans and 40 specialty stores. Once again, the centre has undergone expansion as the surrounding population grew, with a 2002 new food court area and a Bi-Lo store. In 2014, another 70 specialty stores were added and, in 2017, a 10- screen cinema was included. Mirvac became the owner and manager of the centre which now has 4 major tenants, 6 mini-majors and 160 specialty stores.

In 1979, Carindale Shopping Centre opened in the eastern suburbs of Brisbane (then known as the suburb of Belmont) which was changed to Carindale, the name of the surrounding housing estate. It was developed by SGIO (State Government Insurance Office) and at the time of opening was the largest shopping centre in Brisbane. The original 50% ownership was purchased by Westfield in 1999 and is now managed by Scentre Group.

In October 2010 the centre went through a $300 million redevelopment and over the next two years, approximately 80 new outlets were added, with the inclusion of some international fashion brand stores and a new Brisbane City Council Library. The centre is now regarded as one of the largest in Australia with over 450 specialty stores, a source of ongoing works for the local shopfitting fraternity.

As a new decade came around, society was trying to reduce its memories of WWII and, with the post war economic boom having an impact on daily lives, thoughts of a bright future were everywhere.

Petrol and food rationing, which started during the War, finally ended. The basic wage was 8 pounds 6 shillings for men, with the female rate set at 75% of that. There was a serious shortage of building materials but with 170,000 refugees from war-torn Europe, on top of an ongoing migration rate of 70,000 a year, there was plenty of available labour, causing the federal government to greatly assist with projects. They also halved the training time for apprenticeships, making the available labour certified more quickly.
At this time, the great Australian ‘Wool Boom’ was beginning, so the people in country towns and surrounding properties, at last, looked forward to better income, something which was to last for decades. Around this time, advertisements by shopfitters appeared in the major provincial town newspapers.

Unfortunately, in the mid-1950s, with the start of the Korean War, Australian troops were once again called upon to assist our allies. At this time, all males reaching the age of 19 years were required to undertake compulsory national service; for some this would have happened just as they were finishing their apprenticeships.
After the war, the American influence remained, with shops introducing new consumer products for the home such as steam and dry irons, refrigerators (instead of ice chests), and washing machines.

At the same time, new Italian cafes introduced espresso machines and delicatessen stores to the market.
Greek families were still opening cafes and restaurants throughout the city and Fortitude Valley which, at that stage, was an upmarket shopping hub, as well as country towns throughout the state. The Greek families were also opening picture theatres, fish cafes, inner-city coffee lounges and upmarket restaurants, and they dominated the fish markets until the late 1970s.
Christie & Walker Shopfitters kept receiving a mention in fitout works in the city, and probably a lot of country towns too.

By 1955, the inner city was once again thriving, and many large projects were under way. The renowned Piccadilly Arcade was one such project built at this time. From Queen St to Adelaide St, it housed a range of tenants across its three levels. It was promoted as having a tram stop at each entrance and the arcade’s air-conditioning was worth a key mention, as many of the other well-known arcades did not offer air-conditioning at that time. It traded until 1987 and in that time many well-known Brisbane café/restaurant owners opened their first stores within, as well as many modern fashion boutiques, with it being a source of ongoing projects for shopfitters. There was Peter Hackworth’s Primitif Café and later Prim 2, Brisbane’s first beatnik hotspot.

Peter went on to open many funky cafes, such as The Great American Disaster, then restaurants Scaramouche and Cats Tango to name a few and still has a hand in developing new and interesting projects for Brisbaneites such as Eat Street. His projects have always created interesting fitouts for local shopfitters.
In Queen St, the 1200 seat Majestic Theatre was demolished and rebuilt as the Odeon Theatre, which operated until 1981, when it was again demolished to make way for the Wintergarden Shopping Centre on the combined site.

Unfortunately, many projects were being held up by council health/plumbing departments and fire authorities, until all the approval steps were satisfied. There also continued to be strikes, which upset daily life and work in Brisbane.

In 1952, a young shopfitter – who had a few years earlier completed his apprenticeship – saw an opportunity to start his own business in Brisbane. This young man was Stan Lewis, who went on to become an Icon of the shopfitting industry. He carried out his apprenticeship at DK English Shopfitters at East Brisbane. His first venture, Brisbane Mirror and Joinery Works, where he employed 20 staff, was doing mainly glazing works for Bevlyn Industries. In 1957, Stan supplied and installed many shopfronts to the new Chermside Shopping Centre, which was the first modern ‘drive-in’ shopping centre in Australia. He liked to tell the story, that as it was a drive-in shopping centre and with the usual tight completion timelines on site, he used to work on his shopfront installs into the night under the headlights of his truck. He also supplied and installed shopfronts in the Brisbane Arcade.

Stan then went into a glazing and joinery business with a partner in New Guinea, which was to last four years. With the same partner – in 1972 – he commenced Quality Shopfitters at Strathpine. This eventually became Quality Industries, manufacturing shopfitting, joinery, aluminium windows and traded as glass merchants with a staff of 125. Next came True Image Mirrors in 1977 on the Gold Coast. After selling Quality Industries in 1980, the next venture he commenced with his partner was Budget Shopfitters, which later became known as BSF Group, also at Strathpine. This once again had a glass division known as Costless Glass.
Another business he formed in 1987 was Budget Boardworks, which cut and processed flat panels and post-forming of bench tops. In 1999, BSF Group purchased the shopfitting company Arkell and traded as BSF Arkell for a while.

Unfortunately, in 2013, 60 years of Stan’s extensive experience and devotion to the shopfitting industry was lost, when BSF ceased trading. Stan had Icon status awarded to him by ASOFIA in 2009. He had employed over 100 apprentices during his time in business, many of whom went on to establish their own companies. He was a great stalwart of the National Shopfitting Association (now IFA) and had been involved in the formation of the Shopfitting Training Curriculum and a great supporter of TAFE.

At the start of researching information for the History of Shopfitting in Queensland, I had been trying to arrange a meeting with Stan Lewis as we had become friends as members of ASOFIA over the years, and in having to fly around the country together to attend National Council meetings. We also both had an ongoing goal that apprentices should receive relevant training. Karen, Stan’s daughter, arranged a date to meet and discuss the history at the family home. Also at the meeting was Les Wilson who had commenced Les Wilson Detailed Cabinetmakers many years earlier and both had a world of knowledge about the industry. Les was unable to drive, so Mick McLoughlin (now the owner of Les’ former company) drove him to Stan’s to attend the discussion/lunch. Both Stan and Les reminisced about their days in the industry and were forthcoming with their knowledge of the history.

I received a sad call early the next morning from Karen letting me know that Stan had passed away suddenly during the night but had made the comment prior to bedtime that he had a ‘very happy day’ in that we had all met and been able to discuss the industry that he loved so much. Another long-lasting company servicing the shopfitting industry, which commenced trading in the early 1950’s was Bevlyn Industries. Their first factory was in Merivale Street, South Brisbane until they moved to larger premises at Wacol in 1967. They manufactured wire fittings as well as stripping and brackets. The business was taken over in about 1970 and became Bevlyn SES, as the new owners had a business known as Storage Equipment Systems. In 1980, they took on a Dexion sales engineer David Kemp, hiring him as Sales Manager for Bevlyn SES.

They took on a wide variety of work and included a customer base of retailers such as Myer, David Jones and McDonell and East, who all required top quality work. Bevlyn SES also had the cool-room storage range of ‘Marlboro’ shelving, a trade name they had purchased. They were also agents for Tegometal, a German based shelving system manufacturer. In 1988, Dexion purchased Bevlyn SES, and rebranded as Dexion Retail and retained David Kemp as General Manager.

A short time later, David Kemp left Dexion and with partner Sam Chotai, established a manufacturing company known as Brisbane Display and Shopfitting, with the knowledge that the shopfitting industry required ‘just in time’ production and supply methods. The company went on to be known as BDS, employing more than 100 staff and with branches in all States. They did powder-coating and chrome plating to all custom-made shopfittings made locally and were a large part of the Shopfitting sector for many years. With the decline in Australian manufacturing and pressure from cheaper, imported product, BDS ceased trading around 2020.

Another business to start at these times was Ingrams Joinery Works situated at Bundamba. They specialised in built-in furniture and church and school fittings. In the 1980s they moved into a factory at Beenleigh, where they became involved in the shopfitting sector and today are known as Ingrams Fine Joinery & Cabinetmaking, specialising in shopfitting and commercial joinery carrying out projects Australia wide and have now traded successfully for over 70 years.

There was a daily newspaper story on 22nd November 1954 about Robb & Brown Shopfitters’ holding company, Robbs Industries. The story was headed ‘No Dividend from Robbs’ and went on to say: “Robbs Industries, Builders and Shopfitters, will not pay a dividend for the year to September 30. Dividend for each of the two preceding years was 4%. Last May, directors forecast substantially reduced profits for the year.” This followed serious floods in the Lismore district, their head office location. Nothing seems to change, with many floods inundating the town before and since, and with Brisbane shopfitters having to refit many of the Lismore Central Shopping Centre stores after suffering three floods to the town in the three months following Christmas 2021.

The UBD Business Directories from the time includes some information on shopfitting businesses of the 1950s. They advertised as ‘Shopfitters’, not Cabinetmakers from Brisbane to Central Queensland and through the decade more companies seemed to evolve:
1950 Brisbane 14 companies
1950 Toowoomba 2 companies
1955 Maryborough I company
1955 Mackay 2 companies
1955 Ipswich 4 companies
1958 Maryborough 5 companies
1958 Toowoomba 4 companies
1958 Gympie 2 companies
1958 Murgon 1 company
1958 Dalby 1 company
1958 Bundaberg 4 companies
1958 Redcliffe 1 company
Brisbane approx. 20 companies

There were probably a couple of companies in both Townsville and Cairns at the time and as previously mentioned there were shopfitting and cabinetmaking companies who advertised independently that they also carried out shopfitting works. So, a conservative estimate of companies carrying out shopfitting work in Queensland in 1959 would be 75.
Architect firms of the time who would tender out projects to the shopfitters were:
Conrad Gargett
Robin Gibson
Curro Nutter Charlton
Powell Dods and Thorpe
Peddle Thorp

In 1956, DH Gibson opened a Brisbane office of U-Rect-It (URI) supplying shopfitters with their own developed stripping and bracket fittings and steel shelving systems. They were able to offer to shopfitters, having their own company name stamped on brackets, a great marketing sales ploy at the time. In about 2004, the stand-alone URI outlet, held a large part of the market until 2004 when they were merged back into the DH Gibson fold.

Probably the biggest new thing to hit the shopfitting industry in Brisbane and possibly Australia at the time was the construction of the Allan & Stark Drive-in Shopping Centre at Chermside, the first in Australia. It was designed to suit the 100,000 people living within 4.8 km of the 28-acre swampy site that was subject to flooding.

A revolutionary idea for its time, it was described as ‘an island of retailing in a lake of parking’. Allan & Stark was an established Brisbane City Department Store (est. 1885) and after the War the owners could see that people wanted to drive to town to do their shopping. However, parking was a problem in Brisbane City, hence the idea that everyone could drive into the centre or catch a tram or bus, whichever suited.

The opening day on May 30, 1957, changed retailing in Australia, with 15,000 shoppers arriving to shop at the new centre. There were 700 car parks and the air-conditioned centre had the Allan & Stark Department Store, Brisbane Cash and Carry Supermarket and 25 specialty shops in an arcade and mall.

There were not that many shopfitting companies in Brisbane at the time, so it would have been a busy time for them all. The land was subject to flooding, and the centre suffered three major floods in 1985, 1994 and 1997, which eventually was overcome with upgrades to the centre and by the local council as they upgraded nearby creeks and drainage. Allan & Stark sold out to Myer in September 1959 and, in December 1996, Westfield purchased the centre from Myer. In 1966, Woolworths had purchased the 32 Brisbane Cash and Carry Stores throughout Queensland to give them entry to grocery stores and opened their large Woolworths grocery outlet at the centre. Unfortunately for Woolworths, their Chermside store was totally destroyed by fire in 1972, the first of three major fires to the complex that followed in 1978, 1993, and 2006.

The centre has had six major expansions in 1966-67, 1974-78, 1985-87, 1998-2000, 2005-2006. The last major upgrade/expansion was completed in 2017, opening as ‘The New Westfield Chermside’, which included a handful of international brand stores. After the constant expansions, the centre now has an offering of 515 stores over 38 acres. It’s the second largest regional shopping centre in Australia by number of stores behind Chadstone Shopping Centre and is said to be Australia’s second busiest Westfield Shopping Centre. With adjoining facilities, the centre is now a community hub for North Brisbane and has created ongoing prosperity for our industry since its 1957 opening day, as well as introducing our industry to all the latest trends, materials and methods of construction necessary with each quality upgrade.

In 1959, a young 21-year-old Alec Hartley commenced JA Hartley Shopfitters at 161 Knapp St Fortitude Valley. He had completed his 5-year apprenticeship at Penny’s (a department store in Brisbane with its own workshop). Coles bought out Penny’s chain of stores during his apprenticeship.

Alec soon made a good name for his business by providing quality workmanship for the architects involved in shopfitting at the time. This gave him a varied client base that put him in good stead for the future as he grew both the name and the business. In the early days, he carried out café/restaurant/clothing stores, bank works and many fitout projects at the old ‘igloo’ Brisbane Domestic Airport terminal. By the time he moved on from his first factory to the larger 51 Longland St Fortitude Valley premises in 1967, he had created his own design department as well as a paint shop and metalwork section. This was good timing as there were large shopping centres being proposed throughout Queensland and the Northern Territory.

At the opening of Toombul Shoppingtown in 1967, Hartley’s fitted out six stores. At the opening of Indooroopilly Shoppingtown in 1970 Hartley’s fitted out 12 stores. In 1970, they fitted out Brisbane’s first Beer Hall in Queen St City named Peppers, which was fitted out in authentic timber claddings, fittings, tables and chairs and a working entry drawbridge. As well as the new shopping centre works, Alec was fitting out high end menswear and female clothing stores, jewellery stores, pharmacies and newsagencies in Brisbane and throughout the state.
In 1973, Hartley’s fitted out approximately 10 stores at the new Casuarina Shopping Centre in Darwin, only for it to be totally devastated by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas eve 1974. They also carried out pharmacy works at Gove, all of which had to be transported by ship from Brisbane. They also completed bedroom joinery works to a new muti-storey building on Hayman Island, which had to be shipped from Mackay.

In 1977 Hartley’s were involved in the fitting out to many stores at the new Pacific Fair Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast, where most stores were in outdoor locations at that stage. Many more stores were fitted out in the following years, with all the various extensions to the centre.
In 1987, Hartley’s finally moved to a building that they owned, at 154 Arthur St Fortitude Valley where they remained until approximately 2006. It was here that they suffered a large factory fire, however they were able to overcome this hurdle and remain trading at this address.

In 1988, Hartley’s fitted out concession stores at the new Brisbane Domestic Airport building and won an award for the development and use of Corian product heat bent on counters and bulkheads.
In 1989, Hartley Shopfitters designed and fitted out the first Coffee Club outlet, at the Eagle St Pier Brisbane. The association with Coffee Club lasted many years as the group expanded from Queensland across Australia then to 14 countries.

At this time Alec was also constructing Irish Bars in full and exporting them to Japan where they would be fully assembled. In 2006, Hartley’s made their final factory move to a new building at 250 Abbotsford Rd Bowen Hills. Alec Hartley believed in employing and training apprentices; although a hard taskmaster he produced many quality apprentices over the years, some of whom have gone on to produce their own successful businesses (yours truly being one of them). In 2011, ASOFIA bestowed on Alec Hartley an Icon of the Industry Award, in recognition of outstanding service to the Shopfitting Industry. Alec Hartley retired soon after having been in the industry for over 60 years.

Perry Brothers was a large wholesaling hardware/ironmongery business, well established at 201-205 Queen St Brisbane (on the site of the current Wintergarden Centre), supplying materials and tools to all the local tradespeople of the time. Eventually their premises stretched from Queen St to Elizabeth St. However, even this store was to be outgrown in time, so they decided to construct a building to contain their offices and much larger storage of goods for their many customers. The building was on the corner of Elizabeth and Albert Streets and was named Perry House. The eventual building – when finally completed – was ten stories in height, the tallest in Brisbane at the time. The business grew to be a large wholesaling enterprise and at the same time they continued to trade from their original Queen St premises. The building remains and in 1996 the building underwent a major redevelopment to become The Royal Albert Hotel.

In 1927, there appear to have been 36 shopfitting companies and 143 cabinetmaking companies in Brisbane City and surrounding suburbs. Many cabinetmakers also advertised their ability to carry out shopfitting works. In regional towns the numbers varied from 3-14, dependant on the prosperity of the local economy at the time. However, Brisbane shopfitters were, in the main, supplying full store fitouts to most regional towns, a practice that continued well into the 1980s –1990s.

Brisbane Central Business District underwent almost two decades of rapid growth throughout the 1920s and 1930s, with numerous high-rise buildings and shops being built. Of note, was the completion of the Brisbane City Hall, after 11 years of construction and the magnificent Regent Theatre, which was completed in 1929 and capable of seating 2,600 people.
The AMP Society Building in Queen Street was demolished, and the current ten-storey building was constructed over four years. At the start of World War 2, however, the American Army, led by General MacArthur, occupied this building as their Pacific Headquarters, as they tried to protect the Brisbane Line from the invading Japanese. Hence, when a Shopping Centre was installed at this site in 2009-2010, it was renamed MacArthur Central Shopping centre. There was also the construction of the beautiful Brisbane Arcade, the original T&G building in Queen St and the Treasury Building additions.

At this stage, storm clouds were gathering on the horizon, after Wall Street stock markets in America collapsed and worldwide trade was thrown into chaos, this era became known as the ‘Great Depression’. Locally, wages for those lucky enough to keep their jobs, were on ‘short time’ while their wages dropped 10% and by 1932, 32% of the Australian population was unemployed, a situation that remained until after the end of the Second World War. Families were on coupons for ration relief.

To make the situation worse, the Federal government introduced Sales Tax in 1930, a curse to the shopfitting industry as the rate increased over the years, especially in the 1970s. As well as being ambiguous to charge out on products, it proved difficult to administer, and was finally thrown out when the GST system was introduced in July 2000.
An item of interest when researching the shopfitters of the time was the office of the Brisbane and District Joinery Association, which had an office in Adelaide St. It’s good to know the shopfitters of that time had support if they needed it. As they do today with the Interior Fitout Association.

A great story is of a retailer, by the name of James Burns, who opened his first successful retail store in Brisbane. He decided to extend his business to Townsville and open another store. A couple of years later, he formed a partnership with one of his employees and they co-founded Burns Philp and Company Limited. In time they went on to become one of Australia’s largest retail and shipping operations. Both were knighted and James Burns, among many things, was Premier of Queensland for two separate terms.
In 1931, they decided to build their own department store in Brisbane, an eight-storey building from Queen St through to Adelaide St, with access to Edward St. The plan was to expand their wholesale business by means of a chain of retail stores and, after opening Penney’s in Brisbane in 1936, they went on to open 25 Penneys stores in Queensland from Brisbane to Cairns and in northern New South Wales. Their motto ‘Penneys saves you pounds’, was used in all their media advertising. The chain was sold to EB Coles in 1956.

Advertisements by Brisbane Shopfitters and Glaziers proudly stated they’d been selected to work on the Brisbane City Penneys store and, probably hopefully, on some of their stores that followed. Low & Company Shopfitters advertised that they made and fitted the shopfronts in Penney’s new premises, and RS Exton advertised that they’d carried out all the glass and glazing works.

The fit-out to the Penneys store had inviting displays of goods on long counters served by one sales attendant with a cash register, or on gondolas in the aisles. This introduced the idea of self service. On the opening day of the Brisbane City store, there was a large newspaper story in The Brisbane Telegraph, advertising the store. It mentioned the special finishes to the stepped counters and to the escalator sides. “They were finished in an ‘opalescent cream tinted quilted maple veneer’. This is a choice variety of the Canadian Rock maple, one of the Empire’s most beautiful timbers skilfully used in a restrained modern style”. Their modus operandi was that there would not be home deliveries or special orders, nor was there any pressure to buy – temptation seemed enough.

In 1936 the Federal Government included paid annual leave in a Federal Award, which ultimately flowed down to State Awards. In 1937, The Pig ‘n Whistle came to town. Situated on Queen St, it was promoted to the Brisbane public as a ‘new experience’. It was easy to find because of the ultra-smart lettering, the Carrara marble facade, the stainless-steel ventilators, the shining and fascinating refrigeration plant, Queensland timbers of the utmost beauty and comfortable leather lounge chairs. The store made juices from crushed fruit in front of the customers, which was added to nourishing milk to make delightful refreshing drinks. As far as milk bars go, this was something new at the time, along with all the latest equipment and fittings. It was the first in Australia to be opened to a full page spread in a metropolitan newspaper and broadcast by a radio station. The store was fitted out by Blair Cunningham & Sons Shop and Office Fitters of South Brisbane.

Also at this stage, a hairdresser and tobacconist started business at 288 Queen St. The owner was Charles A Spurgin, who advertised his store as having the largest, most up-to-date fitout of any salon in Queensland. It was very popular, noted for its cleanliness, and was able to keep 40 chairs working, making it the largest hygienic salon in Australia.
On the opposite side of Queen St was the office of Williams Johns and Co., the proprietor at one stage owned 30 restaurants and cafés in the city and Fortitude Valley.
Around the corner was Rowes Café and Dining Rooms at 235 Edward St and, in the early 1920s, it was extended to seat 380 guests. In 1925, a ballroom was built internally to the building, over a lower garage. In 1958, the building was converted into a shopping arcade, which links Edward St to Queen St, Adelaide St and Post Office Square. In the early 1990s, the arcade was totally refurbished by local shopfitting company Dear & Flannagan.

During the 1920s and 1930s, there were many new Greek restaurants/cafés in Brisbane City and in the larger provincial towns. There were upwards of ten in some larger towns, as well as some of the current premises being upgraded to the latest trends and the installation of the latest beverage-making equipment coming out of Europe.

It was almost as though there was a challenge in the restaurant trade to see who could beat the opposition, with architectural masterpieces, new uniforms for staff, and the introduction of orchestras, etc. to entice new customers. One such new café was The Astoria, “The most luxurious and up to date café in Brisbane,” according to Brisbane’s Café Beautiful, with the opening described as “The Event of the Year”. Designed by architects Hennessy, Hennessy and Co, the owners took a courageous step during a time of financial depression, to create an artistic triumph with its ornate pillasters, textured walls with recessed arches, a recessed glass illuminated dome to the ceiling and a mezzanine for the orchestra. The Astoria catered for 250 diners.
Another extensive fitout at 217 Queen St was for Christies Café, in 1938. A well-known meeting place in the city that existed until 1976. It was known as the ‘Cloudland of Queen St’, with its beautiful art deco theme modelled on continental lines, with the ground floor having space for 48 and the top floor café 104 diners. The orchestra played on a raised dais decorated with glass and chromium grilles and artistically illuminated by concealed neon lights in green, a colour new to the neon process. The interior of the café on each floor was lined with Carrara glass to a height of 4ft, and the remainder of the walls were lightly textured and off-set by heavily stepped cornices and coloured textured ceilings.

A feature of Christie’s upstairs dining was an open-air balcony, which was covered by an awning and brightly-coloured blinds, giving an uninterrupted view of Queen St. The fitout at the time cost £20,000 and the architects paid tribute to the standard of Australian workmanship. A list of the contractors involved was part of the Courier Mail press coverage. Although it’s unclear who the shopfitting contractor was, Christie and Walker Shopfitters fitted out other quality Greek family cafés in the city at the time.

In 1938, less than two years after opening Penneys department store, the full second floor of their building was devoted to the fitout of a new departure in restaurant design in Brisbane. Embodying the most modern layout and appointments of European cafés/restaurants, the most spacious of any in the state. The design of the café followed that of a famous Chicago hotel.
The luxurious layout combined both the buffet and loges (now referred to as banquet or booth seating), a long way ahead of anything previously attempted in Australia. There were 400 seats in the loges, having leather upholstered cushions made up of two, four and six seater loges, all numbered so that a favourite loge may be reserved. There were two separate buffet areas provided for the service of hurried diners, like a bar, with seating for 100 diners at each buffet. “The chrome-backed seats were designed to be self-centred, swinging out and back into position at the centre”. There were advertisements by all the varying trades who provided their services in the major fitout, but all the shopfitting works were carried out in-house by Penneys staff as they had created their own shopfitting workshop with employees, in the basement of the store.

In 1938, City Joiners, based in Toowoomba, started out in business and, in the 1950s, they had 70 staff. At one stage, they traded as City Joiners Hodge. They still trade today, carrying out work all over Queensland, and have always had a name for producing a quality product. They have carried out million dollar fitouts and cater for specialty work in areas such as Health, Education, Government, RSL, Golf, Recreational Clubs, Resorts, Hotels, Law Courts etc. They have always fostered the employment of apprentices.

Also in 1938, under ‘Technical Trades’ in a daily newspaper, was an ad by the Polytechnic School of South Brisbane. It read ‘for Youth and Men’ and catered for 15 varying trades at their South Brisbane premises. The classes to be held in the day and at evenings in well-equipped workshops, which prepared the students for examinations under the Inspection of Machinery Act. It seemed that these trade courses could only have been preliminary trade skills, as a means of creating – eventually – further pools of tradespeople during the harsh economic conditions.
Once a week, in a daily newspaper, would be a page devoted to the latest finishing materials for homes, offices, etc. These consisted of wall and ceiling sheeting, tiles, carpets, timber and woodwork, but there was a permanent building exhibit in the basement of the AMP Building (now MacArthur Central Shopping Centre). Perhaps this was an early version of the home & building/design centres of today, with companies setting up their product in cubicles, as per current display methods.

 

This article is a two-part series which follows on from previous issues about the shopfitting industry in Queensland from 1860-1900. We now continue the journey as we take a look at some of the industry ‘players’ from 1900 onwards in Brisbane and provincial towns.

The first decade of the 20th century finds the beginning of some shopfitting companies that are still trading today and of others that are long gone. Brisbane and surrounds had a population of 122,210 and was made up of 20 municipalities and shires. The start of this century threw a lot at our industry, as Brisbane suffered an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in 1901, a call to arms for the Boer War in 1902 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914. This was followed by the Spanish Flu in 1919, which saw 40% of the population at that time infected and in quarantine. The Queensland border was closed and food supplies and building materials were in short supply.

Still, at that time most of the shopfitting factories were based around the central city (‘The City’), Fortitude Valley (‘The Valley’) and Newstead areas, as the first small privately owned electricity generating supply companies were also in and around The City area. It was not until the 1920s, after the Brisbane City Council was established, that electricity was supplied to the suburbs.

As we move in to the 1900s in Brisbane and other provincial towns, we find that there was a flurry of building works that commenced state-wide just prior to the turn of the century. Large department stores were built, many of which are still standing today. There were cafés, clothing stores and arcades developed with a new sophistication being offered to the public, some even had electric lights and “cool air”.

The arcades were a version of the shopping centres that were yet to come. Some of the early ones were:
Royal Exhibition Arcade Brisbane
Grand Arcade Brisbane
Royal Arcade Charters Towers
Town Hall Arcade Townsville
Town Hall Arcade Brisbane
Rowes Arcade Brisbane
Grand Central Arcade Brisbane
Royal Red Arcade Ipswich
Mayfair Arcade Brisbane
Tattersalls Arcade Brisbane
Blocksidge & Ferguson Arcade Brisbane
Wallace Bishops Arcade Brisbane
MLC Arcade Brisbane
Brisbane Arcade
Piccadilly Arcade Brisbane
Comino’s Arcade Redcliffe.

In Brisbane, one of the department stores was Finney Isles, who built a store at 196 Queen St in 1909, which later became David Jones premises. Alan & Stark built various individual buildings from 1881-1899 and one at 110 Queen St, which in 1970 became Myer, prior to the building of the Myer Centre in 1988. Hardy Brothers Building at 116 Queen St was built in 1881 and occupied by Hardy Brothers Jewellers from 1894 until they relocated in 2016. They were only recently bought out by Wallace Bishops Jewellers.

Palings Company building, at 86 Queen St Brisbane was built as 4 individual, identical buildings from 1885 -1919. They were well known throughout Queensland for the supply of musical instruments, sheet music and later vinyl pop records from the swinging 60s until 1986.

At the start of the 20th century, the Brisbane Town Centre was expanding, and stores were opening at South Brisbane and Fortitude Valley. At South Brisbane in 1886 the early department store of Piggot and Bierne was built in Stanley St but burned down in 1891. The Valley was developing quickly as another shopping hub, with access now by train and trams from the northern and southern suburbs.

The Irish connection was heavily involved in the development of department stores in their early stages. With Piggots establishing a store in Brunswick St The Valley and in Toowoomba. T C Bierne opened opposite Piggots (his former business partner) in Brunswick St The Valley. (Piggot had been T C Biernes’ employer in Ireland).
James McWhirter (a Scotsman) had also opened a small store in Brunswick St, but he had grandiose plans. To start with, he bought out Piggots Brunswick St business then proceeded, as part of his plan, to purchase 4 blocks of land at the corner of Brunswick St/Wickham St and Warner Sts. Eventually, his 5-storey building took up an acre of land and was the leading store in The Valley. McWhirter, being an astute businessman, fitted out all levels of his department store in the latest fixtures and fittings, mainly in silky oak timber finishes and had the renowned beautiful large, glazed shopfront windows along Brunswick St.

McWhirters directly imported many lines and pioneered free carriage of mail orders servicing all parts of Queensland. In 1955, Myer Emporium took over the McWhirters company. In trying to not be outdone by McWhirters, in 1902 T C Bierne constructed a large building opposite, with further extensions over the years. In 1956 the building was sold to David Jones.
On the other corner of Brunswick St and Wickham St, Overells Drapery established in 1901, commenced the building of their department store to oppose McWhirters and T C Bierne. This also was a successful business and established stores throughout Queensland. In 1956, the large American Group Waltons purchased the building and the business. In these heady years, the local shopfitting companies in Brisbane City, Fortitude Valley and Newstead were all kept busy manufacturing and fitting out these department stores and the associated specialty stores. In 1905, shopfitters were earning 9 shillings a week for a 6-day, 48-hour week.

At this time, the other large department store to be built in The City was McDonnel & East, at 414 George St. The company commenced in 1901 in leased premises, also in George St but soon purchased adjacent land and finally in stages, built what is now on the Queensland Heritage Register, along with the other 3 buildings mentioned above. By 1988, with strong competition from suburban shopping centres such as Westfield and with the declining reputation and quality of the suburb, The Valley had become much less desirable as a shopping district and all 3 department stores had closed.

McDonnel and East traded successfully until 1990 and at that time had stores at Garden City Shopping Centre at Mt Gravatt (a suburb of Brisbane), Rockhampton Shopping Fair, Nerang St Mall Southport, Surfers Paradise Holiday City Centre, Toowoomba, Warwick and Ipswich. They also closed the well-known Pikes Menswear store at the top of Queen St, which they had acquired. Pikes had commenced trading prior to 1900.

Prior to 1907 our industry Apprentices in Brisbane attended The Brisbane Technical College at 2 George St, The City. Then in 1907, plans were announced for a much larger modern Technical College, which was constructed in stages from then until 1956. This became QIT and later changed to QUT in 1987, as a University. The area is now known as Gardens Point Campus. In the 1960s the trades were moved out to campuses in the Northern and Southern suburbs of Brisbane, as well as to some Provincial Towns.

There were 34 cabinetmakers and upholsterers (as they referred to themselves) and 17 carpenter and joiner companies. Advertisements from the time, and because they had premises in The City, advertised as providing shopfitting, shop and office fitting and cabinetmaking services. It is interesting to sight these advertisements and the addresses of their factories, e.g. F W Thompson Shop and Office Fittings, Gilbert Place Queen St, opposite the Treasury Building, B Cunningham Builder and Shop & Office Fitter, 191 Elizabeth St and F H Marshall & Co. Builders and Shopfitters, 153-154 Elizabeth St, to mention a few.

Their only means of advertising their services were in the morning and afternoon newspapers, they also had to advertise for staff in the same newspapers. In the regional towns at this time there were generally 1 or 2 cabinetmakers or shopfitters, depending on the size of the town and evidence shows that if there were 2 cabinetmaker/shopfitters, then both advertised as the town undertakers. At that stage, Charters Towers, being a thriving Town, had 4 cabinetmaker/shopfitters, so it followed that 3 of the 4 companies were also listed as undertakers. In some advertisements of the time these companies advertised that they carried out the shop and office requirements of the town, as well as manufacturing coffins and carrying out burials, certainly an ‘upsell’ one could say.

One company name that keeps appearing in the research is R S Exton & Co. Robert Skerrett Exton was a prolific painter, decorator and glazier, who commenced business in Brisbane in 1882. The company also imported staff from the UK to assist with the production of stained glass works. They became famous for producing fine stained glass in the churches and cathedrals in Brisbane and throughout Queensland. They had purpose built their office/warehouse at 333 Ann St Brisbane City, the façade of which remains and is Heritage listed. They had a factory in Bowen St. The Valley and in 1919 they purchased another building in Wickham St. The Valley on the corner of Constance St and commenced their shopfitting and glazing department, which traded at that site until the 1970s.

They advertised that they manufactured all classes of modern shopfronts, showcases, banks, hotels and all general interior fittings, drawn sheath metal shopfront mouldings, nickel brackets, stripping for window fittings and all accessories pertaining to modern shopfittings and window displays. Their factory in Toowoomba also traded until the 1970s.
An R S Exton advertisement from the Brisbane Daily Mail in April 1922 reads, “Modernize Your Store, Success Depends Largely on Appearance. Shopfronts, Showcases and All Glass Counters Designed and Constructed for the Modern Businessman. Silent Salesmen that Work for You Day and Night.” Upon the closure of the business in the 1970s, several of the glaziers moved onto the likes of G James and the shopfitters to other shopfitting companies of the time.

Another company supporting the industry in The Central City area was the company S Cook & Sons, who had commenced in 1895 and remained in the area until 2001. They were electroplaters in nickel, chrome, tin, cadmium, zinc, silver, copper and brass. At one stage, they had 30 employees and the company, in the same family’s hands, still operates in a smaller way at the Northern Suburb of Arana Hills. A shopfitting company that was established in 1889 and still advertised until 1940, was E J Grigg & Son Pty Ltd. Their office and workshop was at Bowen St. The Valley, their advertising suggests they also completed many jobs in The City.

Another electroplating company in The City established in 1903 was A G Jackson Electroplaters. They carried out plating works for the industry but also had developed and patented shopfront window fittings. They also provided oxy and antique coppering and manufactured shopfitting’s to order.
In 1912, shopfitters were earning approx. 44 shillings for a 6-day 48-hour week. In the Brisbane 1912 Directory, there were 4 listed shopfitting companies, 38 cabinetmakers and upholsterers and 16 carpentry joinery companies and most offered shopfitting capabilities.
In 1912 the Brisbane business of T Early & Sons was established. Throughout the years they have been involved in producing freestanding commercial furniture, office fit-outs, and lift car interiors. The business still trades today and has been under the same family ownership all that time.

Also, in 1912 in Brisbane, a 7-week strike occurred and all factories, shops and hotels were closed down by 47 unions.
This has been reported as the world’s first strike. Around this time, a company by the name of D G Brims & Sons Joinery had started at Milton. They also had an adjacent sawmill and a business named Brisbane Aircraft & Automotive Engineering, where they made aeroplanes.

This business became prosperous during World War I, as they made products for aircraft and carried out repairs. They purchased land at Yeerongpilly in 1928 and installed a plywood mill as well as other manufacturing sections at that site. Later, in the 1960s they manufactured particle board products as they hit the scene and eventually rebadged as Brims Distributors, a business that lasted until the 2000s.
To be continued…

A distinguishing feature of Queensland is distance.
Sydney to Bathurst is 200km, Melbourne to Ballarat a mere 115. By contrast, Brisbane to Townsville is 1,335km. The tyranny of distance meant that towns developed at a different pace and with different requirements. Because of that we have looked at separate history lines.

In about 2007, at an ASOFIA (now IFA) National Council Meeting, I suggested that we should attempt to collate some of the history regarding the shopfitting industry in Australia. At the time I made the comment, I was looking at my good friend Fred Ryder, of Ryder Shop & Office Fitting, who graciously put up his hand and offered to make a start on the project.
It soon dawned on us what a huge project this would be and that we may have to break the research down to a State-by-State collection of our industry’s history. I started the Queensland sector of the project in 2017 and soon realised the amount of research that would be necessary. Compounding the workload was my decision to begin in 1860.

It seemed fitting to begin the history of fitouts in the Capital city with a population at the time of 13,000. A desire to separate from New South Wales began to emerge, as Queensland’s economic significance increased, its productivity and population expanded and the people of Queensland began to realise the importance of Brisbane as a port and urban centre. Queen Victoria finally granted the new Colony of Queensland its independence from New South Wales on the 6th June 1859.

Although it may have been a good thing for the creation of employment/workloads of the operating shop and office fitters of the time, it was unfortunate for the shopkeepers as the early settlement of Brisbane Town suffered flooding in the town area in 1867, 1870, 1873, 1887, and then the Great Flood of 1893. This was all after the earlier Great Fire of Brisbane in 1864 when most of the earlier timber-constructed two-storey buildings with shops/offices were lost. So much for ‘nature’ creating healthy workloads for the shop and office fitters, as they were known even back in those early days.

The location of shopping has not changed since the early settlement days, with most of the nearby settlements’ population in those days having to carry out family grocery and other shopping/business requirements in and around Queen St. Brisbane Central, and nearby Fortitude Valley.

With the centralised location of the town, the development took place with all the major roads leading into the town, a problem that has existed until recent times.
The Queen St. of 1859 consisted of a dirt road with some two-storey timber buildings, perhaps with family living above their stores and a lot of single weatherboard cottages. The first Brisbane City Council was elected in 1859 and the city began to grow at a fast pace, which continued for the next 20 years or so and then a boom in growth from 1890 to 1900 which saw the construction of brick and stone. Magnificent buildings, some of which still stand today, housing well known retailers, banks etc.

A bumpy horse and cart ride was the main mode of transport, with the Brisbane river a busy source of supplies and shipping of products to other regional areas from the wharves along it. Horse-drawn trams began about 1870 running on the ground, then in rails about 1875 and, finally, electric trams in 1897.

Queen St. Brisbane was the first recorded town in Australia to demonstrate the use of electricity for street and shop lighting in 1882. As Brisbane grew, so did the number of shopfitting companies, as more permanent, modern, above two-storey buildings filled Queen St. and they required the latest shopfronts and shopfittings. There was grocery, drapery, ironmonger/hardware stores, hotels, banks, as well as government offices (some of which still stand today).

Also constructed were such iconic buildings as All Hallows School in 1866, Brisbane Grammar School in 1868, Brisbane General Hospital in1875, Brisbane Girls Grammar School in 1875 and Tara House (The Irish Club). Stores such as Finney Isles Department Store (now Queens Plaza Shopping Centre) commenced in 1864, McWhirter’s in 1898, Allan & Stark (later Myer) in 1896, Trittons in 1889. All these stores – and many more – were fitted out in the latest fittings, providing work for many shop and office fitting companies and valuable training grounds for apprentices over the past 140 years.

Finney Isles had a few store relocations from 1864 onwards but, eventually in 1910, moved into a five-storey building between Adelaide and Queen Streets, which was custom-built. The building featured innovative display windows on Queen Street, silky oak staircases, lifts decorated in lattice ironwork and silky oak, pneumatic tubes for exchanging cash, a roof-top water tower and a large generator providing electricity to the lights, lifts and pneumatic system. The building also had workrooms where it had 400 sewing machines, making their own clothing, as well as a manufacturing section, making furniture and their own shopfittings. This business lasted until the 1960s when it was taken over and became David Jones.

Another popular, early department store was Allan & Stark at 110 Queen Street. The original owners were James Allan and Robert Stark. It opened in 1899 after commencing trading in 1881 as a drapery store. The buildings and business were sold to Myer in 1961, continuing to trade under the Allan & Stark name until 1970.

Myer operated in the Heritage listed buildings from 1970 until 1988 when they moved across Queen Street to the Myer Centre.
Allan & Stark had the foresight to realise that the motor car was already a common sight and people were using it for their weekly shopping trips. They saw the need for inner city retail firms to rethink their future planning. They designed the first drive-in shopping centre in Australia, at suburban Chermside, which was opened in 1957. It was air-conditioned and surrounded by space to park 700 cars. ‘An island of retailing in a lake of parking’.

Also at that time were a couple of large timber/hardware companies that provided all timber/hardware requirements in Brisbane to shopfitters of the day, one being Finlaysons, a company that still remains trading to this day, and Campbells Timber & Hardware that was absorbed by BBC Hardware in 1995. Campbells also traded in provincial towns for tradespeople to purchase supplies from.

The early Brisbane shopfitting companies were based mainly around inner Brisbane Town, Fortitude Valley and South Brisbane to service the nearby stores and because of the availability of electricity being supplied by small private generating companies. Another reason was the availability of train services and trams to the town area (buses came later), so tradespeople could easily access their workplaces. The tradespeople would generally be dressed in bib overalls, with a dress coat over the top, a hat and, of course, a Gladstone bag. Some of the department stores had in-house shopfitting workshop facilities in their basement, manufacturing the required shopfittings and to carry out maintenance works as necessary. This method of major stores using local shopfitters to service town businesses continued until the 1950s.

Advertisements in the 1860-1900 period in the daily newspapers of the time offered the services of shopfitters or shop and office fitters. Perhaps this was the British influence, as even to this day in the UK and Europe, the Trade is well identified as such. I have seen advertisements of the time, for the auction of shopfittings, showcases, counters and shop and window fittings.
Employers in the 1890s looking for staff in Brisbane would advertise in both the morning and evening newspapers, except in provincial towns where there would only be a morning newspaper. The ads for tradespeople would appear under Professions, Trades etc. or in another column headed Situations Wanted. In 1886, the wage for a shopfitter for an 8-hour day, 6 days a week, was 8 shillings.

I have seen many advertisements for cabinetmakers, cabinetmaker apprentices and joiners, all normally in the central business area factories at that stage. Also, tradespeople arriving from overseas would advertise in these columns seeking employment and advertising their availability. The provincial town shopfitters and cabinetmakers would advertise their company’s services in the local morning newspaper weekly.

There were sawmills adjacent to most railway stations on the north side of the town that would service the shopfitters and cabinetmakers, as the logged specialty timbers came down from Mt. Glorious, Mt. Nebo and Mt. Mee. Other specialty timbers would be brought down from the North Queensland rainforests, or the now Gold Coast hinterland rainforests and Noosa River forests. Also, hardwood/softwoods/pine and cedar were supplied from the Brookfield area, where logs were carted to Rafting Ground and floated down Moggill Creek to the Brisbane River to sawmills at North Quay. There were also plywood mills attached to some sawmills, providing plywood sheets as well as timber, used to construct cabinets and counters in methods adopted until the introduction of particleboard in the 1960s. As well as the shopfitting factories in the inner-city areas, there were hardware suppliers, glass and metal fabricators and finishers with their factories supplying the local industries.

From the early days, architectural firms traditionally would assist the storekeepers with the design and layout of their stores as well as control the fitouts on-site, be they restaurants, cafés, banks, medical rooms, museums, schools, hotels, theatres etc. The architects’ supply line and control continued until the advent of designers with design practices in the 1960s. Some would say the professionalism of the relationship was lost at that time.

Some original hotels built and lovingly refitted over the years show the skill level of our tradespeople in the past and up to the present day:
The Victory Hotel – 1855
The Waterloo – 1880
The Post Office – 1876
The Alliance – 1888
The Embassy – 1864
The Wickham – 1885
The Norman – 1889
The Regatta – 1886
The Treasury – 1887
The Transcontinental – 1883
The Normanby – 1890
Prince Consort – 1887
The Breakfast Creek – 1889
The Orient – 1875
The Stock Exchange – 1863
The Jubilee – 1887
The Story Bridge – 1886
The Mansions – 1889
The Fox – 1874
The Osborne – 1864
Royal Exchange – 1876
The Newmarket – 1879

In the early 1890s, Greek migrants introduced oyster saloons to Brisbane City and some regional towns, as oysters were plentiful in Moreton Bay. As well as oysters, the menu often included lobster, fish and crab. The oyster bars were close to hotels and frequented mainly by men. Apparently, they often turned into ‘Wild West Saloons’, with some fiery times, and even murders. After the turn of the century, the oyster saloons were the start of what became a flood of Greek cafés in the early 1900s