Gowings was a department store chain in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, established in 1868. It specialised in men's casual clothing, camping gear and novelty items.

In 1863, John Gowing

John Gowing

John Ellis Symonds Gowing was an English-born Australian retailer and founder of the eponymous department store Gowings.-Early life:...

 opened a drapery business in Crown Street, East Sydney, New South Wales

East Sydney, New South Wales

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

. He entered into partnership on 4 November 1868 with his brother Preston Robert Gowing, who had been working as a storekeeper in Victoria. They set up the Mercery and Glove Depot, at 318 George Street, which John managed for £200 per annum plus half the profits of the business. This store was located on the corner of Market Street

Market Street, Sydney

Market Street is a cross street in the Central Business District of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It runs from Sussex Street near Darling Harbour in the west, to Elizabeth Street at St. James railway station in the east....

 and George Street

George Street, Sydney

George Street is one of Sydney's most notable city streets. There are more high rise buildings and more ASX 100 companies located here than anywhere else in Australia, and is well known for being busy around-the-clock...

 and the site was redeveloped in 1929 by John's son, Preston Lanchester Gowing, both as an investment and prime retail location. It became one of the most prominent and famous department stores in Sydney. In recent years Gowings embarked on an ambitious expansion plan, opening four more Gowings stores in other locations in Sydney.

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

In November 2005, after three years of successive losses, G Retail Ltd entered administration. Attempts to sell the business were unsuccessful and the last remaining Gowings store was the one in George Street Sydney, which closed its doors at 5:23pm on 29 January 2006. The building was then taken over by Supré

Supré

Supré is a teens apparel clothing chain in Australia and New Zealand.- History :Supré is focused on supplying clothing and is family-owned and operated by Hans and Helen van der Meulen, and their three daughters. The Supré chain originated from its first store in the light industrial area of...

. The building will open its doors to Australia's first ever Topshop

Topshop

Topshop is a British clothes retailer with shops in over 20 countries and online operations in a number of its markets. Its sales come primarily from women's clothing and fashion accessories...

 store in 2011.

External links

• What's in store for Gowings (Sydney Morning Herald article 19 December 2003)
• Next week Gowings really will be gone (Sydney Morning Herald article)