Boans c.1938. Includes brass band playing in street with crowd gathered to listen and The Grand Central Shaftesbury Hotel in background. Boans is the name of an iconic department store that operated in Perth, Western Australia between 1895 and 1986. The store was founded by Harry Boan and his brother Benjamin who both came to Perth in 1895 from Broken Hill in western New South Wales.[1] Harry and another brother, Ernest had previously established a successful drapery known as 'Boan Bros. Ltd.' in that town. The Perth skyline viewed from the Swan River This article is about the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia. ...
Broken Hill is an isolated mining city and Local Government Area in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia, with a population of 21,000. ...
Capital Sydney Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Professor Marie Bashir Premier Morris Iemma (ALP) Federal representation - House seats 50 - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05) - Product ($m) $305,437 (1st) - Product per capita $45,153/person (4th) Population (End of March 2006) - Population 6,817,100 (1st) - Density 8. ...
The brothers arrived in Perth in mid 1895 when Harry was 34, and purchased two quarter-acre blocks facing Wellington Street and the Perth railway station.[2] The properties ("V.7-8") were purchased from W.B. Woods & Co, at a price of £42 per foot of street frontage.[3] They borrowed £62,000 and within four months, despite acute labour shortages, had built, stocked and opened a single-storey emporium on the site and named it 'Boan Bros.'. The store opened on 7 November 1895 with spectacular results, almost selling out by the end of the first day of trading.[1] The original buildings were described as a single store which ran from Wellington Street through to Murray Street and appeared as "a line of iron shops".[4] Perth Train Station (sometimes called City Train Station) is the largest railway station in Perth, Western Australia, and functions as an interchange between the Armadale / Thornlie, Clarkson, Fremantle and Midland railway lines. ...
The interior of a typical Macys department store. ...
November 7 is the 311th day of the year (312th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 54 days remaining. ...
1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...
In 1901, Benjamin died and Harry assumed sole ownership. Harry purchased adjoining land which spanned the block between Wellington and Murray Streets, near Forrest Place. The business was restructured to become a limited company in 1912 and the name was changed to Boans Ltd.[5] In the same year, the original buildings were demolished and rebuilt as a single building between Murray and Wellington Streets.[2]
Over time, the store became the largest private employer in Western Australia[6]
In late 1929 Harry Boan handed control of the Boans store to his son Frank Boan who had been living in England with his mother since 1913.
East Perth Furniture Factory
In about 1910[2] Boans opened a furniture factory in East Perth to service the shop. It produced bedroom furniture, including mattresses, dining and kitchen furniture. There was also a cane-ware and upholstery section. Imported furniture was also held there. East Perth waterfront apartments. ...
After World War II, the factory would also house a bakery and butchery where smallgoods were manufactured. Between 30 and 40 vehicles operated out of the receivals and despatch section which also included garaging and mechanical services.
After the Perth store closed, the building fell into disrepair for some years but in 1996 was assessed by the Heritage Council of Western Australia as having historic, aesthetic and social value. As part of the redevelopment of the area by the East Perth Redevelopment Authority, the buildings have now been transformed into upmarket housing and office accommodation.[7] The Heritage Council of Western Australia is the Government of Western Australia agency created to identify, conserve and promote places of cultural heritage significance in the state. ...
The site is bounded by Brown, Glyde and Saunders Streets and the building retains the prominent name of Boans painted on its exterior.
Suburban stores During the latter part of the twentieth century, the company expanded by opening a number of suburban stores, as part of the growing trend of decentralised 'shoping centres' out of the city centre.
These included:
Cannington is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Canning. ...
Morley is a suburb of Greater Perth, Western Australia, situated approximately 9km from Perths GPO. From the late 1950s, Morley began to develop as a major shopping and commercial centre. ...
Centro Galleria, formerly known as Westfield Galleria, is a large shopping centre in the north-east of Perth. ...
Innaloo is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. ...
Booragoon is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia located within the City of Melville. ...
Closure Myer Emporium (now Coles Group) purchased the business in 1985 and the Boans city store closed its doors for the last time on 12 April 1986. Coles Group Limited (formerly Coles Myer Limited) is an Australian public company which operates numerous retail chains. ...
April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ...
1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Ross’s Sales & Auctions held an on-site sale which cleared the entire building including many fixtures and fittings such as the jarrah staircases and a Beale Baby Grand piano "in-situ on the fourth floor". These items are now occasionally seen in refurbished and new buildings around Perth. Beale can refer to: Octavius Beale (1850-1930), a piano manufacturer and a philanthropist. ...
Myer went on to redevelop the site with a new and larger store carrying through to Forrest Place. The suburban stores were converted to 'Myer' badging.
Gallery Boans Limited, Wellington Street, Perth, ca. 1900-1910. |
References - ^ a b Toby Manford. Boan, Henry (1860 - 1941). Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition, Australian National University. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ a b c Boans Furniture Factory Assessment documentation. Heritage Council. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ David Hough (16 June 2005). Special Report - Boans tells history of Perth retail. wabusinessnews.com.au. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ 12th April 1986; Boans Closes. City of Perth. Retrieved on 2007-05-06. (note: this contradicts another source which says the original buildings faced Wellington Street only)
- ^ Boans Ltd (1912 - 1985). Guide to Australian Business Records. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ Private Archives Collection. State Library of Western Australia. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ Adrian Fini. Boans Warehouse. National Trust of WA. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
|
Feeds |
Contact