Although a number of retailers opened branches outside the city after World War II, Marcus Clark & Co’s growth was unprecedented: the 1915 Sydney Sands directory listed stores in Newtown, North Sydney, Armidale, Dubbo, Goulburn, Gunnedah, Inverell, Lismore, Lithgow, Narrabri, Newcastle, Nowra, Tamworth and Wollongong. Henry Marcus Clark’s early experience in Newtown may have alerted him to the advantages of regional and suburban retailing. It was probably also about this time that the company’s stock expanded greatly: a catalogue from around 1910 (TCQ 749.20491 CLA) lists departments ranging from manchester to ironmongery, musical instruments to stationery. For all visitors entering the city from the south it was an impressive sight: a landmark nine-storey structure of 150 feet in height, the tallest in Sydney at the time. Marcus Clark & Co made arguably its biggest and most lasting mark on Sydney in 1906 when the James Nangle-designed Central Square building, known as the flat-iron building, was erected on the corner of George and Pitt Streets, Railway Square, on the site of an early toll-gate. The success of the store led to a larger building being constructed on the site in 1909 but also influenced Marcus Clark to build more stores around Railway Square. It was, however, a slightly different concept as it stocked less expensive wares than its other stores and was given the name Bon Marche, a reference to the famous Parisian department store (but also the name of the store in Liverpool, England where Henry Marcus Clark was apprenticed). In the Sydney Sands directory for 1894, Marcus Clark was listed as a “wholesale and retail draper, tailor, milliner, boot warehouse and fancy repository the largest, best lighted and most comfortable establishment in Newtown, the floor space covering nearly an acre.” In 1896 Marcus Clark & Co opened a store closer to the city on the corner of George & Harris Street near Railway Square. The business quickly expanded, trebling itself within five years, and soon opened new stores in Marrickville and Bondi Junction. Henry Marcus Clark (1859-1913) established the company when he purchased the drapery business of his former employer, John Kingsbury.
Of course- I must share some history on this old timer:įrom a modest start in the Sydney suburb of Newtown in 1883, Marcus Clark & Co rose to become one of the city’s largest department stores with a network of branches in towns and suburbs across Australia. After much late night research on the web and with the help of a lady by the name of Cyndy in Nowra, New South Wales (You can view her site at Cyndy Kitt Productions) we came to the conclusion that this vintage New Century sewing machine cabinet is from the 1930’s by Marcus Clark & Co.
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