Sidney Myer's grandson urges retail giant to refurbish Bendigo store

Australia Broadcast Center

3 days ago

As the Myer retail chain faces a major shake-up under businessman Solomon Lew, residents in the regional city where Myer was born have called on the company to give its original store some love.
Australia's first Myer department store opened in Bendigo's Pall Mall 125 years ago, in 1900, 11 years before the doors swung open at its flagship Melbourne Bourke Street base.
It was the launch pad for what has become one of Australia's most recognised brands, with 56 stores across the country.
But step inside the Bendigo Myer store and it is easy to see why rumours about its future are circling around town.
Peeling linoleum floors are patched up with duct tape, and plaster crumbles from the walls.
Bendigo Historical Society former president Jim Evans said residents had always been proud of Myer's presence in town, but the facade of the historic building was falling apart, and the interior had also seen better days.
"Bendigonians are appalled at the state of the building," Mr Evans said.
"It's an iconic building and it's certainly something that would attract attention from all over the world."
Jane Symonds, 74, has shopped at the Bendigo Myer store since the 1980s and said it used to be a mecca of high-end local retail.
"Everything needs to be refreshed … they need to refurbish it, make it brighter, newer," she said.
"We need a big, quality department store like that in Bendigo because we've got bugger all."
Sidney Myer's grandson Andrew Myer, who is also the chair of the philanthropic Sidney Myer Fund, believes the Bendigo building should be restored to its former glory rather than sit in disrepair.
"I think it is a cornerstone building," he told the ABC.
"As a passionate family member and knowing that it is the first store, I would love Myer, particularly the CEO [Olivia Wirth], to take some personal interest in the refurbishment of the store."
The philanthropist said the state of the Bendigo store was a matter for the board and management, and he believed other family members had raised the issue personally with the Myer Group.
The ABC understands the Bendigo store's elevator has recently been upgraded and plans are in place to replace the roof.
A Myer spokesperson acknowledged Mr Myer's feedback and said a review of all stores was underway.
"We have a constant program of maintenance works across our store network, which includes Myer Bendigo.
"Myer owns the Bendigo store and there are no changes to our operations."
Bendigo's Chamber of Commerce Be Bendigo chief executive Hayley Tibbett said she had contacted the Myer Bendigo manager, but had not received a response.
"We all [the Bendigo community] feel a passion for Myer," she said.
Sidney Myer, born Simcha Myer Baevski, was a Russian Jewish immigrant who arrived in Melbourne in 1899.
He opened a small drapery shop in Bendigo with his brother Elcon in 1900, which went on to become Myer and now extends to Hargreaves Mall.
The brothers prospered in central Victoria and opened another Myer store in Bendigo in 1908. In 1911, Sidney Myer bought a drapery store in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which is where the Myer Emporium flagship store still stands today.
The National Library of Australia holds newspaper records showing that in the 1930s at the height of the Great Depression, Mr Myer arranged to provide Christmas dinner for 10,000 people mostly from poorer families in Melbourne.
At the time, the Brisbane Courier reported that Mr Myer said he did not want the sense of charity to enter into the project, but rather for the people to feel like his personal guests to whom he wished to give a memorable Christmas.
The legacy of his philanthropy continues through the Sidney Myer Fund and The Myer Foundation.