John Martins

John Martin & Co. Ltd, colloquially known as John Martin's or simply Johnnies, was an Adelaide-based company which ran a popular chain of department stores in South Australia. It operated for more than 130 years, from 1866 until its closure in 1998. Johnnies, owned by the prominent Hayward family for the majority of its existence, became an Adelaide icon, responsible for the famous Adelaide Christmas Pageant.

John Martin's had its origin in a single draper's shop "Peters and Martin" founded on Rundle Street by Otto Peters and John Martin on 24 October 1866. Peters withdrew from the partnership after a few years and opened his own store in Darwin, Northern Territory. He would later die in the wreck of the Gothenburg. The partners had taken over two adjoining shops to the east, and in 1875 Martin took over two more, and by 1880 a further two had been purchased, giving the store a frontage of 120 feet (37 m). The principals of the company were then John Martin, E. W. Hayward and Richard Martin, with a staff numbering 500. On 22 August 1889 the business was restructured as a Limited liability company. John Martin died at his residence on 25 November 1889, of excess and debauchery said the Kalgoorlie Sun.

A rebuilding program began in 1898, with the Charles Street corner block being replaced with a modern structure of two-storeys and a basement, then the central block was rebuilt, but was destroyed by fire on Easter Saturday 1901. The King of Hanover Hotel to the west was purchased in 1902, bringing the store's frontage to 180 feet (55 m). In 1934 the central section was rebuilt seven storeys high, with a sub-basement for control gear, boilers, emergency generators etc., especially designed not to interfere with the Magic Cave.

John Martin's was a respected "middle market" retailer, with a reputation for quality, range and value. Indeed, for many years, their claim was that they were the "Big Store" in Rundle Street- Adelaide's major shopping precinct. They had business links with other major regional department store retailers (Sydney's Grace Brothers and Tasmania's FitzGerald's) with joint ownership of the "Intercontinental Buying Group". This was in an era when Australian department store retailing was largely State based. Also, John Martin's had significant shareholdings in other prominent South Australian companies.

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