John Martin's was a mid-market South Australian retailer which operated a department store network between 1866 and 1998. It's major store was in Rundle Mall, Adelaide and it became an anchor tenant for the development of suburban shopping centres at Arndale, Elizabeth, Marion and West Lakes.
It also had a network of independent country retailers which operated as its agent in regional towns.
For much of the company's existence it was locally owned but was part of the Intercontinental Buying Group of other state-based retailers including Grace Bros in New South Wales. John Martin's founded the national budget chain Venture when Myer brought the Target brand to Australia, Woolworths established Big W and GJ Coles introduced K-mart.
In the mid 80's the company was taken over by the Adelaide Steamship Company (Adsteam) and ultimately David Jones. John Martin's was refocussed and marketed as a less prestigious store but sales dropped. The suburban stores were then progressively closed with leases taken over by competitors.
On 15th March 1998 the Rundle Mall store closed and later the trading name John Martin's was returned to the Hayward family which had owned the company for much of its existence.
Generations of South Australian families shopped at John Martin's which was known for The Buttery restaurant inside the Rundle Mall store; The Magic Cave (1896) and the annual Christmas Pageant (1933) and for bringing The Beatles to Adelaide for four concerts at the Wayville Showgrounds in 1964 in conjunction with radio station 5DN 972. Adelaide had not been included on the itinerary because the city did not have a suitable venue for live concerts.
Andrew Heslop commenced his career at 5DN 972 in 1985.
Provided for information and education purposes only.
Copyright remains with David Jones Limited.
5 июл 2020
