Old Sydney Store To Close Down

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30803, 15 July 1965, Page 15

Old Sydney Store To Close Down

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

SYDNEY, July 14. One of Sydney’s oldest and largest department stores, Marcus Clark, Ltd., will close down on July 31.

Announcing this today, the directors said heavy losses partly through reduced trading, had forced the closure. The huge store, with a floor area of 247,600 sq. ft. and

fronting Railway square at the southern end of the city, opened in 1928. The company recently closed another large store in north Sydney, which began business in 1883. The directors said that the Railway square store had been operating at a substantial loss for some time, in spite of efforts to stimulate trade.

Two years ago the company spent large sums on modernisation and converting part of the premises into a park for 1000 cars. The directors said the major factors contributing to the store's trading losses were:—

The continuing decline of the southern part of the city as a trading area. The growth of competitive suburban shopping areas. Increasing costs of the travelle- • mail order operation. A high rate of bad debts. They said the closure of the two stores would alleviate problems in the rest of the group’s activities.