LASSETTER'S OF SYDNEY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 120, 21 May 1926, Page 7

LASSETTER'S OF SYDNEY

PASSING OF A GREAT BUSINESS.

(From Oar Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, 14th May. Yet another, and the last of Sydney's greatest "family" businesses engaged in detail distribution, has ceased to exist as such. It is what is shortly known as Lassetter's, in George street, one of the largest retail houses in Sydney.. The fact that this old firm, which was established more than 100 years ago, has ceased to sell to the public, and that the business, under some other'name, will pass into other hands, arises from the decision of the trustees of the estate of Frederic Lassctter, son of the founder of the firm, to realise the property and to distribute the estate to the beneficiaries. Lassetter's, in George street, has been a city landmark for years, and has enjoyed what might1 be termed the better-class clientele. The original Frederic Lassctter, like many other pioneers of the commercial life of Sydney, started life in an obscure way. Among the firm's relics, which will be handed over to the Mitchell Library, is a bankbook of 1820, in the Bank of New South Wales. The account was kept in dollars, which was' then the currency. It was as.a sales clerk that j-'rederic Lassetter, at the age of about 14, got his foot on the first rung of the commercial ladder. His smartness attracted tho admiration of a leading citizen ,and with the latter's fatherly and sympathetic advice he never looked back. He was one of those who took part in the historic gold rush from Sydney to Turon, when Sydney became practically deserted and only women and children were seen in the streets. With Lassetter's and Anthony Hordern's passing into other hands, with Farmer's adding to their massive pile of buildings, and with David Jones passing before very long from George street into magnificent new quarters, Sydtaey's retail business is undergoing some sweeping changes. Marcus Clark, another household word in Sydney, are also erceting, at Central square, a new home which will be a worthy addition to the city's imposing buildings.