store portrayed in the bbc tv series see are you being served grace bros. type department store industry retail founded 1885 re branded 2004 headquarters sydney new south wales products clothing footwear accessories cosmetics homewares electrical furniture general merchandise slogan my store grace bros website http www.grace.com.au grace bros was an australian department store chain founded in 1885 . it was bought by myer later coles myer in 1983 . there were 25 stores across new south wales and the act until they were re branded under the myer name in 2004 . contents 1 history 1.1 broadway 1.2 the grace building 1.3 suburban store growth 1.4 country stores 1.5 locations 1.6 taken over 2 grace bros removals 3 notes and references 4 further reading 5 external links history edit albert edward grace the head of grace bros department store and his secretary in his office the broadway grace bros. store in the 1930s grace bros had a long and rich history of retailing in new south wales especially in sydney following its founding by the grace brothers albert edward and joseph neal grace in 1885 . 1 the two brothers migrated from england in the 1880s and sold goods door to door . in 1885 they opened their first small shop in george street sydney and by 1906 they had opened a five storey building at broadway now the site of the broadway shopping centre . in 1931 joseph neal grace died and albert grace became managing director of grace bros ltd. prior to his death in 1938 albert grace planned suburban expansion of the grace bros stores from the city a move which is considered the reason grace bros survived when many of their contemporaries perished such as anthony hordern s and mark foy s. isabel grace died in 1970 at age of 86 years . broadway edit sydney s major grace bros was located on broadway . through several different stores at varied locations in the city the store first came to bay st in 1904 . subsequent additions and property purchases over the years culminated in the existing buildings being completed in 1923 . grace bros boasted a store with among many features three and a half acres of furniture 2 the grace auditorium dominated the social life of sydney with dances fashion parades children s events displays and pantomimes held within it . 1954 saw the royal visit of queen elizabeth ii with the broadway stores extensively decorated . however the centre of sydney shopping gradually moved from broadway into the current cbd around market and pitt streets and grace bros vacated the broadway store in 1992 . the building was resurrected as a multimillion dollar retail and cinema complex in 1998 . the grace building edit main article grace building sydney in 1926 the grace brothers albert edward and joseph neal grace purchased a block of land on the corner of york clarence and king streets in sydney on which they would build the grace building the jewel in the crown of their retail empire . they believed the site was perfectly positioned for the building they planned would become the showpiece of the company with new public transport routes and the coming sydney harbour bridge turning york and clarence streets in the major city thoroughfares . company letterhead even showed the building as being ... on the harbour bridge highway . broadway had been affected by the shift of the city s commercial district toward circular quay and the changing public transport routes away from sydney s south end and so the grace building was to be the company s saviour . the grace building was officially opened by sydney lord mayor ernest marks on 3 july 1930 . york st never became the shopping thoroughfare the grace brothers had envisaged and combined with the effects of the great depression of the 1930s the building never lived up to expectations . by the onset of the second world war grace bros. was experiencing difficulty in leasing office suites 3 and much of the space was allocated to government departments . in 1943 the grace building was requisitioned under national security regulations by the federal government for use as headquarters by the supreme commander of allied forces in the south west pacific general douglas macarthur . in 1945 the grace building was compulsorily acquired by the commonwealth . in 1995 it was purchased by the low yat group of kuala lumpur for adaptive reuse as a 382 room hotel opening in 1997 . 4 suburban store growth edit grace bros parramatta in 1939 grace bros opened two small stores in suburban sydney in parramatta and bondi junction as early as in 1933 ; these stores were completely rebuilt and expanded in 1957 into the first department stores in australia designed with the family car in mind . in 1965 one of australia s first major suburban shopping centres opened at roselands at a then cost of 15 million . the centrepiece was a large grace bros department store . however at 4.30 pm on 13 june 1969 a huge fire broke out on the 4th floor of the grace bros section of roselands . fire brigades from all over sydney attended the huge blaze which caused thousands of dollars worth of damage before it was brought under control . suburban stores were subsequently opened at hurstville miranda parramatta penrith ryde closed 1985 bondi junction burwood now a david jones blacktown castle hill hornsby opened 1979 liverpool carlingford closed now a target chatswood macquarie centre and warringah mall . the castle hill store which opened on 11 august 2001 was the final grace bros. store to be opened under the grace bros. brand and was also the final store to be designed in nsw with a team at the roselands support office overseeing all the plans and development . country stores edit over the years grace bros. opened and also acquired other stores as part of its expansion . notable was the acquisition of publicly listed queanbeyan & canberra retailer jb young s ltd during late 1979 . the jb youngs stores traded under this name until mid 1986 when it was changed to grace bros. by acquiring jb young grace bros also became the owner of the value positioned apparel & manchester retailer fossey s and benefited from stores jb youngs had acquired in 1974 purcase of nsw retailer john meagher & co. there was a specific country division within grace bros. based in canberra established in 1985 at the time of the name change from youngs to grace bros. the country division was responsible for regional merchandising at the stores including kingston woden dickson civic act fyshwick quenbeyan goulburn cooma and batemans bay . the country division also included former myer stores in bathurst dubbo gosford orange wagga and tamworth . new country stores regional were opened in wollongong charlestown erina relocated from gosford . some of the stores that have closed include goulburn closed 1995 ulladulla nowra closed 2003 tamworth converted in 2003 to a target 5 bathurst closed 2004 cooma queanbeyan bairnsdale after becoming a myer converted to a k mart in 2004 6 . locations edit nsw metropolitan broadway opened 1885 blacktown acquired from myer 1983 bondi opened 1933 burwood acquired from myer 1983 carlingford acquired from myer 1983 castle hill opened 2001 chatswood opened 1961 hornsby opened 1979 hurstville opened 1990 closed 2015 liverpool opened 1972 macquarie opened 1981 maroubra opened 1981 miranda opened 14 september 1971 mount druitt opened 1973 parramatta opened 1933 australia s first suburban department store penrith acquired from myer 1983 previously fletcher s est. 1914 roselands opened 12 october 1965 sydney city acquired from myer 1983 originally farmers department store and ways department store sydney city piazza acquired from mark foy s 1980 top ryde acquired from aj benjamins 1964 closed 1985 warringah mall opened as a homemaker store in 1963 upgraded to full line store 1973 nsw country batemans bay previously emmott s jb young fossey s sold to allens 1988 closed 2007 bathurst acquired from myer 1983 closed january 2004 previously western stores cessnock homemakers store only charlestown opened 1989 cooma acquired from hain & co 1984 cowra acquired from myer 1983 previously western stores closed august 1994 dubbo acquired from myer 1983 previously western stores erina opened 1987 forbes previously meaghers & co. gilgandra acquired from myer 1983 gosford acquired from myer 1983 myer purchased local retailer mortimer s in 1968 . gb relocated to erina august 1987 goulburn previously roger s then mates closed july 1995 grenfell acquired from myer 1983 moruya previously emmott s jb young sold to allens 1988 currently haris scarfe newcastle homemakers store only nowra originally woodhill s previously mates orange acquired from myer 1983 previously western stores parkes previously meaghers & co. closed august 1994 queanbeyan acquired from jb youngs 1979 tamworth acquired from myer 1983 closed 20 may 2003 ulladulla sold to allens 1989 wagga wagga acquired from myer 1983 wellington acquired from myer 1983 previously western stores west wyalong previously meagher s then j.b. young s converted to target closed june 2015 wollongong opened 1987 young closed july 1995 act belconnen acquired from myer 1983 canberra opened 1990 dickson acquired from jb young 1979 sold to allens 1988 east row acquired from jb young 1979 closed 16 september 1989 fyshwick sold to allens 1988 garema place kingston acquired from jb young 1979 gb supermarket closed january 1987 remainder 16 september 1989 tuggeranong opened 1987 woden closed 25 july 1987 replaced with tuggeranong vic bairnsdale taken over edit in 1983 grace bros bought myer nsw excluding myer albury & myer tweed heads and then in july myer acquired grace bros holdings ltd. the myer store on market and pitt streets in sydney became the main grace bros store . in 1985 the company became a division of the coles myer corporation and the grace bros stores effectively merged with the 35 victorian based myer stores . in february 2004 a marketing decision was made to rebrand all the stores as myer stores . 7 this decision returned the myer name to nsw and once again it was a nationwide name . this angered many loyal grace bros shoppers . they resented myer always considered a melbourne company from taking over their sydney store . grace bros removals edit grace bros removals was established by albert edward and joseph neal grace in sydney in 1911 . today it is part of the grace group which consists of the removals group records management information management and self storage . grace removals group started out with a repository and two horse drawn vehicles ; today 100 years later the company boasts a fleet of over 500 vehicles and 40 branches spanning across australia and new zealand . notes and references edit joseph neal grace biography . australian dictionary of biography . retrieved 25 august 2006 . broadway shopping centre history . broadway shopping centre . archived from the original on 20 august 2006 . retrieved 25 august 2006 . grace building . office of environment and heritage . nsw government . retrieved 26 august 2013 . chronology of the grace building at teaching heritage nsw government tamworth and nowra grace bros store closures . nsw government hansard . nsw parliament . retrieved 25 august 2006 . bairnsdale myer set to close doors . australian broadcasting corporation abc.net.au . 2004 06 02 . retrieved 2013 08 26 . coles myer ditches grace bros name . b & t magazine . retrieved 25 august 2006 . further reading edit reading the past in the grace building at nsw teaching heritage external links edit myer . grace removals . grace information & records management grace fine art grace self storage michael lech historic houses trust of new south wales 2011 . grace brothers . dictionary of sydney . dictionary of sydney trust . retrieved 11 october 2015 . retrieved from