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From the Resene News – issue 2/2005 Back from the brink - David Jones Department
Store, Melbourne Just 50 years after the founding of the Australian colony, Mr David Jones, a Welsh-born immigrant, opened "large and commodious premises" on the corner of George and Barrack Streets on 24 May 1838. The small store prospered. David Jones and Co. received patronage from not only the Sydney gentry, but also the country settlers. They flocked to the store to buy buckskins, ginghams, waistcoat fabrics, silks, cotton tick. David Jones eventually retired and left the management of the store to his business partners. Unfortunately, the store failed and the assets of David Jones were assigned to Trustees. He came back out of retirement, borrowed heavily, and with the help of new partners and his son Edward Lloyd, managed to recreate the store's success. From there the story is a positive one with the company expanding throughout Australia including a store in Bourke Street, Melbourne. Like the business, the Bourke Street premises have come back from the brink. A heritage listed building, many layers of previous coatings first needed chemical removal, necessitating the use of the Peel-Away Sheet to comply with site safety considerations, before the repainting could take place. The old coatings had deteriorated severely over large areas leading to extensive degradation of the concrete substrate and corrosion of the steel reinforcement. Woodwork and decorative ironwork was also in poor condition. Following careful surface preparation, the walls were coated in Resene Sureseal penetrating sealer to help bind together the substrate followed by Resene X-200 Waterproofing Membrane tinted to Resene Double Spanish White (beige neutral) and Resene Sandcastle (salmon brown) to provide long-term protection. Timberwork and decorative ironwork were coated respectively in Resene Wood Primer and Resene Rust-Arrest before final topcoating in Resene Enamacryl waterborne enamel gloss tinted to Resene Renegade (brown edged red).
Preserved in style to satisfy heritage supporters and shoppers alike, the legend lives on. Architect: Rene Garcia, ML Design, Melbourne |
Dually
unique as Australia's oldest department store and the oldest department
store in the world still trading under its original name, David Jones
is an institution unto itself.
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