Heritage

GEORGE COURTS DEPARTMENT STORE

The George Courts Department Store is one of K Road’s landmark buildings. In the 1990s it was converted into being an apartment building and is still an important asset to the area.

In 1886 two brothers, George and Frederick Court established a drapery shop in Auckland. In 1889 they were joined by their brother John, who with his wife Sarah and their eight children emigrated to New Zealand. By the time John joined the partnership in September 1889 the business had expanded to a second store. Frederick retired about two years after John's arrival. The firm continued to trade as Court Brothers, drapers and clothiers, in Karangahape Road and Queen Street.

By 1902 George and John Court were operating from three shops and with their older sons entering the business they decided to dissolve the partnership and establish separate firms. It was an amicable arrangement. George remained in Karangahape Road and John took over the two Queen Street shops.

After 1910 the John Court Department Store on the corner of Queen Street and Victoria Street East was known as the (DSC) following the purchase by John Court of the Direct Supply Company. The JCL corner was a landmark and favourite meeting place for citizens and visitors to Auckland. In 1966 John Court Limited was purchased by an Auckland-based syndicate, and in 1972 it was sold to Cornish Investments Limited of Wellington and soon afterwards the Queen Street Store was closed. [Paraphrased from Mogford, Janice C. 'Court, John 1846 - 1933'. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.]

The Big Store circa 1900

The Motto of John Court was that the JCL corner was “Always Busy” which was less of an idle boast than a plain statement of fact. On the façade of his premises in K Road George Court had an image of a beehive indicating the level of activity in his business but also implying the presence of that much loved virtue of the Victorian Period “Industriousness”.

Over the years the George Courts Store expanded its premises and took over several small shops along K Road. Its motto became “the Big Store” presumably referring not only to its size but also its range of goods. An attempt was made to provide a unified façade treatment across the three or four disparate wooden structures but like many other shops before and since eventually the decision was made to erect a new building.

The site on Karangahape Road was the highest point in the Auckland Street system so the construction of a “Big Store” there would be very noticeable. The new building was to be of fire-proof reinforced concrete construction. It was designed around 1922 by the architect Clinton Savage and opened in 1924. It boasted large metal framed windows and huge floor plates clear of pillars.

In the centre of the building rose a grand cast iron staircase and electric lifts with inlaid wooden interiors and uniformed attendants delivered customers to each floor. The huge windows were designed to display Persian carpets and fabric drops to attract attention from the other side of the street. At night it was brilliantly lit up by electric lights and was visible across the whole isthmus of Auckland. The “Big Store” had arrived !

Around the time of the First World War there were several competing Department Stores in Auckland. On Queen Street there was Smith & Caughey’s, Milne & Choyce and John Court’s DSC Store. Over in Hobson Street was the Farmers Trading Company and on K’rd was George Court’s and Rendells. As there was only one George Court Store the company obviously needed an angle in the market place to overcome the advantage held by companies like Farmers with 53 branches.

As well as clothing, fancy goods, china, glassware, and household items the Department Stores also provided furniture, carpets, linoleum and other larger items. Farmers even stocked saddles, gramophones and had it’s own jewellers. Several of them had smaller branches throughout the country. They provided mail order service to rural customers and would deliver items to the nearest rail head or boat landing at competitive rates.

The main advantage Department Stores had over most smaller shops was they offered credit and the convenience of just paying one bill. Instead of having to pay cash or have accounts with dozens of different shops an account with a department store meant one could purchase a large range of goods, have them delivered and easily pay them off over time. Instead of a dozen different bills there was just one bill a month. Department Stores vied for customers to select them as that one bill.

The style of the building is influenced by the work of the Vienna Secessionist School of architect, notably the work of Otto Wagner. Another influence was doubtless Frank Lloyd Wright of the Chicago School.

Apartment Building In Vienna by Prof. Otto Wagner.

The building was designed by the architect Herbert Clinton Savage (1890-1957). His first work in Auckland appears to be the Nurses Association Building in Mountain Road (1915).

From the mid 1930s he was the Auckland Director of the State Advances Corporation, a position which may have diverted him from designing many buildings. He died suddenly in february 1957. His last projects were the Pukehohe Maternity Hospital (1957) and the North Shore Hospital (completed after his death.)

For many years the roof of George Courts sported two huge radio antennae from which the 1YA radio frequency was broadcast across Auckland. [The first Broadcasting House was located in France Street just behind the Store.]

The commanding location of the building and its reinforced concrete construction resulted in its use during the Second World War as the Central Air Raid Command for Auckland. A reinforced room was fitted out in the basement for this purpose.

The George Courts Department Store sadly closed in the 1980s but its legacy remains a important part of K Road.

Edward Bennett K Road Historian