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Milne & Choyce
New Zealand department store chain From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Milne & Choyce, later trading as Milnes was a New Zealand luxury department store chain founded in 1867 and operating until at least 1992. At its peak Milne & Choyce operated at least seven branch stores around the North Island of New Zealand, alongside a Queen Street flagship.
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On 3 July 1867, Mary Jane and Charlotte Milne took over the drapery shop of Mr and Mrs Wison at on the corner of Wyndham Street and Albert Street.[1][2] The business was renamed Misses Milne.[1]
In July 1874, the Misses Milne acquired the drapery shop of Mr. B. Cass within Cheapside House, on the corner of Queen Street and Wellesley Street.[3] The original business on the corner of Wyndham Street and Albert Street continued to operate until operations were consolidated at Cheapside House in August.[3] Sometime between this relocation and 1875 the business was renamed to M. & C. Milne.
In 1876, Charlotte Milne's husband Henry Charles Choyce took over her share in the company, and the business was renamed to Milne & Choyce.[4][2] In September 1876, a fire occurred in the photography salon of John McGarrigle above Milne & Choyce's upstairs storeroom and destroyed much of the stores stock.[2]
Milne & Choyce hosted a spring fashion parade in 1887, one of the first in Auckland.[1]
In 1901, Milne & Choyce went people, and became Milne & Choyce Ltd., Henry Choyce served as managing director.[1][5]
131 Queen Street was purchased in 1908 for £50,000.[1][6] Milne & Choyce would now be situated "between the banks [Bank of New South Wales, Bank of New Zealand]".[1][6] The company would relocate to 131 Queen Street store on 6 September 1909.[7][8]
Mary Jane Milne retired at the age of seventy in 1909, though remained involved in the business until her death in 1921.[2]
In 1923, the wooden premises were replaced by with a nine floor building (seven above ground), designed by Llewellyn Piper. The new store had six lifts, fire alarms, a private telephone exchange, and a workroom to produce custom-order garments and in-house labels.[1]
Milne & Choyce purchased the Hooker & Kingston drapery of Hamilton in July 1950, it traded as Milne & Choyce from August 1950.[9]
In January 1959, it was announced that Milne & Choyce and D.I.C. would now be associated for future merchandising and purchasing activities, to be coordinated through a shared buying office in Wellington.[10] At the time Milne & Choyce had stores in Auckland (Central, Mount Roskill, Takapuna), Hamilton, and D.I.C. had stores in Christchurch, Dunedin, Lower Hutt, Wellington, and Whanganui.[10]
The C.M. Ross & Co. department store of Palmerston North was purchased in September 1959 for £219,375.[11][12] The store would be rebranded as Milne & Choyce and remain in operation until 1966.[13] In 1966 the store was sold to D.I.C., in 1989 it was rebranded to Arthur Barnett.[13] Arthur Barnett would close in 1992 and since 1996 the building has been home to the Palmerston North City Library.[14][15]
In September 1960, a branch store opened in Takapuna.[16]
In 1961, Milne & Choyce, Farmers, and Woolworths, entered into an agreement to purchase a plot of land in the Auckland suburb of New Lynn and develop New Zealand's first shopping centre.[17] The shopping centre opened on 30 October 1963 as LynnMall.[18][19]
In 1965, a branch store opened in Remuera. It was the largest suburban store of the company to date and featured a coffee bar that overlooked Hobson Bay alongside a self service food hall. One floor showed on Remuera Road but the store was actually three floors with a basement for storage and a rooftop carpark which could fit 60 cars.[20] A Panmure branch store was opened around the same time.
In October 1971, a branch store opened at Māngere Town Centre.[21][22] Milne & Choyce also purchased land in Howick for a new store.[23]
In 1973, Fletcher purchased a 31.25% stake in the company. Also in 1973 rival department store George Court & Sons. and Atlas-Majestic Industries attempted take-over bids of Milne & Choyce.[24][25]
On 28 February 1975, 131 Queen Street store closed and was relocated to the Downtown Shopping Centre.[26] At this point, the company changed its name from Milne & Choyce to Milnes. The original 131 Queen Street flagship would become the Centrecourt Shopping Centre in 1986, Centrecourt would close around 2020.[27] Following the closure of Centrecourt the building was renovated for offices and retail.[28] In 2025, it was announced that Faradays department store would open its flagship store in the building.[29]
Fletcher attempted a take-over bid of Milnes in May 1975.[30] In January 1976, Haywrights took over Milnes and stores were rebranded to Haywrights.[31] In December 1976 four stores (Mount Roskill, Pakuranga, Northcote, and Papatoetoe) were sold.[31]
The Haywrights Downtown Shopping Centre flagship store closed in August 1979 as the company exited the North Island and retreated back to the South Island.[32]
Due to unknown circumstances the Milnes store in Remuera continued to operate following the Haywrights rebranding and North Island exit. The company was known as Milnes of Auckland/Milnes Group and had three stores around Auckland (Remuera, 151 Queen Street, and Glenn Innes).
In March 1989, Milnes entered receivership and began seeking a buyer in April.[33][34] In May 1989, the Queen Street store (closed since April) began a receivership sale in attempts to save the Remuera store.[35][33] The Remuera store was sold in late November 1989 and would continue trading as a speciality department store.[36] Milnes Remuera continued trading until at least 1992.[37]
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