St George? Multi-Cache

This cache has been archived.

Bunjil: Unfortunately there does not seem to be any evidence that indicates that steps have been taken to resolve the issue/s associated with this placement or an indication as to when this might take place

It would appear the owner of this cache listing is no longer interested in the cache and the cache has been abandoned.

As such the cache is being de-listed (Archived). If there are components or remnants of the cache, please recover them as we don't want to litter our environment with Georubbish.

If you wish to contact me regarding this cache, please send an email via my profile - Bunjil, and quote the cache name and GC number.

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Hidden : 5/2/2008
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Welcome to Team GraMon's Twelfth Cache
A 2 part cache and a trip to the first G. J. Coles store.




The Start
George James Coles (1885-1977), businessman and philanthropist, was born on 28 March 1885 at Jung Jung, near Murtoa, Victoria.

The second of ten children and eldest son of George Coles, storekeeper, and his first wife Elizabeth Scoular, both were Victorian born. The family moved frequently, establishing several stores - one being at St James.
 George James Coles was educated at various state schools and was a boarder at Beechworth College.

In 1910, after working in Melbourne and in the country, George James Coles bought his father's store at St James. Three years later he decided to travel to the United States of America and Britain to observe the methods and style of retailing. He was greatly impressed by what he saw, particularly in the '5 and 10 cent stores', common in the U.S.A.
In April 1914, in partnership with his brothers Jim and (Sir) Arthur, he opened the first Coles "variety store" in Smith Street, Collingwood. Expansion to more stores occurred and the chain was regarded as the leaders in providing value to Australian shoppers.

WW1
Enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on 18 June 1917, George James Coles fought in France as a lance corporal in the 60th Battalion. In April 1918 at Villers Bretonneux he was shot in the knee and evacuated to England. He was discharged on 1 March 1919 in Melbourne. His brothers Arthur, Jim and David had also served in the A.I.F.; Jim was killed in action (1916) and David died from wounds (1917).
On 7 February 1920 George married Margaret Gertrude Herbert with Anglican rites at Holy Trinity Church, Kew; they were to have five children.

Post WWI
After the war George and Arthur sold their Collingwood store to an uncle and in June 1919 opened another in larger premises in Smith Street, Collingwood. The success of the partnership encouraged them to establish G. J. Coles & Co. Pty Ltd on 1 July 1921, with George as managing director. By 1924 their brothers (Sir) Edgar and (Sir) Kenneth, and half-brother (Sir) Norman had also become involved. They began to use the slogan 'nothing over 2/6' [approx 30c] which became a by-word for the business.

Expansion
Expansion was swift. During the 1920s G. J. Coles & Co. acquired further stores and in 1924 opened one in Bourke Street, in the heart of Melbourne's central business district, diagonally opposite the Myer Emporium. It contained what was said to be Australia's first self-service cafeteria.
On 31 October 1927, with nine stores operating in Victoria and total sales of £840,000, the company went public.
The next year it purchased Cole's Book Arcade, Bourke Street, Melbourne, and opened an Art Deco store there.
Suffering poor health in 1931, George James Coles handed over the managing directorship to Arthur, but remained as chairman. His autocratic style of leadership led to an abortive attempt by his brothers to oust him in 1935 amid public controversy.
G. J. Coles & Co. continued to expand despite the Depression, and on the eve of World War II operated eighty-six stores nationally.

Expanding Interests
Finding that the less onerous role of chairman enabled him to pursue other interests, in 1934 George James Coles had become president of the Melbourne Rotary Club. In the previous year he had taken on the honorary position of treasurer to the Alfred Hospital and was soon advocating expansion and improvement. He was appointed chairman of a sub-committee to develop a ten-year building plan, which in 1936, proposed a multi-storey development. George contributed some £10,000. As president (1939-42) of the board, he made good use of knowledge acquired since his appointment (1935) to the Victorian Hospital and Charities Commission. George made a further substantial contribution to the Alfred Hospital to enable the construction of a much-needed wing. It opened in 1943 as the Margaret Coles Maternity Wing (from 1955 Margaret Coles House) in honour of his wife who had joined him in energetically supporting several charities, among them the Melbourne District Nursing Society.

Post WWII Expansion
After World War II the retailing sector of G. J. Coles grew rapidly. Dominated by a few family dynasties, retailing was highly concentrated and G. J.Coles acquired many of the smaller chains. In the l950s Selfridges (Australasia) Ltd, Penneys Ltd, F. & G. Stores Ltd and Manton & Sons Ltd all succumbed to Coles' aggressive expansion policies.

Retirement
In 1956 George James Coles retired as chairman and continued as a director. He remained comparatively aloof from the family business, concentrating more of his energy on political and philanthropic causes. He belonged to the Royal Melbourne and the Peninsula golf clubs (president 1954-58), as well as to the Athenaeum, the Victoria Racing and the Melbourne Cricket clubs, but his family and other intellectual interests took up most of his time. A committed Christian, he was a warden of St John's Anglican Church, Toorak.

George's support of conservative political ideas had helped to promote the foundation of the Institute of Public Affairs in 1943. George James Coles was president until 1957, but was not a significant financial backer and preferred to keep behind the scenes. He appears to have maintained a similar role at the National Bank of Australasia [now NAB] where he was a director (1946-68) and vice-chairman (1966-68).

Appointed C.B.E. in 1942, George James Coles was knighted in 1957 in recognition of his charitable activities. In his later years he gave money for building the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine, opened at the University of Melbourne in 1963.
Survived by his wife, son and three daughters, Sir George James Coles died on 4 December 1977 at his Toorak home and was cremated. His estate was sworn for probate at $986,486.

The Company Grows
The family business continued to expand, forming a partnership in 1968 with an American company in the establishment of K-Mart (Aust.) Ltd. With the takeover of the Myer operation in 1985, Coles Myer Ltd became the largest private employer in Australia.
In 1960, the first Coles supermarket was opened in Melbourne suburb, North Balwyn and in 1973, a Coles store had been established in all capital cities of the country.

Adding Kmart
Kmart Australia Limited was born out of a joint venture between G.J Coles & Coy (Coles) and Kmart Corporation in the US. The first store opened in the Melbourne suburb of Burwood in 1969.
In 1978 G J Coles acquired full ownership of the Australian K-Mart operation and in 1994 bought back all shares Kmart Corporation held in Coles Myer.
A long-term licensing agreement allows Coles Group to use the Kmart name. Kmart New Zealand shares merchandise and branding with Kmart Australia, and is owned by Coles Group Holdings New Zealand.

Adding BI LO
BI-LO was established by John Weekes in Adelaide. during the late 1970s. The first stores opened at Stirling and Aldgate in South Australia's Adelaide Hills region after being converted from hardware outlets, followed by the acquisition of a third store at Murray Bridge. Coles Myer cited that by 1979, BI-LO was South Australia's cheapest grocer.
By 1987, BI-LO was operating 28 supermarkets in South Australia and generating one third of metropolitan Adelaide’s supermarket sales, when it was acquired by Coles Myer, which also purchased the 34-store Shoeys discount supermarket chain in New South Wales (subsequently re-named as BI-LO). BI-LO would later expand into Queensland and Victoria.

In 1996, BI-LO acquired the six-store Newmart discount supermarket chain in Western Australia which then became the equivalent to BI-LO in Western Australia. By August 2002, it grew to 16 stores before being transferred to the management and being re branded as Coles, though some stores were sold off to FAL and became Action Supermarkets.

Becoming Coles Myer
By the 1980s, Coles primarily operated supermarkets, whilst Myer operated a chain of mid-market department stores, as well as the Target Discount variety store chain in Australia. In August 1985, the Myer Emporium Ltd and GJ Coles & Coy Ltd merged, becoming the largest ever Australian Corporation. The official name change to "Coles Myer Limited" followed in January 1986.

The End
On 2 July 2007, Wesfarmers announced it was purchasing the Coles Group retail business for A$22 billion making it the largest successful take-over in Australian corporate history. Wesfarmers officially took control of Coles on 23 November 2007, after paying almost A$20 billion for the company.

The Cache
Go to the above co ordinates and see the first G J Coles Store,
note what date the shop was built on the plaque there.
What is the date?
If 1880 go to S36 16.485 E145 53.675
If 1882 go to S36 16.185 E145 53.376
If 1884 go to S36 16.685 E145 53.577
If 1886 go to S36 16.985 E145 53.479

Enjoy!

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