The Hordern Tree

 

The Hordern business was originally established by a free immigrant from England, Anthony Hordern, in 1823, as a drapery shop. A further large menswear store was later opened in upper George Street.  It went on to become Anthony Hordern & Sons with a famous department store in Sydney.

One of its advertising slogans was that it sold “anything from a needle to an anchor”. The crest on their coat of arms was a budding tree with the motto: “While I live I’ll grow”. It appeared above all the store’s window fittings and on all its stationery.

A Port Jackson fig tree located on a ridge on the south side of the Razorback range near Camden, bore a striking resemblance to the tree pictured in the trade emblem. In the 1920s Anthony Hordern arranged with the land owners at the Razorback to erect a hoarding sign alongside it, bearing the store motto.

Anthony Hordern & Sons

Anthony Hordern was the founding member of the Hordern family in Australia and the business remained in family hands for a century. A substantial six-storey building was opened by them in 1905, called The Palace Emporium, the main entrance being completely fitted out in imported Italian marble.

The store was located on a block bounded by George, Liverpool, Pitt and Goulburn Streets in the south end of the CBD, on what was a small hill called Brickfield Hill. It was also one of the largest mail order businesses in Australia.

It was once the largest department store in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With 52 acres (21 hectares) of retail space, Anthony Hordern’s was also once the largest department store in the world.

It was controversially demolished during 1986 to make way for the World Square development.

 

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