Sunday in my City - Surviving with style

Established in 1895 by Gastav A. Zink, this elegant store is now owned and run by the Jones family who bought it from Thomas Zink in the late '50s. The much admired art-deco shopfront was added in 1937.

Old monochrome images sourced from City of Sydney: Top: Zink's original store at 112 from 1895 to 1910 Mid left: Oxford Street from Hyde Park corner, prior to the widening showing the old Burdekin Mid right: Oxford Street from Hyde Park corner, after the widening showing the new Burdekin (the council helped each pub rebuild on the same lot!) Bottom: Aerial view in the '40s showing Zink's in the lower left

The comparison is a little presumptuous, but just as Paris was flattened and redesigned between 1852 and 1870 by Haussman, so was Sydney between 1909 and 1920, sadly sans le grand design! As mentioned with the post on Broadway, the 1909 Royal Commission determined that many streets needed to be widened or eliminated. Oxford Street was widened by resuming and flattening the entire north side of the street between 1910 and 1912. Some compensation was paid but not to Zink, who had to move a few doors down the street (from 112 to 56)and start over.


A member of the Sunday in my City community.