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In Sydney on Thursday, the CEO of our snootiest department store went public looking for a scapegoat for a profit downgrade he was about to announce. Everyone copped a spray, except himself and his board.
This brings me to my photograph today, which shows one of the walkways through the TGV building which stands diagonally opposite the Sydney Town Hall. TGV stands for The Galeries Victoria. No idea why it is called that.[Light-bulb Moment: it is opposite the QVB with its statue of Queen Victoris. Duh!!] However, the site has a fascinating recent history. Recent meaning in my life-time. Watch it!
This is the site of the old Waltons department store which put out its shingle in 1951. The Australian retail scene was changing and old allegiances were being strained - as they are now. Waltons took over Marcus Clark and then swallowed Anthony Hordern's Palace Emporium. Quickly followed McDowell's in 1971. By the following year Waltons had expanded to 96 department stores. The Waltons retail empire was sold to Alan Bond in 1981. The Waltons name disappeared when Bond sold the company in 1987. For many years it was a hole in the ground. Now it is TGV which, although you might think it to be a fast train in France, is actually a couple of malls with small boutiques and coffee shops.
And this stained glass hanging at the Pitt Street entrance.
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