Chanticleer

Six decades on, Solomon Lew sets Myer a $5b goal

The retail veteran is banking on big things from a department store icon that has been part of his life for 61 years.

Jan 23, 2025 – 12.37pm

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From Solomon Lew’s office perched high above Melbourne’s Collins Street, the billionaire can look down and see the workshop in Flinders Lane where he officially started his retailing career 61 years ago, as the 18-year-old boss of a ragtrader called Voyager Solo.

One of Voyager’s biggest customers was Myer, the department store icon founded by one of Lew’s business heroes, Sidney Myer.

James Thomson is senior Chanticleer columnist based in Melbourne. He was the Companies editor and editor of BRW Magazine.