How a penniless 21-year-old built a mighty retail empire
Sidney Myer arrived in Melbourne as a 21-year-old with no money and little English. Soon he was selling towels and sheets door to door — but he had a bigger vision in mind. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST NOW
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The tale of Sidney Myer is one of Australia’s great rags-to-riches stories.
He arrived in Melbourne aged 21 in 1899, virtually penniless and able to speak only a smattering of English.
Yet he worked his way to the top from humble beginnings, walking the streets of Bendigo hawking sheets and towels door to door.
The founder of the Myer empire is the subject of today’s new episode of the free In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters.
Sidney Myer was born Simcha Myer Baevski, the youngest of 11 children.
In 1899, he followed his older brother Elcon to Australia, fleeing poverty and Jewish pogroms in Belarus, which was then part of the Russian Empire.
Initially, he worked with his brother at Slutzkin’s, an underclothing manufacturer in Melbourne.
But then the two brothers headed for Bendigo, which was then the richest regional city in Victoria despite the 1890s depression thanks to the success of quartz gold mining.
They opened a small drapery shop, Myer’s, in Bendigo in 1900.
While Elcon ran the shop, Sidney began trudging around the residential streets of Bendigo on foot, selling door to door many of the goods Myer still sells today such as towels and sheets.
Despite his lack of English, the young Sidney learned quickly and the business prospered.
It wasn’t long before the brothers saved enough to buy a horse-drawn cart, allowing Sidney to expand his network.
Soon the brothers were able to open a second, larger shop in Pall Mall, Bendigo’s main street.
In 1914, Sidney Myer opened the iconic eight-level Bourke Street Myer Emporium.
It was the showpiece of the grand Myer empire, which eventually expanded to 60 stores across Australia.
The Bourke St shop was the biggest department store in the southern hemisphere and the fifth largest in the world.
By the early 1930s, Sidney Myer was a respected businessman and philanthropist, renowned for his ethical management style and business acumen.
A violinist and music lover, he established free open-air concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1929.
But Melbourne was left reeling after Sidney Myer’s life was cut tragically short in 1934 when he died unexpectedly, aged 56.
About 100,000 mourners lined the streets to pay their final respects and watch his funeral procession.
His legacy lives on today through the Sidney Myer Fund and The Myer Foundation, which continue his tradition of philanthropy, as well as the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, named in his honour.
LISTEN TO IN BLACK AND WHITE ON ITUNES, SPOTIFY OR WEB
You may also enjoy our previous episodes on the eccentric entrepreneur who created the Melbourne bookstore that was part shop and part circus, and how Australia’s Willy Wonka founded a chocolate empire in his parents’ Fitzroy bathroom.
See In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper Monday to Friday for more stories and photos from Victoria’s past.