Dimmeys of Richmond: The Rise and Fall
Australian History Local History Cultural History Business Biography Retail Industry History Economic History Small Business Case Study
Dimmeys of Richmond: The Rise and Fall is the only full-length business biography of Australia’s most famous discount department-store dynasty, tracing a 150-year retail empire that began as a modest fabric shop and grew into a household name synonymous with bargain hunting. In 120 fast-moving pages, historian Samuel Furphy unpacks how the Dimmeys family revolutionised Australian retailing with cut-price “madhouse” sales, window-dressing theatrics and a willingness to challenge the cosy cartel of Melbourne’s department stores. Illustrated with archival photos, advertisements and floor plans, the book lets readers step inside the once-cavernous Richmond landmark and experience the sensory chaos that drew shoppers from every state.
What makes this hardcover special for collectors and students of business history is its rare combination of micro-local detail and national economic insight. Furphy uses company records, oral histories and newspaper headlines to show how Dimmeys mirrored—and sometimes bucked—wider Australian trends: gold-rush prosperity, post-war consumerism, the arrival of American-style discounting, and the eventual squeeze from suburban malls and global chains. The result is a concise case study of how a family firm can dominate a niche, expand aggressively and still succumb to shifting tastes, property prices and management mis-steps.
Young entrepreneurs, retail workers and heritage-minded Melburnians will value the book’s practical lessons on branding, customer psychology and the fine line between publicity genius and corporate over-reach. Unlike academic texts, Furphy writes with journalistic pace and a storyteller’s eye for colourful characters—think basement auctions, midnight openings, and the famous “$2 wedding dress” stunt that made TV news. At the same time, teachers of VCE Australian History or small-business courses can set confident reading assignments knowing every chapter is grounded in documented fact, not nostalgia. This clean, tightly-bound 2007 first edition belongs on the shelf beside classic Australian business histories such as “Myer” and “The Store That Rodney Built,” yet stands alone as the definitive chronicle of Dimmeys’ glittering rise and sudden fall.
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