Cribb & Foote
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
Cribb & Foote was a department store in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, that existed from 1849 until 1985. It was renamed Reid's department store in 1977.
{{Infobox company
| name = Cribb & Foote
| industry = Retail
| founded = {{Start date and age|1849}}
| founder = Benjamin Cribb
John Clarke Foote
| defunct = {{End date and age|1985}}
| hq_location_city = Ipswich
| hq_location_country = Queensland, Australia
}}
Early history
Ipswich businessman, Benjamin Cribb opened a drapery store in 1849 and entered into partnership with John Clarke Foote in 1854.{{Cite web|url=https://www.qt.com.au/news/from-a-humble-start-city-store-grew-in-stature/1748394/|title=Ipswich firm Cribb & Foote well known to "old colonists"|website=Queensland Times|language=en|access-date=2020-03-13}} Trading as Cribb and Foote they established a department store in Ipswich.{{Cite web|url=https://queenslandplaces.com.au/exhibit/book/flb060|title=Cribb & Foote premises, Ipswich {{!}} Queensland Places|website=queenslandplaces.com.au|access-date=2020-03-13}} The original brick building was designed by architect F.D.G. Stanley. It featured light wells for natural lighting and ventilation. It was central to the early community, supporting cotton farming and other local industries.{{Cite web|url=https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/UQ_216975|title=History of Queensland : its people and industries : an historical and commercial review descriptive and biographical facts, figures and illustrations : an epitome of progress.|last=Fox|first=Matthew|date=1923|website=espace.library.uq.edu.au|access-date=2020-03-13}} The original building suffered damage from a fire in 1865{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article190530010|title=Fire at Ipswich.|date=1914-12-11|work=Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934)|access-date=2020-03-13|pages=30}} and they established extended premises on the corner of Bell and Brisbane streets. Subsequent renovations in 1912, added a three-storey wing in Bell Street, as well as adding a lift, and its own electricity supply.{{Cite journal|date=September 2013|title=How retail has changed|url=https://www.ipswichplanning.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/2938/PDU-Edition-15_Low-Res.pdf|journal=Ipswich City Council: planning and development update|volume=15|pages=11–14}} It sold everything from buttons to cars.{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article185108742|title=CRIBB AND FOOTE 90 YEARS OLD– BUT MODERN STORE|date=1939-05-15|work=Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947)|access-date=2020-03-13|pages=21}} They also ran an agricultural machinery store in Nicholas Street. Cribb and Foote opened a pharmacy and smaller branches in and around the Ipswich region. They also offered a mail order service, for the whole of Queensland.{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115992351|title=Cribb and Foote Sale. STORY OF FIRM'S GROWTH.|date=1937-06-24|work=Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld. : 1909 - 1954)|access-date=2020-03-13|pages=8}}
File:StateLibQld_2_106572_Shoe_department_in_Cribb_and_Foote's_Ipswich_store,_April_1949.jpg
Sale to Walter Reid and Company and destruction by fire
Cribb and Foote was acquired by Walter Reid and Co. in 1972 and the store was renamed Reid's department store. The store was destroyed by fire on August 17, 1985.{{Citation|title=Reids Department Store fire documentary|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAroH8mFUD0|language=en|access-date=2020-03-13}} The intensity of the fire melted the clock face of the Ipswich Clock Tower. Investigations into the fire established arson but the four people charged and convicted of lighting the fire were acquitted on appeal. No one was subsequently tried.{{Cite web|url=https://www.qt.com.au/news/can-you-remember-the-fire-at-reids/1241327/|title=Can you remember the fire at Reids?|website=Queensland Times|language=en|access-date=2020-03-13}} The loss of Reid's led to a downturn in trade within the city.
The Kern corporation took over the development of the site in 1986 to establish Ipswich City Square. Reid's operated out of the Town Hall for some time after the destruction of the store before closing permanently.
Legacy
The Memorial gates at the hockey grounds in Chermside Road, East Ipswich were a centenary gift to Ipswich from the Cribb and Foote firm.{{Cite web|url=https://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/east-ipswich|title=East Ipswich {{!}} Queensland Places|website=www.queenslandplaces.com.au|access-date=2020-03-13}}
Descendants of the Foote family now own Foote's Pharmacies, a well known pharmacy chain in Ipswich.{{Cite web|url=https://www.qt.com.au/news/foote-familys-fine-marquee-tradition/3046917/|title=Foote family's fine marquee tradition|last=Lems|first=David|website=Queensland Times|language=en|access-date=2020-04-15}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Category:Defunct department stores of Australia
Category:Companies based in Queensland
Category:Australian companies established in 1849
Category:Retail companies established in 1849
Category:Retail companies disestablished in 1985
Category:Australian companies disestablished in 1985
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