Myer is Australia's largest chain of department stores, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and travel goods.

Early history

Sidney Myer and his brother opened the first Myer store in Bendigo, Victoria in 1900. After prospering, the second store opened in 1908. In 1911, Sidney Myer purchased a drapery store on Bourke Street, Melbourne and in the following years purchased adjoining properties, eventually building a store known as the Myer Emporium.

From its base in Melbourne, Myer built Australia's largest chain of department stores, and the only chain with stores in all Australian states.

Myer's growth involved developing its own stores (in the process becoming one of Australia's major property developers and owners) as well as acquiring other department stores, including Adelaide's Marshall's, Western Australia's Boans in 1984, Queensland's Barry and Roberts and in New South Wales they acquired Farmers & Co in 1961 and Grace Brothers in 1983. In Adelaide, the company Myer SA Stores Ltd began after acquiring a shareholding in Marshall's department store in 1925 and its shares continued to be listed on the Adelaide Stock Exchange until Myer Emporium Ltd made a successful takeover bid in 1966.

Target, Grace Bros and merger with GJ Coles

In 1968, Myer acquired Geelong's Lindsay's stores, renaming the business Target following the purchase of name and logo from US Target Corporation and positioning it as a discount department store chain.

In 1983, Grace Bros. bought Myer NSW, and then in July of that year Myer acquired Grace Bros. Holdings Ltd. The Myer store on Market and Pitt Sts in Sydney became the main Grace Bros. store.

In 1984, Myer acquired Boans Ltd, the dominant Western Australian department store chain and embarked on a major redevelopment of its Perth City Store.

In 1985 the Myer Emporium (and Target, its discount department store) merged with GJ Coles & Coy forming Coles Myer Limited, then Australia's largest retailer. Myer remained a distinct entity within the new corporate structure until it was sold in 2006.

At the post-Christmas sales in 1992, the glass doors to the Grace Bros Sydney City store were shattered by a stampede of shoppers.

In 2000, Coles Myer CEO Dennis Eck, faced with lower sales and profits from Myer and Grace Bros. stores took the department stores down market, reducing service levels, increasing stock volumes on the selling floor and introducing product to appeal to younger consumers. In doing so, he ended up replicating the approach of another of Coles Myer's chains, Target. The resulting effect included reduced customer visits and reduced units sold per transaction. In 2001, Coles Myer set about to reposition the store to appeal to customers lost in the down market experiment.