Charles Moore and Co.

Charles Moore and Co. was a company based in Adelaide, South Australia which owned a number of department stores in three Australian states.

[1] This shop closed in December 1909 after water leaking from the fifth floor percolated through the building, resulting in extensive damage to stock and fittings.

In 1914 he opened a new palatial store on the west side of Victoria Square[4] between Grote and Gouger Streets, designed by architects Garlick & Jackman.

No expense was spared in providing a maximum of display area behind large plate glass windows, generously lit by a huge leadlight cupola and extensive artificial lighting.

[3] On 2 March 1948 Moore's was gutted by fire; all that remained was some ground floor structures, the external shell, and the staircase.

In 1979 the store was sold to the South Australian Government and was later transformed into a major law courts building containing some 26 courtrooms, library and administration.

[12] Around 1900 Charles and his family moved to Melbourne, living at "Woorigoleen", Clendon Road, Toorak, where he died after a short illness, and was buried at Brighton cemetery.

[13] They owned a nearby property "Warrawee" on the corner of Grange and Struan Roads, where Mrs. Moore lived for a time, and subdivided for sale in 1918.

She purchased "Merriwa", A. Rutter Clarke's home, noted for its garden of indigenous plants,[14][15] on Orrong Road, Toorak in September 1917.

Charles Moore and Company, Hay Street, Perth, 1910
"Moore's on the Square" (now Sir Samuel Way Building)
Chapel Street Melbourne c1915. The four storey building second from the right was the Charles Moore and Co. department store (built 1903-1906 prior to the construction of Read's Emporium) [ 10 ] which was demolished in the 1960s to make way for single storey carpark.