[3] The Grace auditorium dominated the social life of Sydney with dances, fashion parades, children's events displays and pantomimes held within it.

They believed the site was perfectly positioned for the building they planned would become "The Showpiece of the Company", with new public transport routes and the coming Sydney Harbour Bridge turning York and Clarence streets in the major city thoroughfares.

Broadway had been affected by the shift of the city's commercial district toward Circular Quay and the changing public transport routes away from Sydney's south end, and so the Grace Building was to be the company's saviour.

York Street never became the shopping thoroughfare the Grace Brothers had envisaged and, combined with the effects of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the building never lived up to expectations.

By the onset of World War II Grace Bros was experiencing difficulty in leasing office suites[4] and much of the space was allocated to government departments.

In 1943 the Grace Building was requisitioned under national security regulations by the Federal Government for use as headquarters by the Supreme Commander of allied forces in the south-west Pacific, General Douglas MacArthur.

In 1995, it was purchased by the Low Yat Group of Kuala Lumpur for adaptive reuse as a 382-room hotel, opening in 1997.

The Country Division was responsible for regional merchandising at the stores including Kingston, Woden Valley, Dickson, Civic, Fyshwick, Queanbeyan, Goulburn, Cooma, and Batemans Bay.

[12] In April 1983 Grace Bros purchased most of Myer's New South Wales stores excluding Albury, Chatswood Chase, Gordon, Lismore, Miranda and Tweed Heads.

[13][14] Having been the subject of a battle for control with the Adelaide Steamship Company, Bond Corporation, FAI Insurance, Myer, Westfield and Woolworths all buying and selling sizeable blocks of shares in 1982/83, Myer's takeover bid for Grace Bros was successful in June 1983.

[21] Up until July 2024, despite being a defunct retail chain, the Grace Bros. website was accessible and would only show an old photo of young women who are shopping for glassware.