Milne & Choyce

Milne & Choyce, later trading as Milnes was a New Zealand luxury department store chain founded in 1867 and operating until at least 1992. At its peak Milne & Choyce operated at least seven branch stores around the North Island of New Zealand, alongside a Queen Street flagship.

On 3 July 1867, Mary Jane and Charlotte Milne took over the drapery shop of Mr and Mrs Wison at on the corner of Wyndham Street and Albert Street.^[1][2] The business was renamed Misses Milne.^[1]

In July 1874, the Misses Milne acquired the drapery shop of Mr. B. Cass within Cheapside House, on the corner of Queen Street and Wellesley Street.^[3] The original business on the corner of Wyndham Street and Albert Street continued to operate until operations were consolidated at Cheapside House in August.^[3] Sometime between this relocation and 1875 the business was renamed to M. & C. Milne.

In 1876, Charlotte Milne's husband Henry Charles Choyce took over her share in the company, and the business was renamed to Milne & Choyce.^[4][2] In September 1876, a fire occurred in the photography salon of John McGarrigle above Milne & Choyce's upstairs storeroom and destroyed much of the stores stock.^[2]

Milne & Choyce hosted a spring fashion parade in 1887, one of the first in Auckland.^[1]

In 1901, Milne & Choyce went people, and became Milne & Choyce Ltd., Henry Choyce served as managing director.^[1][5]

131 Queen Street was purchased in 1908 for £50,000.^[1][6] Milne & Choyce would now be situated "between the banks [Bank of New South Wales, Bank of New Zealand]".^[1][6] The company would relocate to 131 Queen Street store on 6 September 1909.^[7][8]

Mary Jane Milne retired at the age of seventy in 1909, though remained involved in the business until her death in 1921.^[2]

In 1923, the wooden premises were replaced by with a nine floor building (seven above ground), designed by Llewellyn Piper. The new store had six lifts, fire alarms, a private telephone exchange, and a workroom to produce custom-order garments and in-house labels.^[1]

Milne & Choyce purchased the Hooker & Kingston drapery of Hamilton in July 1950, it traded as Milne & Choyce from August 1950.^[9]

In January 1959, it was announced that Milne & Choyce and D.I.C. would now be associated for future merchandising and purchasing activities, to be coordinated through a shared buying office in Wellington.^[10] At the time Milne & Choyce had stores in Auckland (Central, Mount Roskill, Takapuna), Hamilton, and D.I.C. had stores in Christchurch, Dunedin, Lower Hutt, Wellington, and Whanganui.^[10]

The C.M. Ross & Co. department store of Palmerston North was purchased in September 1959 for £219,375.^[11][12] The store would be rebranded as Milne & Choyce and remain in operation until 1966.^[13] In 1966 the store was sold to D.I.C., in 1989 it was rebranded to Arthur Barnett.^[13] Arthur Barnett would close in 1992 and since 1996 the building has been home to the Palmerston North City Library.^[14][15]

In September 1960, a branch store opened in Takapuna.^[16]

In 1961, Milne & Choyce, Farmers, and Woolworths, entered into an agreement to purchase a plot of land in the Auckland suburb of New Lynn and develop New Zealand's first shopping centre.^[17] The shopping centre opened on 30 October 1963 as LynnMall.^[18][19]

In 1965, a branch store opened in Remuera. It was the largest suburban store of the company to date and featured a coffee bar that overlooked Hobson Bay alongside a self service food hall. One floor showed on Remuera Road but the store was actually three floors with a basement for storage and a rooftop carpark which could fit 60 cars.^[20] A Panmure branch store was opened around the same time.

In October 1971, a branch store opened at Māngere Town Centre.^[21][22] Milne & Choyce also purchased land in Howick for a new store.^[23]

In 1973, Fletcher purchased a 31.25% stake in the company. Also in 1973 rival department store George Court & Sons. and Atlas-Majestic Industries attempted take-over bids of Milne & Choyce.^[24][25]

On 28 February 1975, 131 Queen Street store closed and was relocated to the Downtown Shopping Centre.^[26] At this point, the company changed its name from Milne & Choyce to Milnes. The original 131 Queen Street flagship would become the Centrecourt Shopping Centre in 1986, Centrecourt would close around 2020.^[27] Following the closure of Centrecourt the building was renovated for offices and retail.^[28] In 2025, it was announced that Faradays department store would open its flagship store in the building.^[29]

Fletcher attempted a take-over bid of Milnes in May 1975.^[30] In January 1976, Haywrights took over Milnes and stores were rebranded to Haywrights.^[31] In December 1976 four stores (Mount Roskill, Pakuranga, Northcote, and Papatoetoe) were sold.^[31]

The Haywrights Downtown Shopping Centre flagship store closed in August 1979 as the company exited the North Island and retreated back to the South Island.^[32]

Due to unknown circumstances the Milnes store in Remuera continued to operate following the Haywrights rebranding and North Island exit. The company was known as Milnes of Auckland/Milnes Group and had three stores around Auckland (Remuera, 151 Queen Street, and Glenn Innes).

In March 1989, Milnes entered receivership and began seeking a buyer in April.^[33][34] In May 1989, the Queen Street store (closed since April) began a receivership sale in attempts to save the Remuera store.^[35][33] The Remuera store was sold in late November 1989 and would continue trading as a speciality department store.^[36] Milnes Remuera continued trading until at least 1992.^[37]