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About Us
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WELCOME TO BALLANTYNES DEPARTMENT STORE Ballantynes has a strong reputation of providing high quality merchandise matched with outstanding service. For over a century Ballantynes has been regarded as one of New Zealand's leading department stores. Customers can rely on Ballantynes to supply only the best in Food, Fashion, Homewares, and Beauty products and services. Established in 1854, Ballantynes is New Zealand's first department store, it has outlasted the competition and continues to prosper with forward thinking. As well as the main shop in Christchurch City there are branches in Timaru and the Christchurch Airport.
150 Years of Excellence
Ballantynes is a family business with a history deeply rooted in that of Christchurch making it a local landmark. The company has maintained a strong presence in the city and supports a number of community initiatives. In the 1850s New Zealand was a new colony and little was produced in the way of fine clothing. Many in the young settlement longed for the quality goods they purchased in the 'motherland' of England. In 1854 Esther and David Clarkson saw an opportunity and set up a small Drapery in their Cashel Street cottage in Christchurch. Nine years later the retail business passed to William Pratt and in 1872 it was purchased by John Ballantyne, a retailer originally from Scotland. So began the Ballantyne legacy of fine retail, which six generations later continues to flourish under the Ballantyne name as a privately owned family company. |
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