Brian and John Jury

Over a remarkable seventy years, three generations of retailers built an iconic fashion business on the main street of Armidale, NSW.

The world was changing fast, and these canny retailers not only kept up with it, but they eagerly met head-on the demand for the latest fashion. They knew the key to their success was to ensure they were up-to-speed with the latest trends from international markets. This strategy maintained their operation’s position as a constant on the shopping lists of every person in the growing township.

An ability to morph their offering to meet ever-changing market demands, meant Jury’s was not simply the only place to shop, but also the only place to be seen.

William Jury arrived in Sydney from Kousba, a small village in Lebanon, in 1923. He originally worked in a barber shop in Sydney and eventually travelled to Cootamundra where he started a hawking business selling a variety of merchandise in the surrounding districts.

William married Eileen Ayoub who was born in Cootamundra and they moved to Armidale in 1927. He continued working as a hawker in the Armidale district, having purchased a horse and sulky from his father-in-law. William later purchased a shop in the main street (formerly a horse stable) which his wife managed whilst he continued the hawking business. This shop soon became “Jury’s – The Busy Store”.

By his side from an early age, were his two young sons, John and Brian. In their early teens both boys would serve an apprenticeship that would last more than forty years.

As William began to slow, John and Brian took more control of the family store. By the 1960s John and Brian, together with their wives Yvette and Pauline were raising young families. They became an integral part of the community, and it seemed everyone knew them.

John was the face of the front counter, with his friendly disposition and gentlemanly willingness to help: he made certain every customer left the store satisfied.

Brian, the younger of the two boys, was an innovator, always developing ways to improve the experience for the shopper: UX in the modern parlance.

Within the small department store of men’s, ladies and children’s wear, Brian and John created “Jury’s Jeanland”, offering the largest range of jeans in the city.

Before long, international labels became available in the store, and by the 1970s, the rear of the property had been converted into The Lemon Tree Café, complete with American-style club sandwiches, espresso coffee, thick-shakes, and European pastries and cakes flown in from Sydney twice a week.

It became known as the place to be seen, to meet and to socialise in the heart of the growing country town.

John and Yvette, Brain and Pauline were supported by their teenage children, Mark, Peter, Donna, Michael and Karena, making it a truly family business. The shop supplied something for everybody; school uniforms, surf wear, men’s suits, jeans and women’s high fashion.

The Jury brothers always had their fingers on the pulse. They brought new and exciting fashion trends to Armidale and the New England region. Jury’s became agents for fashion labels such as Esprit and a number of other well-known labels.

They were major sponsors and an integral component of the New England Wool Expo. They also sponsored a number of sporting groups particularly Rugby Union and League. Pauline and Yvette became proficient buyers in women’s fashion and would make frequent trips to Sydney and even international buying trips to ensure the merchandise available in the Jury’s store remained in fashion and cutting-edge.

As with most country towns, everyone knew everyone. It was a different time, and things worked differently too.

For example, the book at the front of the store recorded the items people had taken home to ‘try-before-you-buy’. It was an ‘honour system’ that could never be repeated in today’s impersonal, trustless society, such as it is.

By the 1980s, all five children had left for the big smoke, and the four ‘empty-nesters’ would eventually make the move to Sydney too; new territory and a true shake-up and change of pace from the rural life of New England.

John put his expertise to good use, in the David Jones’ menswear department, while Brian, after identifying a niche in the market, began a Country and Western mail-order business selling huge amounts of stock to buyers all over Australia.

With the popularity of his men’s tailored shirts, imported American boots and western hats, it wasn’t long before the Jury brothers were once again trading from a shopfront. This time it was on Oxford Street, in the bustling inner-city suburb of Darlinghurst.

It was the nineties, and “The Pandarra Trading Company” was a fully-themed country and western outpost, seemingly out of place in the wild and frenetic Oxford Street strip. But the Sydney locals truly were enamoured with these two rustic country boys, their welcoming yet unpretentious personalities, and their huge array of belt buckles, cowboy boots, country and western hats, clothing and music. Most of this stock was imported from the American Country and Western heartlands of Texas and Arizona.

Whether by good planning or sheer luck, the Sydney gay market and country and western enthusiasts embraced Pandarra, and the brothers became part of the fabric of that colourful strip of shops, cafes and nightclubs.

The shop received plenty of publicity. It featured in numerous magazine and newspaper articles and many photographers were constantly asking Brian and John if they could borrow merchandise to use in fashion shoots or as props.

Pandarra Trading Company ran successfully for ten years, and was reluctantly closed after Brian suffered a heart attack. The brothers could have put their feet up, but they remained active and busy with projects in mail order and property management, having been wise enough to plough any profits into some long-term commercial and residential investments.

More recently, in retirement, John could often be seen chatting to people over coffee and a cake at his local shopping centre, and he and Yvette were regular church-goers. He was at his happiest when he was around people; interacting with them as he had always done; always in a gentlemanly and respectful manner.

Brian it seemed never retired. Even in his late seventies, he was always looking towards the next venture. His focus was dragged away from the business world, however, after he suffered his most heartfelt loss: when his oldest daughter Donna succumbed to cancer after a brave battle of over five years. She left behind her husband Peter and six-year old daughter Madeleine. This deeply tragic loss compelled Brian to become even closer to his granddaughter, and he was constantly seen by her side, always driving her to music or sport, or taking her to school.

ADVICE

Throughout their lives Brian and John were never short on sharing their opinions about politics and sport alike. Neither of them was ever wrong, even when they disagreed with each other. Politics was never more partisan and the debates about sport became a sport in themselves.

Many hours were spent airing their philosophies on various topics with anybody who had the time to listen. At the bottom of it all was a truly authentic attitude that the customer was always right, and they devoted their lives to making sure their valued clientele always received what they wanted.