The Wars Years

War’s end brought the task of rehabilitating returned service personnel and restocking depleted stores and warehouses. The first post-war store was opened at Bankstown, Sydney in July, 1948 and more stores rapidly followed. In 1954 Woolworths bought Her Majesty’s building outright for £1,100,000 ($2,200,000), an Australian record price for any one piece of real estate up to that time and in 1955 Woolworths opened its 200th store in the Civic Centre, Canberra.

In 1956 the Company started a staff Journal, soon to be called the Woolies News, which circulated to all states and stores keeping the Woolies family up to date on the activities of the rapidly expanding Company.