Sussan is an Australian women's fashion retailer, owned and operated by the Sussan Group (ARJ Holdings), who also own and operate Sportsgirl and Suzanne Grae.

History

The first Sussan store opened on

Little Collins Street Little Collins Street is a minor street in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The street runs parallel to and to the north of Collins Street and as a narrow one way lane takes on the name of the wider main ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

selling lingerie in 1939. By the end of 1951 there were three stores in Little Collins Street,

Collins Street Collins Street or Collins St. may refer to: Structures Places of worship * Collins Street Baptist Church, a church in Melbourne, Australia * Collins Street Independent Church, a church in Melbourne, Australia Skyscrapers * 101 Collins Street, a sk ...

and

Swanston Street Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of the main streets of the Melbourne central business district and was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertical ...

. In 1953, the first two stores opened in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

followed by a

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

store in 1956. During the 1960s, the Sussan range grew beyond traditional lingerie and blouses. By 1968, their expansion continued with the purchase of Chic Salon from Woolworths, a 94-store lingerie chain operating in

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and

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. This acquisition, along with the 60 existing stores in the southern states and Western Australia, made Sussan a national operation. In 1980, Keith Forster was appointed managing director. He had previously worked as the company's secretary. In 1985, the company had 200 stores and an annual turnover of around $100 million. It was owned by John Gandel and Marc Besen, each with a 50% share. That year, John Gandel sold his share in the company to Abraham Goldberg and Leon Lipkies, after Gandel decided to focus on his real estate interests. Goldberg and Lipkies has a pre-existing business relationship with Besen through their "control of Australia's biggest listed textile company" Entrad Corporation. The three men's combined shareholding in Entrad amounted to 76% ownership. In 2003, Naomi Milgrom, the granddaughter of founders Fay and Sam Gandel took control of the group after buying out her parents and siblings.

References

{{reflist 1939 establishments in Australia Retail companies established in 1939 Clothing companies of Australia Companies based in Melbourne Australian fashion