Merivale is an Australian

privately held company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

, with property assets involved in the entertainment and hospitality sectors, predominantly in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Fashion years

It was founded in 1957 in Sydney by John and Merivale Hemmes, initially as a millinery in Sydney's Boulevard Arcade, later expanding into clothing. In 1959, the first House of Merivale fashion store was established in the Theatre Royal in

Castlereagh Street Castlereagh Street is a major street located in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs north-to-south, in a One-way traffic, one way direction only. Description Castlereagh Street's northern terminu ...

. It expanded into a successful and influential high-fashion chain with three stores in

Pitt Street Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sect ...

, two in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and one in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Hospitality and property diversification

Merivale diversified into both hospitality and property interests, acquiring the Angel Hotel building in Pitt Street, which included a restaurant that reopened as a boutique, and was the first item in a substantial property portfolio.John Hemmes obituary: Merivale Group founder and hospitality legend with sharp eye for fashion and restaurants
''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' 6 March 2015 It expanded further into hospitality in the early 1990s with the Merivale restaurant in

Potts Point Potts Point is a small and densely populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local government area o ...

, as it began winding down its fashion interests, closing the last fashion outlet in 1996. Hemmes' son,

Justin Justin may refer to: People and fictional characters * Justin (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Justin (historian), Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527) ...

, took over the business in the mid-1990s and aggressively diversified into hospitality, operating more than 70 nightclubs,

pubs A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

and restaurants, primarily in Sydney, by 2020. Notable assets include Hotel CBD, the Newport Arms Hotel and the Slip Inn. In 2021, Merivale purchased the Lorne Hotel for 38 million, expanding the company's reach into Victoria. In 2019 a

class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

was commenced against Merivale, alleging 129 million in under-payment of approximately 14,000 employees who were employed between December 2013 and December 2019. The litigants claimed that the employees were not paid for the significant

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

they were required to work, beyond the maximum allowance of 38 hours per week. Merivale denied the claims. On 30 March 2021, in a major loss to Merivale, Justice Thawley in the Federal Court ruled that the

WorkChoices WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard government#Fourth term: 2004–2007, Howard government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the '' ...

agreement was not validly approved. On 6 March 2024, Merivale, agreed to a 18 million settlement without admitting wrongdoing. The settlement, allocates about half of the funds to cover legal costs and the litigation funder's commission, with approximately 9.4 million earmarked for the affected workers.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://merivale.com/ Clothing retailers of Australia Companies based in Sydney Defunct retail companies of Australia Hospitality companies of Australia Privately held companies of Australia Australian companies established in 1957 Retail companies established in 1957

Fashion years

Hospitality and property diversification

See also

References

External links