AustLit

Dymocks, one of Australia's most successful bookselling and publishing enterprises, originally began when twenty year old William Dymock began selling books from a rented room in Market Street, Sydney in 1881. The young Dymock was an astute and energetic trader, and his business expanded rapidly. During the 1880s he relocated several times - to 243 Pitt Street in ca. 1883; to 208 Pitt Street in 1884 (the first store known as Dymock's Book Arcade); to 142 King Street in 1887. In November 1890 Dymock's Book Arcade then moved to a grander location at 428 George Street.

An article (and/or advertisement) in the Sydney Mail from 1890 describes the original layout and extent of Dymock's Book Arcade in George Street. The article asserts that Dymock had consciously attempted to emulate the famous Melbourne establishment of E. W. Cole. Clearly, there was some attempt to make Dymock's Book Arcade, like Cole's in Melbourne, a grand establishment and a fashionable social hub. The Sydney Mail article notes that a band played daily in the afternoons, and there was also 'a late promenade concert on Saturdays from 7 to 10pm'. It also claimed that Dymock's Arcade possessed some 20 miles of shelving and half a million books.

After William Dymock's death in 1900, his nephew John Malcolm Forsyth became managing director of the business. Under Forsyth's management, Dymocks continued to prosper. In 1922 the company acquired an adjacent property at 426 George Street and redeveloped the Book Arcade, completing the new building in 1930. Besides being a leading Sydney bookseller, Dymocks was also a major publisher of Australian works, particularly in the period 1890-1960. From the 1960s, however, Dymocks has concentrated on retail bookselling. In 1981, William Dymock's grand-nephew John Forsyth (the son of John Malcolm Forsyth) bought the company and modernised its retailing practices. In 1986, Dymocks began to sell franchises, and it continues today as a successful retail chain. (Source: http://www.dymocks.com.au/ContentStatic/Corporate/About.aspx)