Merivale (company)


Merivale is an Australian company. 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. It expanded into a successful and influential high-fashion chain with three stores in Pitt Street, two in Melbourne and one in Canberra. 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.
It expanded further into hospitality in the early 1990s with the Merivale restaurant in Potts Point, as it began winding down its fashion interests, closing the last fashion outlet in 1996.
John and Merivale Hemmes' son, Justin, took over the business in the mid-1990s and aggressively diversified into hospitality, operating more than 50 nightclubs, pubs and restaurants, primarily in Sydney, by 2015. Notable assets include Hotel CBD, the Newport Arms Hotel and the Slip Inn.