Cribb & Foote Department Store

Benjamin Cribb opened the London Stores in Ipswich in 1849. In 1852 John Clark Foote was employed to manage the business.  By 1854/1855 Benjamin and John became partners and Cribb & Foote was launched. Their department store would become an icon of Ipswich and possibly the largest provincial store in the state, with a thriving mail order business. Cribb & Foote was to reign over Ipswich for 128 years. About 1859 Benjamin sold his interest in the store to Robert Cribb. It was only after this event that the store premises moved to the corner of Bell Street following purchase of the property of H.M. Reeve whose Australian Stores had stood on this spot.

London Stores was originally a simple timber building sited in Bell Street, Ipswich. Retail success and re-construction after a fire in the mid 1860s saw the business expand around the corner into Brisbane Street, with other buildings located in Nicholas Street. Cribb & Foote Garage was located at 144 Brisbane Street.   In the ensuing years Cribb &Foote would experience major renovations, new brick premises, and the addition of a three-storey wing in Bell Street in 1912. Their hardware and bulk stores building was designed by George Brockwell Gill.

For many years after the partnership of Cribb & Foote commenced the store was still often referred to as London Stores or Messrs Cribb & Foote, London Stores. In 1861 departments in the store were Grocery, Ironmongery, Saddlery, Glass and Delph, Boots & Shoes, and General Drapery. By 1969 there were 60 departments that sold everything from buttons to large machinery. 

Under the direction of Benjamin Cribb and John Foote, the firm established cotton gins at Fernvale and Churchbank, financing cotton growers at a time when cotton was a considerable industry in Queensland.  In a single year they were said to have sent 7,000 bales of cotton to England.

After Benjamin died, and J.C. Foote retired in 1891, younger members of both families became involved in the management of Cribb & Foote until 1925 when the Foote family sold out. In 1937 the Cribb family sold all their shares to a public company. Located in the heart of Ipswich the store continued to thrive into the late twentieth century, and was a familiar part of the landscape and lives of residents.

In 1972 Cribb & Foote was sold to Reids. It was re-named and became known as Reids in 1977.