Charles Gilbert Ltd.

The firm of Charles Gilbert Ltd was 25 years old and headquartered in Queen Street, Brisbane when they decided to test the tailor-made suit and menswear market in Ipswich. The company rented two "sample rooms" (one room for men & one for women) in Greenham's Chambers in Nicholas Street and opened for business on Friday 25 February 1916. At first they sold household drapery, boots & shoes, menswear, tailoring materials, and "stylish requirements" for women. A cutter was to visit the Ipswich shop on a regular basis to measure and fashion suits for clientele. The firm's opening sale seems to have gone on for a month or more, offering such items as: ribbons, Organdie Linene, black cotton hose, indigo cambric, and trimmings. From early on, the company advertised its confidential easy terms  for buyers with repayment of credit to suit their budgets. 

Just over a year later in June 1917, Charles Gilbert Ltd. opened a new store in Brisbane Street (opposite Bell Street), and there was another opening sale for bargain hunters. It is possible that the business found it difficult to prosper in the tight economic conditions of the time,  many men absent overseas fighting in World War I, and then the influenza pandemic. Whatever the truth of the matter, Charles Gilbert Ltd had a new address in Nicholas Street (nearly opposite Whitehouse's) by July 1921. Following this event, very little was heard about the company and by February 1922 C. W. Parslow took over their tailoring and mercery shop. Of course, another opening sale ensued. 

Charles Gilbert Ltd. continued to operate in Brisbane for several more years.