Rundle Mall

The western extent of Rundle Street, which originally ran to King William Street, was closed in 1972 to form the pedestrian street of Rundle Mall.^{[citation needed]}

Grand Central Hotel / Foy & Gibson

The Grand Central Hotel was a magnificent heritage building which was located on the corner of Rundle Street and Pulteney Street, a six-storey Victorian-style building opened in 1911. It was later concerted into a Foy & Gibson retail store, designed to complement their adjacent furniture emporium adjacent. The building was demolished in 1975 and the Rundle Street UPark was built there.^[7]

The Grand Central in its turn replaced the elegant and exclusive two-storey York Hotel,^[8] but despite some high-profile guests (the Prince of Wales in 1920, Arthur Conan Doyle in 1922), it never prospered, and around 1925 was absorbed into the emporium.^[9]

The building was sold to the Electricity Trust for showrooms and offices, then in 1975–1976 was demolished to make way for a multi-level car park,^[10] an open, austere structure of concrete slabs and iron railings.

Rundle Street siege

In September 1976, a Victorian man, Michael O'Connor, entered Hambly Clark's gun shop (now closed) at 182 Rundle Street, between Pulteney Street and Synagogue Place, and stole two shotguns which he loaded with his own ammunition. He then began shooting indiscriminately. After a lengthy confrontation he was shot by a police sniper and taken to the nearby Royal Adelaide Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.^[11]

The Austral to Malcolm Reid building group

The Malcolm Reid & Co. Ltd building is part of a group at no. 187-207 originally built for the South Australian Company in the early 1880s. The company commissioned architect William McMinn to design a set of buildings in stages from east to west. The first building, comprising 14 shops and a hotel to provide accommodation in the three storeys above, were completed in January 1880. The section later occupied by Malcolm Reid & Co. was completed last, around 1883. The completed group occupies almost two town acres, and is unusual in Adelaide in South Australia on account of its extent.^[6]

The group is solidly constructed, made of sandstone with stucco decoration. The original composition was altered slightly by chamfering the corner with Bent Street, and adding a tiered balcony to the hotel (the Austral), and the hotel and the section occupied by Malcolm Reid were later painted.^[6]

The group bordered Foy & Gibson's to the west, with Malcolm Reid opening next door^[27] in September 1909.^[28] At this time, number 195 Rundle Street was occupied by W. Storrie and Company , "Importers of British & Foreign Merchandise", with F. Weller & Son leather shop next door. Malcolm Reid premises are located between Wellers shop and Foy and Gibson.^[27] By 1929, Both Storrie and Weller had gone.^[29] Storrie closed in 1916.^[28]

This part of the building, formerly used as a warehouse by Charles Segar,^[28] was extensively refurbished in 1909, to create a continuous frontage and almost complete reconstruction of the rear.^[6] As part of the renovation, a large basement was excavated, measuring 66 ft (20 m) by 120 ft (37 m), and the total accommodation doubled, according to The Advertiser of 14 September 1909. The expansion and opening took place within around a year of Reid and his family having been in England for several years.^[28]

The accommodation behind the Austral and the four adjoining shops remain representative of 19th-century terrace development, with large bluestone walls along with brickwork.^[6]

The facade of the Malcolm Reid Emporium, occupying nos. 187-195, was heritage-listed on the South Australian Heritage Register on 5 June 1986,^[30] after a survey of the whole group was undertaken.^[6] The signage is still retained today.^[30]

The hotel on the corner of Bent Street was opened as Cohen's Family Hotel, in 1898 being renamed to the Astral.^[28] The Austral Hotel, which was heritage-listed on 5 April 1984,^[31] was held by licensees William and Edith Garrett in 1929.^[32] It became known for its illegal betting in the 1950s, undergoing a transformation as a major venue for live music in the 1980s and 1990s. It became the first pub in South Australia to have Coopers beer on tap, and later underwent an extensive restoration in 2020.^[33]

Grundy's Shoes

Grundy's Shoes has been in the shoe trade in the East End since 1868, first operating as Judd Shoes, a cobbler, and continuing as a family business which later imported and sold shoes. The Rundle Street store (built 1896) first traded as H. Grundy and Co^[34] making it the longest continuous trader in the street. The company expanded to include Grundy's and Barlows shoe stores across greater Adelaide and Victor Harbor.^[35] In March 2018, the store celebrated 150 years in operation by a ceremonial transportation of goods by horse and cart from their Glenelg store to their Rundle Street store.^[36][35] As of 2023^[update] Grundy's is owned by the Judd and Whittenbury families, who bought the business in 1921.^[34] It continued to perform strongly through a downturn in the industry in 2019.^[37]