NOW & THEN BOOK

F&C PIESSE BUILDING
The Piesse brothers first established a one-room store in
the town of Katanning in 1889, at the time the Great Southern
Railway was established. Owing to their success, they were
later able to replace this with a more substantial wood and iron
structure. In 1901 the Piesse complex was erected – the third
and finest of their stores. The building was designed by
E Summerhayes, of Perth, and built by J H Brown,
the contract price being over £3000.
From here the Piesse brothers continued their successful
trading operations until 1904 when Robert Lawson Richardson
entered into the partnership and the store became known as
Richardson & Co.
Richardson took the store into a very successful period,
whereby other branches were being opened up all
over the Great Southern and Richardson becoming a
household name. As a result, a new wing was added
to the store in 1908 to meet the demands. In 1924
the business was floated into a limited company
under the name of Richardson and Co. Ltd, with
Richardson as the Chairman of the Board.
Extensive additions and alterations were carried
out to the building in 1927, costing over £8000,
when the premises were purchased from the
Piesse estate. The architects were
Oldham, Boas, Ednie-Brown and the contractors
were Hine & May.
Top: F&C Piesse’s second store with the
brother’s mill in the background.
Right: The building as it was originally
constructed in 1901