1886
George Court and his brother Frederick Court established a shop in Auckland.
George Court and his wife
1889
John Court joined and his wife Sarah and their eight children had just emigrated to New Zealand.
1891
Frederick Court retired from business, two Court brothers owned the building.
1900
George Court was elected unopposed to the Auckland City Council representing the Ponsonby ward. He remained on the council until 1909.
1902
George and John Court were operating from three shops and with their older sons.George remained in Karangahape Road and John took over the two Queen Street shops.
1905
John Court worked his employees hard but was regarded as a kind employer. The company of John Court Limited was registered, after which Court retired from the day-to-day running of the business. His four sons were all directors.
1906-1907
George Court represented New Zealand in Australia and Great Britain respectively.
1909
The company continued to prosper and expand, and had three shops.
1910
John Court purchased the three-storeyed Direct Supply Company (DSC) store on the corner of Queen Street and Victoria Street East, and two of the smaller shops were closed. The new store opened for business in the DSC building on 11 July 1910. The other shop was later sold and by 1920 the remaining premises had been rebuilt and enlarged to eight storeys.
1911-1915
George Court was a member of the council’s works committee, which was responsible for planning the sewerage system, reorganising roads and improving the city landscape. From 1913 to 1915 he held the office of deputy mayor.
1920
large emporiums had developed selling a large range of wares (George Courts being a case in point). These included shoes, corsets, hats, cosmetics and toys, underselling and outflanking many of the smaller specialist shops. Over the years George Courts took over shops along Karangahape Road.
1922
George Court donated funds for the purchase of the elephant Jamuna for the Auckland Zoological Park, and when the Auckland Zoological Society was formed in 1929 he was elected its first life member in recognition of his continuing support.
1926
Eventually the decision was made to erect a new flagship building which condensed all the different shops onto one site near the Pitt Street intersection. Architect Clinton Savage had designed the new building and opened in 1926.
1966
John Court Limited was purchased by an Auckland-based syndicate, and in 1972 it was sold to Cornish Investments Limited of Wellington and soon afterwards the Queen Street Store was closed.
1993
George Court converted into the apartment.
References:
https://at.govt.nz/media/1977616/karangahape-road-enhancements-project-business-survey-2018.pdf?from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0&fbclid=IwAR2cmVGZpMr-yToGk58zFJnEvCwfKBJDymw7S9kVkuiXpKyPJ83gpPsGAYE
https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/?fbclid=IwAR2s7rTbS5u2lu_WXLXkbRyUAsTWd1C53KpBtLk1qbpLsYdw_broxul9LHM
https://teara.govt.nz/en?fbclid=IwAR1-DZVpFcL4XHw-p2MwV9hqTtXXaJGogqgq-Imns-H7RD-9ss03wK0Jdmg
http://www.georgecourt.nz/?fbclid=IwAR3bsIURaqew9dC42SNPBBm4vyqIqDuaNNCLO9R8Ykj2hFkTZVHf2Vv2660
Encountering the Urban 