McDougall & Sons First Pembroke (now Wānaka) Store
Robert McDougall came to Cardrona in 1871 after operating stores in partnership in the Arrowtown area and doing some farming. His family followed shortly after in 1872. In brief, he and a business partner took over Patterson’s Cardrona store that eventually became Robert’s store.
A man not renowned for “standing still”, he applied in 1876 for a number of properties in the township of Pembroke (now Wānaka). Of special importance was the Crown Grant, dated 12 June 1876 to three Sections on Ardmore Street.
These Sections can be quickly identified by the location of the current Wānaka Four Square store which was at the eastern end of McDougall’s land. This location was central to his store business and other activities. He purchased Section 31 in 1885, which completed the total area for the store, though it wasn’t initially planned to use that much land.
Having completed living arrangements for his family, in 1879 he set about building a 40x20 foot General Store, on the site where the Four Square store now stands.
This photo shows an eight-horse team pulling a wagon loaded with flax and at the right-rear is the McDougall’s Store
The Pembroke store business thrived and in 1883 it became the Post and Telegraph Office. The bakery behind the store was destroyed by fire in 1888 but rebuilt.
By the turn of the century, the age of the wooden Pembroke store was showing, and it was replaced in 1904.
McDougall & Sons Second Pembroke (now Wānaka) Store
The photo shows the store after it was purchased by D A Jolly & Sons in 1914. It stands approximately where the Urban Grind café is situated today.
By the turn of the century, the age of the original wooden McDougall & Sons Pembroke store was showing. The attached bakery had suffered a fire in 1888, though it was rebuilt. In 1904, Robert’s sons, Andrew and Peter, demolished the old store and built a new one, marginally closer to Lake Wānaka, to the left of where the current Four Square store stands.
Robert McDougall Snr was now aging, and in 1910 he sold the Pembroke store to his son, Peter. However, Peter was not the businessman that his father was. He was bankrupted in 1913, and the store was sold to David Jolly, an astute businessman from Cromwell where he already had a General Store.
The Second Store after D A Jolly purchased it in 1914
The store was purchased from the Official Assignee by D A Jolly in 1914, and it was “business as usual” under the new owners. David Jolly was an experienced storekeeper from Cromwell and his original store building can still be seen in the Historic Area in Cromwell.
In 1926, David Jolly applied to the Council to install a petrol bowser at the store font. Just down the street at the Dunedin-Wanaka Motors Garage, Horatio Mackay also applied to have three pumps installed. The applications were successful.
But then, on 14 June 1926 the bakery at the back of the story was destroyed by fire overnight.
The Bakery remains and behind it the accommodation rooms for the White Star Hotel
The Jolly’s had been advertising since 1924 for tenders to build a new concrete store, and the fire suddenly accelerated those plans, resulting in what we now know as the Four Square Shop – the oldest remaining commercial building in Wānaka.
This building was constructed of concrete, with building commencing in 1926 following the bakery fire on 14 June.
The store is different today, since it was built apart from the lettering on the front, the fact that you now need to climb steps from Ardmore Street to reach the front door, and the removal of the addition (see behind the truck in the photo). After the Jolly family sold the business, the store was known as the Wanaka Store for many years with a number of different owners, before becoming part of the Four Square franchise.
