• McKinney’s Jewellers is Celebrating 140 Years

    The ‘Precious Memories’ campaign honours the enduring relationships built over decades as the McKinney family has grown alongside the families of their customers, creating bonds that span generations.

    McKinney’s customers have become like an extended family, with social events that encourage and extend these relationships. We celebrate marriages, the delight of new arrivals and some of the most momentous events alongside customers we now call friends.

    The McKinney family is honoured to play a part in these heartwarming events, celebrating the love and friendship that brings people together.

  • 1884

    John McKinney Pty Ltd is founded in Toowoomba. A barber shop and tobacconist at the outset, the business would soon start to evolve into one of the very first department stores.

  • 1934

    A men's and ladies' fancy department is
    added to the Ruthven Street store. It includes among other things giftware, chinaware and sporting goods.

  • 1976

    McKinney’s opens its first store outside of Toowoomba, in the Indooroopilly Shoppingtown in Brisbane. A department store initially, it would become best known for its chinaware, jewellery and gifts.

  • 1984

    McKinney’s celebrates its centenary year. The business is recognised by Wedgwood and Royal Doulton as their number one retailer in Australia.

  • 1988

    McKinney’s acquires the famous jewellery house Hardy Brothers from Christopher Skase, with high-end stores in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Port Douglas and the Gold Coast.

  • 2005

    McKinney’s opens a jewellery store in the fashionable Emporium retail precinct – now known as 1000 Ann Street - in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.

  • 2022

    Margot McKinney is invited by the Museum of Brisbane to showcase her work in an exhibition named ‘World of Wonder: Margot McKinney’. The exhibit is staged over six months and attracts 19,526 visitors.

  • 2023

    Extensive renovations to the McKinney’s store at 1000 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley are completed in November of this year.

  • 2024

    The business celebrates its 140th anniversary. Its history encompasses five generations of the family, with the great-great grandchildren of John McKinney Senior now actively involved.

  • McKinney’s - Where Precious Memories Begin