Trading name Pelaco Website pelaco.com.au Type of business Private company | Industry Retail Founded 1910 | |
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Pelaco is an Australian clothing manufacturer based in Melbourne. Pelaco is best known for its men's shirts. The Pelaco sign over its former factory in Richmond is a Heritage Victoria listed landmark.
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Foundation
The Pelaco brand was founded in the 1910s by James Kerr Pearson (born 31 July 1881 in Glasgow, Scotland — died 2 October 1950 in Richmond, Victoria) and James Lindsay Gordon Law (born 21 January 1881 in Ballarat, Victoria — died 18 February 1963, Fitzroy, Victoria). The company name came from the first two letters of its owners' surnames.
Products
From its inception, Pelaco's main product has been men's shirts.
Industrial relations
The Pelaco company under Lindsay Law has been described as innovative in its approach to industrial relations.
Saturday morning work was discontinued in its predecessor business in 1908. The company management appointed an " industrial relations officer" to mediate with employees in 1928. Pelaco was one of the first companies in Australia to employ an industrial psychologist. Lindsay Law came into conflict with unions and arbitration courts over the issues of piecework wages and child labour.
Business head office and factories
In 1922 the company established its head office in a factory in Goodwood Street, Richmond. The "Pelaco Sign" neon sign over the Goodwood Street factory was built in 1939. At the company's peak in the 1950s, it had ten factories across Australia.