Two hour long Helena Rubenstein Beauty Schools were held in Palmerston North's PDC tearooms in the 1960s. The original Premier Drapery Company building was owned by Watchorn & Co and then W F Durward until it was reorganised into the PDC in 1915 when bought by James Wallace. In 1956 the company was taken over by the Manawatu Co-Op Society and renamed the Premier Department Store. The PDC was demolished in 1990 to make way for the Plaza Mall and ceased to exist.