Currys
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Currys | |
 |
|
| Type | Part of DSG International plc |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1884 |
| Headquarters |  Hemel Hempstead, England |
| Key people | Per Bjørgås (Group Managing Director, UK and International Electricals Division since January 2006), Sir John Collins (Group Chairman since September 2002), |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | White goods, Telecommunications, Information technology |
| Revenue | n/a (see DSG International plc for group revenue.) |
| Employees | 8,843 (2005) |
| Website | http://www.currys.co.uk/ |
Currys is an electrical retailer in the UK and Republic of Ireland, and is owned by DSG International plc. It specialises in home electronics and household appliances, with 295 superstores and 73 high street stores. Their annual sales in 2003/04 were £1,752 million and £1,852 million in 2004/05. In April 2006, it was announced that Dixons stores (except in Ireland) would be rebranded as "Currys.digital", taking the total to 550 stores.
Currently the store which has the highest turnover is in Fosse Park, Leicester and has a yearly turnover of around £30 Millon.
In Ireland however the Currys brand will continue to be only used for large-format stores, with Dixons retained on the high street. Currently Currys is the leading eletrical retailer in the United Kingdom just ahead of Comet their main competitor.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] The First 100 Years
Currys was founded in 1884 by Henry Curry (born 1850) when he started to build bicycles full time in a shed at the back of his garden at 40 Painter Street, Leicester, England. He opened his first shop in 1888 at 271 Belgrave Gate, Leicester. The company was put on a proper financial footing in 1897 when Henry formed a partnership with his sons calling the company H. Curry & Sons. The business continued to grow and floated on the stock exchange in 1927, by this time the shops sold a wide variety of goods including bicycles, toys, radios and gramophones. Currys pulled out of cycle manufacturing and retailing in the 1960's to concentrate on electrical goods.
| Year | Number of stores |
|---|---|
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1908 | 6 |
| 1914 | 32 |
| 1925 | 135 |
| 1930 | 192 |
| 1940 | 215 |
| 1943 | 170 |
| 1953 | 251 |
| 1963 | 360 |
| 1973 | 411 |
| 1983 | 550 |
[edit] 1984 Taken over By DSG International
Currys was taken over by DSG International plc (owners of the Dixons electrical products retail chain) in 1984 but maintained its separate brand identity. In April 2006, DSG announced that its Dixons stores (except in Ireland and in duty-free areas in airports) would be rebranded as Currys.digital, in addition to the existing Currys outlets, making a total of 550 Currys stores in all.
Before the Dixons rebranding, the chain contained only a few small town-centre high-street stores compared with its much greater number of large out-of-town superstores. These stores are generally split into four main departments - Computing, Home Entertainment, Major Domestic Appliances and Small Domestic Appliances. The stores are a mix of display products and self-service sections.
Currys nowadays sells solar panels.
Customer's can also now reserve and collect products, meaning products can be reserved on the internet, then checked and bought at the local retail outlet.
[edit] End of Currys High Street stores
It was announced on 17th January 2007, by John Clare, the Group Chief Executive, that as the leases on the remaining 'Currys High Street' stores (not the rebranded Currys.Digital stores) expire, it is unlikely that the leases will be renewed, hence the stores will be closed at the earliest opportunity. This was included as part of 'Jeremy Warner's Outlook', a business comment panel in the Independent newspaper (UK). Business Comment 18th January 2007, The Independent website
[edit] Criticisms
The Currys brand, like its Dixons predecessor, continues to flout Advertising Standards Authority regulations. In its February 2006 bulletin the ASA upheld a complaint that whilst Currys was advertising a package featuring the 'latest' AMD processor there were more recent processors available (bulletin-pdf format). A similar complaint was upheld made against similar advertising claims in the May 2006 bulletin (bulletin-pdf format). Also in a recent survey Currys along with Argos and PC World had one of the worst customer services. This was mainly due to the shop format and how customers found it hard to navigate through the stores to find exactly what they wanted. Another set-back was the lack of knowledge that staff had on the products (especially the White Goods).
