Currys.digital
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about Currys.digital, the UK electrical retailer formerly known as Dixons. For the parent company, formally known as Dixons Group plc, see DSG International plc.
| Currys.digital | |
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| Type of Company | DSG International plc subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 27 October 1937 (as Dixon Studios Limited) |
| Headquarters | Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Nick Wilkinson (Managing Director, UK & Ireland Electricals since April 2004), Sir John Collins (Group Chairman since September 2002), John Clare CBE (Group Chief Executive since 1994) |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | White goods, Telecommunications, Information technology |
| Revenue | n/a (see DSG International plc for group revenue.) |
| Employees | 4,169 (2005) |
| Website | http://www.dixons.co.uk/ |
Currys.digital is an electrical retailer in the UK, and is owned by DSG International plc. With its origins in a photographic shop opened by Charles Kalms, the chain now has a store in most towns and cities across the UK and Ireland. It was known as Dixons until April 5, 2006, when the company announced they were moving away from the Dixons brand, except in Ireland.
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[edit] Origins
The first Dixons was opened by Charles Kalms in Southend as a photographic studio in 1937. The business flourished during the Second World War, as there was much demand for photographic services and family portraits. By the end of the war Kalms had opened seven more studios in the London area. Unfortunately for Kalms, the demands for portrait services decreased considerably after the war, and he was forced to close all but one studio in Edgware, north London. The company was taken over by his son Stanley Kalms, who was chairman until recently, and remains president for life.
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.
[edit] Reputation
The retailer has long suffered the reputation that its staff are unhelpful [1][2].
In November 1998 Dixons came under fire because of the prices it was charging for personal computers. Peter Mandelson said he was worried that consumers were getting a "raw deal" because of the store's dominant position in the market [3]. Intel's chief executive at that time, Craig Barrett, said that Dixons charges "ridiculous margins" [4]. The Intel Architecture Business Group said "Dixons has classic channel presence and can determine what gets sold at what price." Dixons responded that it could not make sense of the comments. The Consumers' Association said "Dixons controls over half of the high street distribution of PCs and they seem to be using this enormous market power to keep prices to consumers high" and has a "monopoly position in the high street" [5]. Criticism continued into 2000 when competitor John Lewis, with the support of two Members of Parliament, accused Dixons of stifling competition in the market by striking anti-competitive deals with suppliers [6].
The retail chain was criticised by the Consumers' Association in 2003 for the way staff pressured customers (through "dodgy sales tactics"[7] and "dubious practices"[8]) into purchasing poor value extended warranties [9][10], an issue which was widely reported in the press [11] [12][13][14][15][16][17], with Dixons facing particular criticism by virtue of supplying one-in-four of all extended warranties [18] accounting for 40% of the store's profits [19].
Also in 2003 The Daily Telegraph and The Independent reported that the chain had been selling used goods [20]. Dixons had been investigated by more than twenty-two of thirty county trading standards offices; in the previous two years thirteen counties had prosecuted the company and five had issued formal cautions, another 12 were contemplating prosecution [21]. Furthermore the chain has made a number of advertising claims which the Advertising Standards Agency judged were misleading [22][23][24] and advertised in-store credit in a way that the Office of Fair Trading ruled unlawful [25]. In January 2006 the BBC1 consumer rights programme Watchdog reported that Which? magazine had found Dixons the 5th worst retailer in Britain.
[edit] Rebranding to Currys.digital
On April 5, 2006, Dixons announced that they were removing their brand from the high street and would only be using the Currys brand, branded as Currys.digital. This was said to signal a shift to more Internet-based selling and to "reduce confusion". Dixons stores would be retained in Ireland, and other locations such as airports. The Dixons brandname was also retained via the company website.
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).
