Big W

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Big W
Type	Discount store/Public (ASX: WOW)
Founded	1970s
Headquarters	Sydney, Australia
Key people	Michael Luscombe, CEO
Industry	Retail
Products	Leisure Apparel Consumables Homewares
Employees	25 000
Slogan	We Sell For Less Everyday Low Prices
Website	Big W

Big W is the second largest discount department store in Australia, with over 120 stores located nationwide. It is a division of Woolworths Limited, the largest retailer in Australia. Its main competitors are Kmart and Target.

[edit] History

Big W stands for Big Woolworths. Woolworths Limited's original Woolworths variety stores carried a range of general merchandise. Later, the scope of these stores grew to include groceries, which then became their focus.

In the 1970's the company created two chains to separate out these lines - "Woolworths" and "Big W". This process was largely completed in 1989, however a few "Woolworths Variety" stores existed into the 1990's (such as the one in Rundle Mall, Adelaide).

Now Big W has over 120 stores, 25,000 employees, and is growing rapidly. Their future plans are to revamp more than half their stores and build/develop new stores. In 2006 Big W installed new LCD POS systems.

Woolworths Limited is an extremely fast-growing company which opens several Big W stores each year. They have recently opened these stores across Australia: in Melbourne- Watergardens and Waverley Gardens; in New South Wales- Liverpool and Centro Bankstown; in Queensland- Chermside, Noosaville, Atherton, Dalby, Gympie and Springfield Lakes; in South Australia- Seaford; in ACT- Canberra; in Western Australia- Midland Gate; and in Tasmania- Kingston. Forthcoming stores include Geelong, Victoria, Epping Plaza, Victoria (opening May 2007) and Doncaster (opening Late 2008).

[edit] Business

Being a discount department store, Big W sells a wide range of merchandise at low prices. Big W's main competitor is Kmart, owned by rival retailer Coles Group.

One of its key strategies is that of 'Everyday Low Prices'. The aim of this is to create a feeling amongst the public that they may walk into a Big W store and buy a product at a low price anytime, without having to wait for a special offer. Thus, Big W never has storewide 15% off days as Kmart does. Nevertheless, Big W still has a weekly catalogue with specials, which generally runs from Thursday to Wednesday (coinciding with the period of Kmart's weekly catalogue).

Many of the techniques used by Big W in promotions are nearly identical to the US chain Wal-Mart, such as the in store "smiley face" and the "price rollback". Indeed, former Woolworths CEO and one-time BIG W Managing Director Roger Corbett has a mentor relationship with a former President of Wal-Mart and has been appointed to the board of the American retailer.

[edit] Stores

Today, Big W has stores throughout Australia, in every state and territory. Traditionally, Big W stores have been located in suburban and regional locations. However, in recent years three stores have been opened in central business districts, at Macarthur Central (Brisbane) QV (Melbourne) and the Canberra Centre in Civic (Canberra).

Each store is divided into four departments, which consist of the following:

• Leisure
  • Books
  • Toys
  • Camping and Fishing
  • Sporting Goods
  • Leisure Furniture
  • Home Entertainment
  • Photo Lab
  • Travel Goods
• Apparel
  • Men's Apparel
  • Women's Apparel
  • Intimate Apparel
  • Children's Apparel
  • Footwear
  • Cosmetics
• Consumables
  • Confectionery
  • Stationery
  • Health and Beauty
  • Household Cleaning
  • Home Office
  • Special Occasions
  • Nursery
  • Pets
• Home
  • Small Appliances
  • Kitchenware
  • Manchester
  • Haberdashery
  • Light and Power
  • Motoring
  • Home Improvement
  • Gardening

Services available at each store include:

• Layby
• Parcel pick-up
• Home delivery (fee applies)

[edit] Employees

Big W employees are known as 'associates'. Associates work in a wide variety of roles, including:

• Checkout Operators
• Service Associates
• Lay-by Attendant
• Courtesy Desk Attendants
• Service supervisors
• Nightfillers
• Recovery

[edit] External links

• Big W - Official Site
• BIG W - Refund policy