Progressive Enterprises
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Progressive Enterprises | |
|---|---|
| Type | Limited liability company |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Headquarters | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Industry | Retail |
| Employees | 18,000 |
| Parent | Woolworths Limited |
| Website | http://www.progressive.co.nz/ |
Progressive Enterprises Limited is an Australian owned company operating in New Zealand, and a subsidiary of the Australian retail group Woolworths Limited.
Progressive Enterprises, with a 45% market share,[citation needed] is New Zealand's largest grocer. Along with the conglomerate rival grocer Foodstuffs, it forms part of the New Zealand supermarket duopoly.
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[edit] Company history
- 1949 - 1988 Progressive Enterprises
Progressive Enterprises was established in 1949 by the Picot Family
In 1961 Progressive Enterprises became the parent company to Foodtown Supermarkets Limited.
- 1988 - 1992 Coles Myer Limited
In March 1988 Progressive Enterprises became part of the Australian company Coles Myer. During this time it saw the expansion of the Foodtown chain to areas outside Auckland (Hamilton, Wellington, Tauranga, Palmerston North and Wanganui) and also saw greater expansion within the wider Auckland area. Coles Myer also brought with them the Kmart and Katies brands to New Zealand.
- 1992 - 1994 Progressive Enterprises - Public Company
In April 1992 Coles Myer relaunched Progressive Enterprises onto the New Zealand stock exchange as a public company. During this time no new Foodtown Supermarkets were opened.
- 1993 - 2005 Progressive Enterprises - Foodland Associated Limited (FAL)
In October 1993 Foodland Associated Limited (FAL) brought the majority shareholding from Coles Myer and shortly after brought all remaining public shares and delisted Progressive from the New Zealand stock exchange. With this purchase Progressive Enterprises became the parent company for a number of FAL brands. Progressive Enterprises consisted of: Foodtown Supermarkets, Countdown, 3 Guys, Georgie Pie Restaurants, Rattrays and Supervalue.
On June 17, 2002 Progressive Enterprises Ltd bought Woolworths (NZ) Ltd from Hong Kong based owners Dairy Farm Group. The sale saw Progressive's supermarket brands Foodtown, Countdown, 3 Guys, SuperValue and FreshChoice joined by Woolworths, Big Fresh and Price Chopper. As a result PEL increased it's share of the NZ grocery market to approximately 45%. This followed a lengthy Competition Commission adjudication[1] and court battle with competitor Foodstuffs that ended in the Privy Council ruling for Progressive.[2]
- 2005 - Present Progressive Enterprises - Woolworths Limited
On 25 May 2005 it was announced that Woolworths Limited, one of Australia's largest retailers, would be purchasing Progressive along with 22 Action stores in Australia. The deal was worth approximately NZ$2.5 billion and culminated in the official transfer of assets on 24 November 2005.
In 2006, company workers at three distribution centres initiated industrial action in an attempt to win a collective employment agreement and pay rise.[3] The company responded by suspending grocery distribution centre operations and allowing suppliers to send stock directly to supermarkets.[4]
Also in 2006, the company was awarded the Roger Award For The Worst Transnational Corporation Operating in New Zealand.
On 15 Aug 2007 it was announced that all Progressive Enterprises employees on youth rates or under the age of 18 will now all get paid adult rates with in some cases can be up to an 80% pay increase. The average pay is around $13.50 from $9.00
[edit] Store brands
Progressive runs the following grocery store chains:
- Woolworths: 64 supermarket stores nationwide
- Countdown: 55 discounter supermarket stores, including a number of rebranded "Big Fresh" stores following the Progressive takeover of Woolworths Supermarkets NZ
- Foodtown: 30 supermarket stores acrros the upper North Island.
- SuperValue: 31 South Island convenience supermarket stores, many stores in North Island as well, run as a franchise
- Freshchoice: 11 South Island stores 1 in North Island- Higher quality supermarket with a large range, run as a franchise
It operates internet grocery stores in the name of Woolworths Home Shopping[5] and Foodtown Online.[6]
[edit] See also
- 2006 Progressive Enterprises dispute (pay dispute resulting in industrial action at several distribution centres)
- onecard
[edit] References
"Supermarket workers vote on strike" NewstalkZB/XtraMSN, August 26, 2006, retrieved August 29, 2006
"Supermarket suspends distribution centres" NewstalkZB/XtraMSN, August 29, 2006, retrieved August 29, 2006
