LJ Hooker

LJ Hooker

Nobody Does it Better
Type	Proprietary
Industry	Real Estate
Founded	1928, Maroubra, New South Wales
Founder	Sir Leslie Joseph Hooker
Headquarters	Alexandria, New South Wales
Area served	Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, China and Hong Kong
Key people	Grant Harrod (CEO) L. Janusz Hooker (Chairman)
Products	Franchising Real Estate solutions
Services	Real Estate Property Management Property Sales Auctions Home Loans and Finance Conveyancing and Settlements Project development Project marketing
Owner	Each LJ Hooker office is independently owned and managed by its franchisees
Website	Australia New Zealand

LJ Hooker is an Australian Real Estate franchise with an extensive franchise network across Australia. ^[1] Its iconic red and yellow signage and slogan “Nobody does it better” are widely known. LJ Hooker was founded in 1928 by Sir Leslie Joseph Hooker and after a separation of some 20 years the company returned to family hands in 2009.^{[2] [3]}

History

Timeline

• 1928 The first LJ Hooker office opens in Maroubra, New South Wales^[4]
• 1936 LJ Hooker buys the real estate business and offices of Woods & Co. in Kensington and Kingsford^[5]
• 1937 LJ Hooker has a network of five offices in New South Wales: (Marboura, Sydney, Kensington, Kingsford and Randwick) by the end of the year^[6]
• 1939 LJ Hooker establishes its headquarters in Pitt Street, Sydney by buying H. L. Cross & Co., a city agency^[5][7]
• 1946 LJ Hooker buys the real estate business of Harold Bray Pty Ltd in Bondi Beach^[5]
• 1946 LJ Hooker has the highest reported sales for the year breaking the record for a Sydney real estate agency^[8]
• 1947 LJ Hooker floats on the Sydney Stock Exchange^[2]
• 1948 LJ Hooker buys F. Egan & Son, a real estate agency in Bondi Junction^[5]
• 1950 LJ Hooker opens its tenth office in Crows Nest, New South Wales^[9]
• 1951 LJ Hooker opens its office in Manly, New South Wales by buying Thorn Coleman & Co.^{[5] [10]}
• 1953 LJ Hooker is the largest real estate agency in Australia^[11]
• 1955 Developments in Batemans Bay, Hogarah and the Gold Coast commence through Hooker Rex Pty Ltd^[2]
• 1958 The company’s name changes to L. J. Hooker Investment Corporation Ltd^[2]
• 1960 LJ Hooker is Australia’s first national real estate agency network by the end of the year^[5]
• 1961 Hooker Projects commences to develop home units, nursing homes, motels, shopping centres, show rooms, warehouses and factories^[12]
• 1963 Hooker House opens in Sydney^[13]
• 1968 The company’s name changes to Hooker Corporation Ltd^[2]
• 1970 LJ Hooker residential and commercial divisions are the largest sales and management agents and the largest home developers in Australia^[14]
• 1976 Sir Leslie Joseph Hooker dies ^[2]
• 1985 George Herscu buys the Hooker Group for $450 million^[15]
• 1989 LJ Hooker Corporation collapses owning $1.77 billion^[16]
• 1989 Suncorp Metway buys LJ Hooker Corporation^[17]
• 2009 A consortium of private buyers led by Leslie Janusz Hooker, grandson of the founder Sir Leslie Hooker, buys LJ Hooker Corporation from Suncorp-Metway for $67 million^[17]
• 2015 Janusz Hooker with a handful of existing shareholders buyout the minority shareholders to consolidate the ownership of the company^[18]

The first LJ Hooker office was opened in Maroubra, New South Wales in 1928.^[2] Following the Depression the company expanded and opened offices in Sydney, Kensington, Kingsford and Randwick. In 1947 the company was floated on the Sydney Stock Exchange.^[2] In 1949 the company expanded into hotel brokerage. In 1950 the tenth office was opened in Crows Nest and in 1951 the Manly office was opened. LJ Hooker’s expansion continued and by 1953 the agency was the largest real estate agency in Australia.^[5] In 1955 Hooker Rex was established for the development of new homes. In 1959 the Hooker Finance company was established. In the same year the first real estate investment trust in Australia was established.^[2] By 1965 Hooker Rex had 51 developed estates in four Australian states.^[5]

In 1963 Hooker House was opened in Sydney. Hooker Project offices were opened in Melbourne in 1966, Brisbane in 1967, Perth in 1968 and Townsville and Canberra in 1969.^[5] Hooker Projects developed motels, shopping centres, nursing homes and factories. In 1969 Hooker Home Units was established which specialised in building home units and town houses. By 1970 LJ Hooker residential and commercial divisions were not only the largest sales and management agents in the country but also the largest home developers. ^[19]

Sir Leslie Joseph Hooker died in 1976 and ten years later the company and the family separated which continued until 2009 when L Janusz Hooker, Sir Leslie’s grandson, formed a consortium and bought the company back. ^[20]

International expansion

In the mid-1980s, while led briefly by CEO George Herscu, LJ Hooker crossed into development and acquisition of retailers and large scale shopping complexes in the United States. This move proved ill-conceived, with such ventures as the purchase and operation of several storied but troubled American department store chains as B. Altman & Co., Bonwit Teller, Sakowitz and Parisian stores, to be utilized as anchors for a number of large, but poorly located shopping malls in the United States. Having no track record in understanding the complex operations required to run retail department stores, and with the questionable locations of many of the proposed malls, coupled with forcing the newly acquired anchor stores into locations with no previous market presence, this venture proved deeply flawed and plunged L.J.Hooker, the department stores and its various development holdings into bankruptcy.

Most of the department store chains were liquidated with large economic and employment losses. The one mall complex that was constructed during Herscu's tenure, the Forest Fair Mall in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, went through numerous changes in ownership and operations. Today the ill-fated mall is still struggling, having gone through two name changes. This period, although brief in its history, was deeply tumultuous and troubling and led to LJ Hooker Limited being purchased by the Queensland based Suncorp-Metway Limited, in January 1990.

The LJ Hooker company was liquidated in the late 1980s, but the name continued through the franchise arrangement that continues.^[2]

In 1997 it opened offices in Hong Kong^[21] and Papua New Guinea.^[22]

Acquisitions

In 1996 LJ Hooker purchased the Challenge Realty Group in New Zealand and in 1998 they rebranded it literally overnight as LJ Hooker. In 2003 LJ Hooker purchased the real estate franchise group Olsen & Everson. In 2002 LJ Hooker opened its first offices in Indonesia,^[22] and in 2004 LJ Hooker opened offices in Mumbai,^[22] India,^[22] and Shanghai.^[22]

In October 2004, Grahame Cooke stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Warren McCarthy. McCarthy was selected from within the existing LJ Hooker network and in The Australian Financial Review, he stated that "It was important that the chief executive be an LJ Hooker person. There is an inherent culture. It is very much a family and there is passing on of generations of knowledge in auctions, good property management and good referral systems."^[23]

In October 2009 Suncorp confirmed it sold its LJ Hooker real estate chain business to Janusz Hooker^[24] – the grandson of founder Sir Leslie Hooker – for $67 million.^[25]

In 2009, the company returned to the family by a consortium of private investors led by Sir Leslie’ grandson, LJ Hooker Chairman, L Janusz Hooker, and, in July 2015 he bought out the investors to take full control of the group.^[26]

In November 2010, LJ Hooker acquired Harveys Real Estate Group in New Zealand.^[22]

Organization

LJ Hooker is a franchise operation.^[27] The real estate side of the business is done by franchise owners. Grant Harrod was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director in 2014.^[27] The company chairman is L Janusz Hooker.^[28]

Hooker Corporation Limited^[29] is the holding company, and LJ Hooker Limited is the trading entity. Hooker Corporation Limited's ACN is 003 890 444 and the ACN of L.J. Hooker Limited is 003 890 4553.

Subsidiaries

LJ Hooker has also established an independent incorporated legal practice trading as LJ Hooker Conveyancing NSW which is a division of Guardian Conveyancers Pty Ltd (ACN 136 790 022). The business is independently owned and operated under licence from LJ Hooker Limited. LJ Hooker Conveyancing is located in Sydney.^[30] In Western Australia it uses LJ Hooker Settlements to do their conveyancing.

References