Home Bargains

Home Bargains

Company type	Private limited company
Industry	Retail
Founded	Old Swan, Liverpool, England (1976)
Founder	Tom Morris
Headquarters	Liverpool, England
Number of locations	160
Key people	Tom Morris (Managing Director), Graeme McLoughlin (Finance Director)
Products	Grocery, General merchandise
Revenue	£383 million (2008)
Operating income	£34.7 million (2008)
Owner	TJ Morris
Number of employees	4000
Website	www.tjmorris.co.uk

Home Bargains is a chain of discount stores operating in Northern England and the Midlands, founded by Tom Morris in Liverpool, England approximately 30 years ago. It is part of the TJ Morris chain, who also have stores under the name Halfpriceorless.

History

The chain was founded by Tom Morris approximately 30 years ago when he opened his first store in Old Swan, Liverpool, (which shut in September 2008 after over 30 years of business). Morris comes from a retailing family that had run shops for over two generations. The original Liverpool stores were called 'Home & Bargain' but the name was changed in the late 1990s, although customers still locally refer to it by its old name. Their head office is in Liverpool.

Stores

Home Bargains stores have red and sky blue branding. They can usually be found in major shopping streets as well as in shopping centres and arcades. Although most are centrally located several are in out-of-town retail parks.

Stores range from small to medium outlets, with the retail park outlets being slightly larger. Most stores have a one way system, with shoppers going in one door an exiting via another.

Growth

The retailer has been given approval to construct new headquarters in Merseyside, which it estimates will create 700 jobs at the Axis business park, Croxteth, as it builds a 10-storey distribution centre and retail training facility. The approval means the chain can expand by a further 360 stores across the country to reach a turnover of up to £1 billion. The chain aims to have 500 stores within 10 years with employee numbers exceeding 10,000. The retailer wants to expand to other parts of the UK in the future, but Morris added: "We want to grow slowly, at a rate which is controllable. We don't want to over-expand."

In Summer 2008, the retailer accquired a number of former Kwik Save stores which had lain empty since that retailer had gone into administration in 2006, further expanding the Home Bargains chain. These stores included Skelmersdale, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, Rhyl, Denbighshire, North Wales and Hoylake, Wirral.

The retailer announced in October 2008 that preparations are underway to expand into Scotland for the first time, opening their first store in Rutherglen in December 2008. There are plans to invest more than £10m in its first group of stores, and by March 2009 the company aims to have six stores within the Glasgow area, employing more than 200 people.

On January 2009, the retailer acquired 14 former Woolworths stores from the failed Woolworths Group chain. These stores include Cardiff and Port Talbot in South Wales. By 2015, the firm aims to be turning over £1bn a year, and have grown the number of its stores to 350, with the potential for 600 across the UK.

Quality Save

Main article: Quality Save

The owner of Home Bargains, TJ Morris, is the supplier of similar discount chain Quality Save. TJ Morris supplies Quality Save with everything from confectionery and drinks to trolleys and tills. Because of this Quality Save and Home Bargains are often thought to be the same company.

Financial performance

The chain have seen strong sales growth over the past few years, with a 19% jump in total sales from £322m to £383m in the year up to June 2008.

Week ending	Turnover (£m)	Trading profit (£m)	Retained profit (£m)
30 June 2008	383	34.7
30 June 2007	322	30.2
30 June 2006	273	20.3

External links

• TJ Morris Ltd Home Page
• Home Bargains Home Page
• Half Price or Less home page
• Home Bargains reviews