Currys
 | This article contains promotional content. (November 2010) |
| Currys logo | |
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1884 |
| Headquarters |  Hemel Hempstead,United Kingdom |
Key people | John Browett (Group Retail Director) |
| Products | White goods, Telecommunications, Information technology |
Number of employees | 10,762 (2008) |
| Parent | Dixons Retail plc |
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Currys is an electrical retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland and is owned by Dixons Retail plc. It specialises in home electronics and household appliances, with 295 superstores and 73 high street stores. It is often supported with the marketing slogan; "Currys, We can help".
Currys is a part of Dixons Retail plc alongside the likes of PC World, Dixons and Pixmania, Dixons Retail plc holds stores in countries across Europe.
Their annual sales in 2003/04 were £1,752 million and £1,852 million in 2004/05.
Currently the store which has the highest turnover is in Cribbs Causeway, Bristol. Other major stores are located in Wednesbury (north of Birmingham, just off Junction 9 of the M6), Fosse Park, Leicester, Teesside Park (Stockton-on-Tees), Gateshead, New Malden and Croydon. The largest store in terms of size is Wednesbury. New stores have recently been opened in Solihull, Newport (on the Isle of Wight), Chorley, Ashford, Sudbury, Livingston and in New Malden.
In April 2006, it was announced that Dixons stores (except in Ireland) would be rebranded as "Currys.digital", taking the total to 550 stores. In Ireland, the Currys brand continued to be only used for large-format stores, with Dixons retained on the main streets. However, in August 2008, the Dixons stores in Ireland were rebranded as Currys,[1] similar to the UK move, but without the ".digital" suffix and with a new Currys logo.
Some stores in the UK are dual branded with the PC World name.[2]
Currently, Currys is the leading electrical retailer in the United Kingdom, ahead of their main competitor Comet.
History
The First 100 Years
Currys was founded in 1884 by Henry Curry (born 1850), when he started to build bicycles full time in a shed at the back of his garden at 40 Painter Street, Leicester, England.[3] He opened his first shop in 1888 at 271 Belgrave Gate, Leicester.[4] In 1890 he moved to larger premises at 296 Belgrave Gate, then in 1900 to 285-287 Belgrave Gate. The company was put on a proper financial footing in 1897 when Henry formed a partnership with his sons, calling the company H. Curry & Sons. The business continued to grow and floated on the stock exchange in 1927. By this time the shops sold a wide variety of goods including bicycles, toys, radios and gramophones. Currys pulled out of cycle manufacturing in 1932 when they closed their Leicester factory but continued to retail Hercules bikes (badged as Currys) until the 1960s. Currys is a retailer of elecrical goods and is a plc.
| Year | Number of stores |
|---|---|
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1908 | 6 |
| 1914 | 32 |
| 1925 | 135 |
| 1930 | 192 |
| 1940 | 215 |
| 1943 | 170 |
| 1953 | 251 |
| 1963 | 360 |
| 1973 | 411 |
| 1983 | 550 |
1984: Takeover
Currys was taken over by DSG International plc (now Dixons Retail plc (owners of the Dixons electrical products retail chain) in 1984 but maintained its separate brand identity. In April 2006, DSG announced that its Dixons stores (except in Ireland and in duty-free areas in airports) would be rebranded as Currys.digital, making a total of 550 Currys stores in all.
Before the Dixons rebranding, the chain contained only a few small town centre 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.
Customers can now reserve and collect products, meaning that products can be reserved on the Internet, then checked and bought at the local retail outlet.
High Street store closures
It was announced on 17 January 2007, by John Clare, the Group Chief Executive that when the leases on the remaining 'Currys High Street' stores (not the rebranded Currys.Digital stores) expire, it is unlikely that the leases will be renewed, hence the stores will be closed at the earliest opportunity. This was included as part of 'Jeremy Warner's Outlook', a business comment panel in the Independent newspaper (UK).[5]
New look
In the UK, Currys gained a new logo, and slogan "We Can Help". The logo was a red typeset on a dark blue background but this was later tweaked to white text (in keeping with PC World's logo). Currys sponsors The Simpsons on Sky1, carrying the new logo and slogan. The UK website now carries the new logo, but the Ireland website still has the old logo. The UK adverts now also carry the new logo.
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ Walsh, Fiona (6 April 2006). "Dixons quits the high street after 70 years". London: The Guardian.
- ^ W.A. Ecob (1 August 1936). Currys Magazine. p2: Currys Ltd.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ "Business Comment". London: The Independent. 2007-01-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links