Currys

This is for the electrical retailer in the United Kingdom, For the general variety of spicy dishes from Asia, see Curry. For the computer science technique, see Currying.

Currys

Industry	Retail
Founded	1884
Headquarters	Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom
Key people	John Browett (Group Retail Director)
Products	White goods, Telecommunications, Information technology
Employees	10,762 (2008)
Parent	Dixons Retail plc

Currys is an electrical retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland and is owned by Dixons Retail plc. It specialises in selling home electronics and household appliances, with 295 superstores and 73 high street stores. Currys is a part of Dixons Stores Group alongside the likes of PC World, Dixons and Pixmania, Dixons Stores Group holds stores in countries across Europe.^{[citation needed]}

Their annual sales in 2003/04 were £1,752 million and £1,852 million in 2004/05.^{[citation needed]}

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, Canterbury, Ashford, Sudbury, Livingston and in New Malden.^{[citation needed]}

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, 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.

History

The first 100 years

1903 shop front

Currys was founded in 1884 by Henry Curry (born in Leicester in 1850), when he started to build bicycles full time in a shed at the back of his garden at 40 Painter Street, Leicester, England. He opened his first shop in 1888 at 271 Belgrave Gate, Leicester. 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.^{[citation needed]}

1984: Takeover

Currys was taken over by Dixons (now Dixons Retail (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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.

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.

In December 2010, Currys opened a new high-end concept store under the 'Black' branding. The new store stocks high-end ranges and is laid out in a more fashionable way including mannequins and 'collection' displays. The store named simply 'Black' is situated in Birmingham city centre, which was chosen due to the more upmarket feel the city has created over the years, with stores such as Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and other major designers having a big presence in the area. The new branding and lay out aims to attract more female shoppers who research shows feel alienated in the larger stores.

Currys store in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, August 2009, carrying the old logo

Currys adjacent to their main competitor, Comet in Guiseley, West Yorkshire

External links

• Currys (UK)
• Currys (IRL)
• Moneysavingexpert Forum re: Currys Customer Service
• Mystery Shopping is a method that retailers themselves use to gauge their own standards of service.