Harvey Norman

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Harvey Norman Holdings Limited

Type	Public (ASX: HVN)
Founded	Auburn, New South Wales (October 1982)
Headquarters	Homebush West, New South Wales, Australia
Key people	Gerry Harvey, Chairman/Co-Founder Ian Norman, Co-Founder John Slack-Smith, Chief Operating Officer Katie Page, Managing Director Chris Mentis, Chief Financial Officer
Industry	Retail: Computer, Electrical, Furniture and Bedding goods
Employees	Est. 10,000 (Australia Only) 407 (Homebush West Headquarters) (September 29, 2006)
Website	www.harveynorman.com.au

Harvey Norman is a large Australian-based retailer of electrical, computer, furniture, entertainment and bedding goods. It is effectively a franchise and the main brand owned by Harvey Norman Holdings Limited.^[1] There are more than 160 Harvey Norman stores in Australia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Ireland, Malaysia and Singapore altogether^[2].

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited is franchisor of several other Australian retail chains such as Domayne, Space Furniture, Ariston Appliances and Joyce Mayne.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Company structure 3 Controversies 4 Home renovations 5 Move into stationery 6 Norman Ross 7 Harvey Norman International 8 Sponsorship 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History

Gerry Harvey and Ian Norman opened their first store in 1961, which specialised in electrical goods and appliances. Its success prompted Harvey and Norman to expand the business and conducted talks with retailer Keith Lord who sought to expand his own retail group. They could not settle on a name for the new business, with Harvey and Lord reluctant to take on the other's name. They eventually decided to retain Norman's name and that of its first store manager Peter Ross. This spawned the retail chain Norman Ross.^[3]

Norman Ross became one of the largest appliance retail chains and by 1979 controlled 42 stores with sales exceeding $A240 million. In the early 1980s Alan Bond and Grace Bros. sought to acquire the chain, spawning a bidding war that saw Grace Bros incorporate the chain in 1982. Three weeks later however, a determined Alan Bond successfully convinced the Grace Bros. director Michael Grace to sell the chain to Bond. Shortly after, Harvey and Norman were given notice and redundancy package of six months pay. Reasons for their sacking were not publicised, although Harvey later told The Daily Telegraph:

“	I said I wished Bond would pack up his marbles and go back to Perth. Then I got a telegram telling me I was sacked.	”
—Gerry Harvey[3]

Norman Ross later went into liquidation in 1992.^[4] In October 1982, Harvey and Norman purchased a new shopping centre in outer Sydney suburb Auburn for $A3 million, and began the first Harvey Norman store. It was originally intended as a single store but its success led to the opening of others. Harvey Norman Holdings Limited was listed on the Australian stock market on 3 September 1987.

In the early 1990s Harvey Norman adopted the superstore format then successful in the United States and entered the computer and furniture markets. Harvey Norman growth came organically until it acquired Joyce Mayne in 1998. Further acquisitions followed and by 2000 the chain had 100 stores. ^[5]

[edit] Company structure

Harvey Norman's operating structure is unusual in that each store department (bedding, furniture, computer or electrical) is operated by a separate franchisee. Thus many superstores are a combination of three separate businesses with each franchisee contributing revenue to Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd through lease payments and a portion of sales.

This structure that can frustrate unfamiliar customers; an employee in the computer department is generally not permitted to assist customers in the furniture and electrical departments, for example. While Camcorders and digital cameras are displayed in the same cabinet, they are sold by different businesses within the store.^{[citation needed]} Customers also need to purchase items separately by department.^{[6][not in citation given]}

[edit] Controversies

• In 1995 the ACCC acted against Harvey Norman for knowingly distributing a catalogue which included more than 20 errors. These included illustrations of sale items with incorrect accessories or functions and packages describing features that it did not, in fact, actually have.^[7]

• In 2000 before the Australian implementation of the Goods and Services Tax the ACCC alleged that Harvey Norman advertised Quicken Quickbooks for $199 with bonus software valued at more than $900 while aware that the quantities of bonus software were insufficient to meet consumer demand. Harvey Norman was also alleged to have misled consumers regarding tax benefits associated with the purchase of Quicken Quickbooks and digital cameras.^[8]

• In November 2008, the company's chief executive, Gerry Harvey, was heavily criticised for comparing Ireland's economic problems with the Irish potato famine, an event which saw the deaths of over a million people.^{[9][10][11][12][13]} Harvey has since refused to apologise, admonishing the Irish for their poor sense of humour, stating: "It doesn’t say much about a people when they can’t take something like that on the chin and get on with it."^[14]

[edit] Home renovations

Harvey Norman Design and Renovations is a subsidiary of Harvey Norman Holdings Limited. The design and renovations arm of the company specialises in bathroom, kitchen, wardrobe, home office, bars and home theatre renovations, and features showroom franchises in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales. The Victorian and South Australian outlets have since closed. leaving 5 New South Wales outlets in operation.

[edit] Move into stationery

In August 2007, market analysts suggested Harvey Norman would launch a rival "big-box" stationery and office supplies competitor to Officeworks before June 2008. Harvey Norman has registered the brand name OFIS and as a result of the acquisition of former Megamart and Retravision stores, has access to well-placed potential sites on which to open Officeworks-sized outlets.^[15] In December 2007, Harvey Norman announced it would be opening its first two OFIS stores in Albury and the Sydney suburb of Auburn in March 2008. They aimed to have 100 stores within ten years.^[16] In all, five OFIS outlets were established, but proved unprofitable and in February 2009 Harvey Norman stated it would close all of the stores by June 2009 and abandon the concept.^[17]

[edit] Norman Ross

Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd operates Norman Ross stores in New Zealand. The first store started in 4th December 2007,1st floor, 28 Rutherford street, Lower Hutt, Wellington.

[edit] Harvey Norman International

Harvey Norman's international stores have headquarters as follows:^[18]

• Australia
• New Zealand
• Singapore
• Ireland
• Slovenia

[edit] Sponsorship

Harvey Norman's major sponsorships include

• The New Zealand Breakers in the National Basketball League.
• The North Queensland Cowboys and the Cronulla Sharks in the National Rugby League.
• National Rugby League State of Origin series.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Harvey Norman Australia
• Harvey Norman New Zealand
• Harvey Norman Singapore
• Harvey Norman Ireland
• Harvey Norman Slovenia
• Harvey Norman Renovations sister company