Prouds The Jewellers (commonly referred to as Prouds) is an Australian jewellery business founded by William James Proud on

Pitt Street Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sec ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1903.

History

King Street (Regal Bag Store, Selfridges, Prouds)

Prouds was founded by William James "Bill" Proud (1871–1931) who had a vision of a jewellery store that sold quality jewellery, watches and giftware that was affordable to all Australians. The company still carries that message to this day. In 1971

LJ Hooker LJ Hooker is one of Australia's largest real estate groups, with 600 franchise offices and 6,000 people engaged in residential and commercial property sales and property management. The company was founded in 1928 by Sir Leslie Joseph ...

real estate Corporation acquired Prouds' 72 stores and subsequently the business was sold to Goldmark Jewellers. In 1996 Pascoes purchased the then 93-year-old Australian jeweller, saving it from administration. In February 2008 Prouds lost a case against the

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...

over 'illusory' 'was/now' price advertising. The

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

found two of Prouds' catalogues, for

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

and

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the ...

2006, breached the

Trade Practices Act 1974 The ''Competition and Consumer Act 2010'' (CCA) is an Act of parliament, Act of the Parliament of Australia. Prior to 1 January 2011, it was known as the ''Trade Practices Act 1974'' (TPA). The Act is the legislative vehicle for competition la ...

. The decision has been labelled 'important', and Prouds conduct 'misleading and deceptive'

Today

In 1996, Prouds had 67 stores. This increased to over 195 in 2013. After the acquisition of Farmers, Prouds jewellery kiosks were included in some Farmers stores across New Zealand as

store-within-a-store A store-within-a-store, also referred to as shop-in-shop, is an agreement in which a retailer rents a part of the retail space to be used by a different company to run another, independent shop. Origins In the early days of cellular telephone gr ...

. However, after the purchase of

Angus & Coote Angus & Coote is an Australian jewellery chain founded in Sydney in 1895 and listed on the ASX in 1952. The retailer claims to be a leader in Australia for high quality jewellery, with its 300 stores having a 20% market share as of early 2007. ...

, it was replaced with Goldmark, and Prouds is no longer marketed in New Zealand. As of 2013, Prouds the Jewellers claims to be Australia's 'largest and most trusted jewellery chain' offering 'best value and quality' and 'the largest selection of quality jewellery in Australia'. Prouds reported annual income of NZ$707.6 million in 2008–2009. In 2012 Prouds was reported as being the largest retailer by market share in Australia's estimated AU$3.8 billion jewellery industry. The same report estimated Prouds revenue as AU$600 million. Prouds has become one of the largest and most trusted jewellery store chain in Australia.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.prouds.com.au/about_us Jewellery retailers of Australia Australian companies established in 1903 Retail companies established in 1903 Companies based in Sydney