Ritchies is the largest independent supermarket chain in Australia, owned by a group of private investors including

Metcash Metcash Trading () is an Australian conglomerate company headquartered in Wooloomooloo, NSW. Metcash is a distributing and marketing support in supermarket groceries, perishables, fresh produce, alcoholic beverages, hardware, and other consume ...

. It is also known as "Ritchies Supa IGA". The majority of its stores are located throughout

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Ritchies annual revenue is estimated to be approx. $1.4b annually. In recent years, Ritchies' growth has been substantial. With less than 20 stores in 2000, Ritchies now appears on the top 20 Australian retailers list with the likes of Australian retailing giants

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

Myer Myer (stylised MYER, sometimes known as Myers) is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store chain. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products ...

and Wesfarmers

Bunnings Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Perth, Wester ...

to name a few.

History

Ritchies Stores were founded in 1870 by Thomas Ritchie after surviving the shipwrecked ''Isabella Watson'', the first store opening up in Frankston, Victoria on what is now Nepean Highway.

Loyalty schemes

Community Benefit/Ritchies Card

Ritchies CEO Fred Harrison recognised the importance of introducing a loyalty program. The majority of loyalty programs at the time focused on rewarding the customer with gifts. Ritchies decided to go in the opposite direction, asking customers to nominate a club, school or charity. Ritchies would then donate a percentage of the total spend to the customer's nominated organisation each time the customer shopped within their stores. As of February 2020, Ritchies have donated over $52,000,000 under the program.

Fuel Offer

Following the lead from UK giants

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

and

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

, Australian supermarket chains introduced a discount on fuel when customers purchased in excess of a set dollar amount in their stores. Ritchies currently offer a 4 cent/L discount at participating BP or United service stations when transactions of over $25 are conducted in-store.

Christmas Club

The

Christmas club A Christmas club is a special-purpose savings account, first offered by various banks and credit unions in the United States beginning in early 20th century, including the Great Depression, under which bank customers deposit a set amount of money ...

, is a savings program where customers can make regular deposits into their Christmas Club account. It was designed to help customers who find saving for the festive season difficult. Customers can either make deposits at the checkout or set up direct debits from their bank account. On the 1st of December, Christmas Club members receive a statement showing how much they have saved and a letter asking them to pick up their gift card. Gift cards are valid in any Ritchies Store. Customers that save over $200 for the year also receive a free gift. The program has been running since 2000.

References

External links

* {{Supermarkets in Australia Supermarkets of Australia Retail companies established in 1870 Australian companies established in 1870 Companies based in Melbourne