The Warehouse Group (TWG) was founded by

Stephen Tindall Sir Stephen Robert Tindall (born May 1951) is the founder of New Zealand retailer The Warehouse, The Warehouse Group, and the Tindall Foundation. Early life and education Tindall attended Takapuna Grammar and has a Diploma of Management from the ...

in 1982, and is the largest retail group operating in New Zealand. It is a

corporate group A corporate group or group of companies is a collection of parent and subsidiary corporations that function as a single economic entity through a common source of control. These types of groups are often managed by an account manager. The concep ...

that consists of The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Torpedo7, Noel Leeming, 1-day and TheMarket.

History

The first Warehouse group store opened in North Shore,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 1982. In 1994, Warehouse was added to the

New Zealand Exchange New Zealand's Exchange (), known commonly as the NZX, is the national stock exchange for New Zealand and a publicly owned company. NZX is the parent company of Smartshares, and Wealth Technologies. On 30 August 2020, the NZX had a total of 1 ...

, under the symbol TWH. In 1996, a distribution centre opened on the North Island. In 2000, it was added to the NZSE 10 index. Also in 2000, the group acquired Clint's Crazy Bargains and Silly Solly's in Australia. In 2003, the Warehouse Australia brand was launched. In 2005, a lab store launched in the Hamilton suburb of

Te Rapa Te Rapa is a mixed light industrial, large-scale retail and semi-rural suburb to the northwest of central Hamilton, New Zealand that is built on a flat area that was previously the bed of an ancient river, the forerunner to the present Waikato ...

. That same year, the Warehouse brand was relaunched with new lower-case logo, announced its plan to enter the liquor market and that it would end operations in Australia by Christmas. In 2005, Warehouse Australia was sold to Catalyst Investment Managers and Castle Harlan Australian Mezzanine Partners for A$92 million (NZ$99m). In 2006, The Warehouse began selling

alcoholic beverages An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The cons ...

in selected stores and launched a new set of stores branded 'The Warehouse Extra' at

Sylvia Park Sylvia Park is a large business park and shopping centre in the Auckland suburb of Mount Wellington in New Zealand. Less commonly known, the area around the centre (which includes some residential and other commercial developments) is also ca ...

, Auckland, which included full grocery as well as a pharmacy, bakery and photo processing. In 2007, the company celebrated its 25th birthday and marked the occasion by releasing 13,000 balloons, causing concerns from environmentalists. In 2008, Warehouse Extra stores were converted to the standard format. In 2009, the first smaller-concept store, The Warehouse Local, opens in

Mosgiel Mosgiel (Māori: ''Te Konika o te Matamata'') is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin ...

. In 2010, The Warehouse opened a store in

Gisborne, New Zealand Gisborne ( mi, Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa "Great standing place of Kiwa") is a city in northeastern New Zealand and the largest settlement in the Gisborne District (or Gisborne Region). It has a population of The district council has its headquarter ...

, the first large format store since the opening of The Warehouse Sylvia Park in 2006. In 2012, The Warehouse ceased its instore pharmacy offer. Later that year, The Warehouse announced it is buying electronics retailer The Noel Leeming Group for $65 million. In 2013, TW Group holds Click Madness, a one-day online only sale across all brands in the group. Also in 2013, TW Group Purchases Torpedo7, No. 1 Fitness, Shotgun Supplements, Shop HQ (pet.co.nz & baby.co.nz), and Insight Traders. In 2014, TW Group Buys R&R Sport and SchoolTex. That same year, the TW Group launches The Warehouse Group Financial Services after the takeover of Diners Club NZ. In 2014, the group purchased the New Zealand-based branches of Australian retail chain The Good Guys, turning their five NZ based stores into their various retail brands. In July 2017, TW Group announced that it intended to sell the Financial Services division, acquired in 2014, to

SBS Bank SBS Bank is a registered bank in New Zealand which was founded in 1869. In October 2008 it gained bank registration and the Southland Building Society became SBS Bank. It is a 100% New Zealand owned registered bank that has retained a mutual bu ...

for a reported $18 million by September. In 2018, TWG purchased the Appliance Shed brand to create the Noel Leeming Clearance Centre brand. In 2019, TWG launched TheMarket, a new online marketplace selling local and international brands. In June 2020, the Warehouse Group announced that it would be laying off 1,080 jobs as a result of the economic effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case of the disease in New Zealand was reported on 28 February 2 ...

. The company also announced that it would be closing down six stores including The Warehouse stores in

Whangaparaoa The Whangaparaoa Peninsula is a suburban area about 25 km north of Auckland, New Zealand. It had 30,672 residents in 2013, many of them in the eponymous town of Whangaparaoa on its southern side. It is part of the Hibiscus Coast. ...

, Johnsonville,

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, the Warehouse Stationery in

Te Awamutu Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipa District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it. Te Awamutu is located some south of Hamilto ...

, and the Noel Leeming stores in

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

and

Tokoroa Tokoroa ( mi, Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere) is the fifth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the M ...

. On 20 July 2020, the Warehouse COO Pejman Okhovat announced that it could cut between 500 to 750 jobs as part of a proposed restructuring of the company. First Union general secretary Dennis Maga has criticised the company for using COVID-19 as an excuse to lay off hundreds of workers and to reduce the incomes of thousands of employees. On 21 December, the Warehouse Group announced that it was in a "confident enough position" to repay its NZ$67.8 million COVID-19 wage subsidy to the Government. From early 2021, all Warehouse stores across the country stopped selling physical media including DVDs, Blu-Rays, CDs, and Vinyl Records. In May 2021, The Warehouse Group announced that fireworks would no longer be sold at The Warehouse stores. The Warehouse also started closing jewellery counters in July 2021.

Business

The Warehouse operates discount retail department stores selling a broad range of non-grocery and grocery products. As of January 2015, The Warehouse employed over 12,000 people in New Zealand. The Warehouse's corporate headquarters are located in

North Shore, New Zealand The North Shore is part of the large urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the north of the Waitematā Harbour. To the east, has the Hauraki Gulf, to the west, is West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland, to the south, has the Wait ...

. Apart from its 240+ retail locations, it operates 2 distribution centres located in

Wiri Wiri is a mostly industrial-commercial focused suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It was formerly part of Manukau City until the merger of all of Auckland's councils into the ' super city' in 2010. The area was named after the chief Takaanini W ...

and in

Rolleston, New Zealand Rolleston ( mi, Roretana, Tauwharekākaho) is the seat and largest town in the Selwyn District, in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located on the Canterbury Plains south-west of Christchurch, and is part of the wider ...

as well as 13 online stores. In addition to its own operations, it also owns various brand names that are located within the stores. It has gardening facilities located in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

and in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. Along with its gardening brand ''Just'', it also operates nearly 30 "in-company" brands. The Warehouse is publicly traded on the New Zealand Stock Exchange with the security code WHS (TWH was used previously).

Criticism

In May 2007 to mark the 25th Birthday of The Warehouse the company released 13,000 balloons from

Dairy Flat Dairy Flat is a northern rural district located 8 km south of Orewa in the North Island of New Zealand and 28 km north of central Auckland. Until the early 1990s most of the district was in dairy farms of 40 to 60 hectares (100 to 150 a ...

. This sparked concerns from the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

and other environmentalists as the balloons have been known to endanger wildlife. In December 2009 it was announced that The Warehouse staff would be taking industrial action due to issues with staff having their hours extended to 50-hour weeks in the lead up to Christmas and staff having to work late at night. In December 2018, Noel Leeming was fined $200,000 for misleading consumers about their rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) following a Commerce Commission prosecution. Noel Leeming was convicted on eight charges under the Fair Trading Act. In March 2020, the Warehouse Group drew criticism when its directors prematurely announced that they were an "essential service" during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

without consulting with the Government. The company faces a fine of NZ$500,000 if it is found to have breached the

's disclosure rules or is found to have profited from a rise in its share price stemming from the announcement. The company subsequently shut down its brands for the duration of the four-week lockdown with all staff being given full paid leave. In early June 2020, the Warehouse Group was criticised by

First Union First Union Corporation was a bank holding company that provided commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, including mortgage banking, credit card, inv ...

coordinator Kate Davis for allegedly not consulting employees about a plan to lay off 1,080 workers and close six stores as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Return Policy

The company operates a comprehensive returns policy. A "60 day money back guarantee" policy (returns accepted for any reason) is available on most products, excluding

underwear Undergarments, underclothing, or underwear are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer garments from being soiled o ...

, pre-recorded media and

perishable Decomposition or rot is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is ...

products.

Australian Expansion

In 2000, the company entered the Australian retail market. It acquired the Clint's Crazy Bargains and Silly Solly's retail chains. At the time of purchase, those chains had around 117 stores. In 2003 the company built a $33 million (AUD) distribution centre in Queensland, to service the country. Later that year, the company introduced its Tui and Tolas inventory management systems from New Zealand. As of 2005, the Australian arm was still under-performing. Sales for 2005 were at $518.8 million (AUD), compared with $567.3 million (AUD) in 2004. The Warehouse Group Limited announced in November 2005 that it had entered into a conditional agreement to sell The Warehouse Australia business to Catalyst Investment Managers and its parent PPM Capital Limited (together, Catalyst) and Castle Harlan Australian Mezzanine Partners, acting on behalf of the CHAMP I and CHAMP II funds (CHAMP) for A$92 million (NZ$99m). The new entity was known as

Australian Discount Retail DSG Holdings Australia Pty Ltd, trading as Discount Superstores Group was a discount variety retailer in Australia, formed in 2013 following the liquidation of former company Retail Adventures. It owned the Sam's Warehouse and Crazy Clark's bra ...

(ADR). As part of the transaction, The Warehouse Australia's Sydney Head Office would be sold to Investec Wentworth Specialised Property Trust. While the effective date for the transaction was to be 27 November 2005, completion of the sale was expected in early 2006 and was subject to normal regulatory approvals. At its formation ADR also purchased the discount store operations of

Miller's Retail City Chic Collective () (CCC), founded as Miller's Retail in 1992, and rebranded in December 2006 to Specialty Fashion Group, is an Australian retail clothing company. It is headquartered in the Sydney suburb of Alexandria. Miller's Retail Mil ...

, including the

Go-Lo Go-Lo was a chain of Australian discount variety stores with hundreds of stores throughout Australia. It was part of the largest discount retailer group in Australia. It was owned by Jan Cameron's Retail Adventures along with Sam's Warehouse, ...

, Crazy Clark's and Chickenfeed chains. There were 335 such stores at the time of sale. After the sale of the Australian operation, Warehouse stores were renamed

Sam's Warehouse Sam's Warehouse was an Australian brand of discount retail stores, similar to Crazy Clark's. It was founded in 2008 after The Warehouse sold its Australian operations to Australian Discount Retail, and the stores were required to be re-branded ...

''The Warehouse Extra'' Hypermarkets

In June 2006, "The Warehouse Extra" opened at

. It was the first of a planned chain of

hypermarket A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including ...

s, at 135,000 sq ft (12,500 sq m). In a similar fashion to the

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

Supercenters of the United States, the foodmarket department aisles are placed at a perpendicular angle to the general merchandise. It is the first store to feature an in-store

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who ...

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

and

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

, and instead of the usual tall industrial shelving, a more conventional store shelving system has been used. The store also features a lot less red than in traditional stores, but the familiar concrete floor still exists. The next branches of "The Warehouse Extra" were in Whangarei and Te Rapa in

. In October 2008 The Warehouse announced that they will be canning "The Warehouse Extra" format with stores reverting to the more traditional style of store coming months. There were four of The Warehouse Extra in Auckland (Albany, Manukau, Sylvia Park and Westgate). Today "The Warehouse Extra" brand is used on larger traditional stores nationwide, with many existing large stores have taken on "The Warehouse Extra" branding such as those in

Lyall Bay Lyall Bay is a bay and suburb on the south side of the Rongotai isthmus in Wellington, New Zealand. The bay is a popular surf beach, featuring a breakwater at the eastern end. It is home to two surf lifesaving clubs and has also been the site of ...

(Wellington),

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scotlan ...

(Christchurch),

South Dunedin South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial ...

and

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

. Stores carrying "The Warehouse Extra" brand are typically larger, open later and carry a greater range than regular stores.

''The Warehouse Local''

On Thursday 23 July 2009, The Warehouse Group opened the first of its smaller-concept stores, The Warehouse Local, in

. These stores are approximately 2000 square metres in size, compared with the usual 5000 square meters seen in larger locations. These stores also have single checkout counters, doing without dedicated Service, Jewellery and Entertainment counters which are present in most other stores. Another 3 stores were intended to be launched per year, following this concept. While the "Local" naming is no longer used, smaller stores in

Rolleston Rolleston may refer to: Places * Rolleston, Queensland, Australia * Rolleston, Leicestershire, England * Rolleston, Nottinghamshire, England ** Rolleston railway station * Rolleston on Dove, Staffordshire, England ** Rolleston Hall * Rolleston, ...

and St Lukes have opened using the smaller format.

Entry into e-commerce

In 2009, The Warehouse announced its entry into

online shopping Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...

. The brands full range of products were available online by 2012, in time for the brand's 30th birthday. The brand's offerings were also made available on New Zealand e-commerce platform The Market in 2019.

Store within a Store

In 2017, The Warehouse Group unveiled its first "Store within a Store" (shortened to SWAS), with Warehouse Stationery moving into The Warehouse Auckland Airport after their lease at their previous Auckland Airport Mall premises ended. The Warehouse SWAS stores have many similar features of typical Warehouse Stationery stores, including a range of computers, printers, office furniture, and stationery, as well as a Print & Copy Centre. The Warehouse departments, such as furniture and entertainment, merge with each other in a SWAS environment. There are currently 25 SWAS Warehouse Stationery Stores operating across New Zealand .

Active subsidiaries

The Warehouse Group currently owns four flagship brand subsidiaries and one online shopping platform.

The Warehouse

The flagship store for the Group; founded in 1982 by Sir Stephen Tindall. The Warehouse sells items of essential use – sport equipment, gardening equipment, furniture, and so on. As a result of their branding and the distinctive colour of their buildings, The Warehouse's stores are colloquially known both within the organisation and within New Zealand as "Red Sheds". They compete mainly with

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 ...

in the discount department store sector, as well as a range of more specialised retailers such as hardware stores

Mitre 10 Mitre 10 is an Australian retail and trade hardware store chain. Operations are based on a cooperative system, where the store owners are members of the national group and each has voting rights. The chain name references the mitre joint. The ...

and

Bunnings Warehouse 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 ...

, automotive parts retailers

Repco Repco is an Australian automotive engineering/retailer company. Its name is an abbreviation of Replacement Parts Company and was for many years known for reconditioning engines and for specialized manufacturing, for which they gained a high ...

and Supercheap Auto, and electronics and homewares retailers such as

Farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

Harvey Norman Harvey Norman is a large Australian-based, multi-national retailer of furniture, bedding, computers, communications and consumer electrical products. It mainly operates as a franchise, with the main brand and all company-operated stores owned ...

and

JB Hi-Fi JB Hi-Fi Limited is an Australian consumer electronics and home appliances retail company. It is publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Its headquarters are located in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria. The company has 316 stores ...

Warehouse Stationery

Warehouse Stationery is a blue coloured, big-box retail store similar to Australia's

Officeworks Officeworks is a chain of Australian office supplies stores operated under parent company Wesfarmers. The company was established in 1994 by Coles Myer, which became Coles Group before it was acquired by Wesfarmers. Its head office is located i ...

or America's

OfficeMax OfficeMax is an American office supplies retailer founded in 1988. It is now a subsidiary of The ODP Corporation, which is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. As of December 2012, OfficeMax operated 941 stores in 47 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S ...

. Warehouse Stationery has products across multiple categories including Office Supplies, School Supplies, Fashion stationery, Technology, Furniture, Art & Craft, Ink & Toner. It competes with Paper Plus and

Whitcoulls Whitcoulls is a major New Zealand book, stationery, gift, games & toy retail chain. Formerly known as Whitcombe & Tombs, it has 54 stores nationally. Whitcombe & Tombs was founded in 1888, and Coulls Somerville Wilkie in 1871. The companies mer ...

in books and stationery, electronics retailers such as

and

, as well as

in business and stationery online. They also provide customers with a BizRewards membership you can shop and collect rewards points at The Warehouse and Warehouse Stationery stores nationwide & online. Choose a Credit Account membership and you’ll also collect points in store at Noel Leeming. The first Warehouse Stationery branch was opened in 1991 and grew from 8 stores in 1995 to 70 stores from Kerikeri to Invercargill as of 2019.

Torpedo7

Torpedo7 is a multi-channel subsidiary that own and run online stores Torpedo7 (a sports and outdoor equipment retailer), 1-day.co.nz, (an online daily deals site) and Number One Fitness (selling

exercise equipment Exercise equipment is any apparatus or device used during physical activity to enhance the strength or conditioning effects of that exercise by providing either fixed or adjustable amounts of resistance, or to otherwise enhance the experience or ...

). Based in Hamilton, New Zealand, Torpedo7 was founded in 2004 by mountain bike enthusiast Luke Howard-Willis, and his father, Guy Howard-Willis. A 51% stake was purchased by The Warehouse Group for NZ$33 million in 2013. While The Warehouse Group now has full ownership (through Torpedo7's ultimate parent company, Boye Developments Limited), Torpedo7 continues to operate as a standalone business. In October 2014, seven R&R Sport stores previously acquired by The Warehouse Group in December 2013 rebranded as Torpedo7. Combined with two brand new physical stores, this marked Torpedo7's first foray into bricks-and-mortar retail. R&R Sport was founded in 1981 in Dunedin as Recycled Recreation, a store specialising in second hand sports gear.

Noel Leeming

Noel Leeming is a retail electronics chain, selling a range of

computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These programs ...

household appliances A major appliance, also known as a large domestic appliance or large electric appliance or simply a large appliance, large domestic, or large electric, is a non-portable or semi-portable machine used for routine housekeeping tasks such as cookin ...

, TVs and

audio equipment Audio equipment refers to devices that reproduce, record, or process sound. This includes microphones, radio receivers, AV receivers, CD players, tape recorders, amplifiers, mixing consoles, effects units, headphones, and Speaker (audio equipmen ...

. It has 71 stores, including 20 in Auckland. It offers a larger selection of higher-value electronic goods than The Warehouse Group's other chains. It also operates Tech Solutions, an electronics and whiteware support, installation and learning service for technology users, including both in-store and in-home customers. The brand was founded as "Noel Leeming Television" in 1973, taking its name from its founder. The first Noel Leeming branch opened in 1973 in Barrington Park Mall in Christchurch. The brand continued to expand through the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. The brand opened their first

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

branch in Auckland in 1986. Leeming retired as managing director of the brand in mid-1992. Rapid expansion continued across the North Island through 1993. The brand merged with Bond & Bond in September 1996 under trading group "Pacific Retail Group". At the time the group had approximately 90 branches across the country, made up of both brands. Pacific Retail Group was bought by Gresham Private Equity in 2004 and was renamed "Noel Leeming Group". Noel Leeming had 57 stores in 2008. The Warehouse Group acquired Noel Leeming Group from Gresham Private Equity for NZ$65 million, effective from 10 December 2012. In December 2013, Noel Leeming Group acquired Maclean Technology, a team that delivers specialist professional IT services to New Zealand companies.

TheMarket

TheMarket is an e-commerce shopping platform that sells products from over 250 retailers and brands from around the world similar to

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

. The

online marketplace An online marketplace (or online e-commerce marketplace) is a type of e-commerce website where product or service information is provided by multiple third parties. Online marketplaces are the primary type of multichannel ecommerce and can be a way ...

is based in Auckland, with its head office located in Newmarket. TheMarket is part of The Warehouse Group's transformation strategy, which began in February 2017 to invest in "the digital future". Appointing global e-commerce expert Justus Wilde as Chief Executive, TheMarket team began working on the project early 2018. Adopting a startup mindset, within fourteen months from inception to launch the mobile-first platform launched publicly 1 August 2019, after a beta period during July. While the TheMarket holds some of its own inventory, TheMarket primarily operates utilising a

drop shipping Drop shipping is a form of retail business where the seller accepts customer orders without keeping stock on hand. Instead, in a form of supply chain management, the seller transfers the orders and their shipment details either to the manufactur ...

business model where third-party business-to-consumer (B2C) retailers’ list branded products and dispatch orders. TheMarket launched with 100+ retailers in August 2019 and grew to 200+ retailers by November 2019. TheMarket expects that to increase to 400+ in early 2020. TheMarket launched its first subscription program, TheMarket Club, on 6 November 2019 (9) which offers free shipping as well as stream services and “echoes global giant Amazon”. TheMarket uses an established an organised network of ‘MarketPoint’ sites within The Warehouse Groups’ existing 242 physical locations throughout New Zealand, including The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming and Torpedo7 stores and Rural MarketPoint sites are operated by FarmSource in partnership with

Fonterra Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational publicly traded dairy co-operative owned by around 9,000 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exce ...

. Currently, there are 72 MarketPoint sites with plans to expand to 300 nationwide. MarketPoint's are sites within existing retail stores where customers can collect and return goods purchased from TheMarket, similar to what Amazon does with

Amazon Hub Parcel locker is an automated postal box that allows users for a self-service collection of parcels and oversize letters as well as the dispatch of parcels. Amazon Locker Amazon Locker is a self-service package delivery service of parcel lockers ...

ASOS.com ASOS plc ( ) is a British online fashion and cosmetic retailer. The company was founded in 2000 in London, primarily aimed at young adults. The website sells over 850 brands as well as its own range of clothing and accessories, and ships to al ...

’s Click and Collect.

Previous subsidiaries

The Warehouse Group Financial Services Limited

The Warehouse Group Financial Services Limited was a joint venture that was formed in 2001 following the joint acquisition of Diners Club New Zealand by The Warehouse Group and

Westpac Banking Corporation Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, i ...

. The Warehouse Group Financial Services Limited provides consumer credit cards and insurance through The Warehouse brand and distribution channels. In the 2014 Annual Report, it is stated that The Group holds a 49% minority share in this financial arm of TW Group with Westpac holding a 51% majority share. On 1 October 2015 TW Group announced the acquisition of the remaining 51% of TW Group Financial Services from Westpac. The acquisition cost $7.3 million (NZD). Later in the release TW Group also announce their plans to expand the unit not by acquisition but by internal expansion. In July 2017, less than two years following the acquisition from Westpac, The Warehouse Group announced the sale of the financial services division. The division had been slow to return a profit and returned a bigger loss then expected. The division was sold to FinanceNow, a division of

Bond & Bond

Bond & Bond (stylised as ''Bond+Bond'') was a retail electronics store founded by Enoch Bond, in

Silverdale, Auckland Silverdale is a village approximately 30 km north of Auckland in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the north bank of the Weiti River and lies to the west of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. State Highway 1 passes to the west o ...

in 1875. The store opened its first home appliance branch in Auckland in 1894. It was previously a subsidiary of the Noel Leeming Group before the group's acquisition by The Warehouse Group in 2012. The chain had 31 stores in 2008. It had 24 stores in early 2013, including ten in Auckland. In 2013, Bond & Bond was merged into Noel Leeming as part of a decision to provide a clear focus on the flagship Noel Leeming brand. Bond & Bond remained as an online clearance website until its closure in 2014.

R&R Sport

R&R Sport was an independent outdoor chain established in

Dunedin Central Dunedin Central was a parliamentary electorate in the city of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand from 1881 to 1890 and 1905 to 1984. Population centres The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the ...

in 1981. By 2014, it had 10 stores, including two in Auckland. In 2014, The Warehouse Group took over the chain and rebranded its stores as Torpedo 7.

Financial results

The Warehouse went public in 1995. Since then the stock has climbed from $1.29 to $5.54 in 2005 then to $2.605 as of 8 January 2015. During 2005, the stock dropped dramatically due to worse than expected results from the Australian operation. In the financial year ended September 2015, The Warehouse Group reported a revenue of NZ$2.77 billion (up 4.6% on the previous financial year) and profits of NZ$57.1 million (down nearly 6% on the last financial year). Online sales made up NZ$150 million of their revenue – a rise of nearly 800% from just NZ$18.8 million in 2011, though still barely 0.56% of their total sales. While The Warehouse and Warehouse Stationery recorded strong profit growth, the Noel Leeming electronics store division reported a drop in profit of 43% (partly due to one-off rebranding costs). The Torpedo7 Group (including Torpedo7, R&R Fitness, Shotgun Supplements and No.1 Fitness) recorded a profit just above break-even, hit by change and rebranding costs. Meanwhile, the Warehouse Financial Services division recorded a $1.9 million loss, "in line with expectations".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warehouse Group, The Department stores of New Zealand Retail companies of New Zealand Companies based in Auckland Companies listed on the New Zealand Exchange Retail companies established in 1982 Discount stores New Zealand companies established in 1982