Whitcoulls is a major

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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 merged in 1971 to form Whitcoulls.

Coulls Somerville Wilkie

Coulls Somerville Wilkie had its origins in Coull Bros, founded in

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 ...

in 1872 by brothers Thomas, William, and James Francis Coull. A printing and publishing company, it operated from Crawford Street to the south of the city centre.. Through merger and partnership, its name changed several times before becoming Coulls, Culling & Co. Ltd., a name under which it traded from 1902 until 1922.Business series 2a: Manufacturing
" ''Friends of the Hocken Bulletin 53, April 2006. Retrieved 20 July 2013. The Culling in the company's name was Thomas Culling, regarded as the 'father of printing in Otago', whose business work extended to the founding of several newspapers, notably the ''

Otago Witness The ''Otago Witness'' was a prominent illustrated weekly newspaper in the early years of the European settlement of New Zealand, produced in Dunedin, the provincial capital of Otago. Published weekly it existed from 1851 to 1932. The introductio ...

''.Dunedin contextual thematic history. Theme 8: The Dunedin economy
" Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 20 July 2013. In 1922, Coulls, Culling & Co. merged with J. Wilkie & Co., becoming Coulls Somerville Wilkie, a name under which it operated until 1971. J. Wilkie was founded in the early 1870s by James Wilkie, and bought by William George Somerville in 1894. Originally a stationer and bookseller, J. Wilkie & Co. operated from Princes Street until its amalgamation with Coulls, Culling & Co. in 1921.

Whitcombe & Tombs

Whitcombe & Tombs began in 1882 in Cashel Street,

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 Rive ...

, as a partnership between a teacher of French who had become a bookseller, George Hawkes Whitcombe and printer George Tombs. In 1883 the company was among the first registered under the Companies Act 1882. It had market dominance for several decades. George Whitcombe's son, Bertie Ernest Hawkes Whitcombe (1875–1963), was associated with the business for over 70 years. Thousands of schoolchildren were taught with the aid of Whitcombe's Progressive Primers and later enjoyed Whitcombe's Story Books such as ''The Adventures of Hoppity Bobtail''. The company, in common with most companies, did not have a completely trouble-free relationship with employees. A court judgment ''Whitcombe & Tombs Limited v Taylor'' (1907) 27 NZLR 237 stated the principle that "a well established custom or practice may become part of a contract" (as noted by the

Court of Appeal of New Zealand The Court of Appeal of New Zealand is the principal intermediate appellate court of New Zealand. It is also the final appellate court for a number of matters. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rather t ...

in CA246/03, nearly a century later, despite half a dozen intervening changes of

employment law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

History (1971-now)

In 1971, Whitcombe & Tombs merged with Coulls Somerville Wilkie to become Whitcoulls, and has since been sold several times. It now operates as a retail chain only. The limited company itself described here has changed its name to reflect the changes in ownership. It became the holding company ''Printing and Packaging Corporation Limited'' at the time of the merger. It became ''Whitcoulls Group Limited'' in 1982, ''WGL Group Limited'' in 1993 and has been known as ''WGL Retail Holdings Limited'' since 1995. It is still on the companies register as company number 120265. Its current ultimate parent that can be traced appears to be ''Whitcoulls Finance'' in Australia, ACN 109 241 394. In 2001 U.K retailer

W H Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...

purchased the company. In 2004 Whitcoulls was sold to

REDgroup REDgroup Retail was the former parent (private equity) company of the Australian and New Zealand divisions of Borders. It also owned other retail entities such as Angus & Robertson in Australia and Whitcoulls in New Zealand. REDgroup Retail al ...

a retail operations company owned by

Pacific Equity Partners Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) is a private equity investment firm focusing on transactions in Australia and New Zealand. PEP invests across a range of industries and sectors and in turnaround and growth capital transactions. The firm is based i ...

, a subsidiary of UK-based insurance company Prudential. On 17 February 2011, RedGroup Retail (including the

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

, Angus & Robertson as well as Whitcoulls chains) were placed into

voluntary administration As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions, similar to bankruptcy in the United States. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry o ...

with

Ferrier Hodgson Ferrier Hodgson was a firm specialising in corporate recovery, corporate advisory, forensic accounting and forensic IT. The firm has a specialist management consulting arm called Azurium. Ferrier Hodgson was established in 1976. It became on ...

appointed as administrators. On 26 May 2011 it was announced that the company had been sold to Project Mark Ltd, part of the

James Pascoe Group The James Pascoe Ltd Group of Companies is a privately owned New Zealand retail group with holdings across New Zealand and Australia. JPG owns and operates chains Pascoes the Jewellers, Stewart Dawsons and Goldmark (all jewellers); departmen ...

owned by the Norman family who have a history of turning around troubled companies such as the Farmers department store. Despite operating in the retail sector, in the years 1958-2013 there was a small publishing program based in Christchurch under the Whitcoulls imprint. As of 2022 Whitcoulls is trading as a major retailer with more than 50 stores across New Zealand which offer "books, stationery, toys, puzzles, games, gifts, greeting cards and wrap, and magazines".Whitcoulls History
whitcoulls.co.nz. Retrieved 18 July 2022.

References

External links

*
A & R Whitcoulls Group HoldingsPotted biography of the founder's son Bertie WhitcombeHarry Tombs, OBE

Book Barons – the Whitcombe & Tombs Story
(Lost Christchurch website) {{authority control Bookshops of New Zealand Book publishing companies of New Zealand Office supply companies of New Zealand Retail companies established in 1971 New Zealand companies established in 1971

Coulls Somerville Wilkie

Whitcombe & Tombs

History (1971-now)

References

Further reading

External links