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Big W at Willows Shoppingtown September 2009.Big W is the largest chain of discount department stores in Australia (by revenue and profit)[citation needed], with over 150 stores. It is a division of Woolworths Limited, the largest retailer in Australia. Its main competitors are Kmart and Target, both owned by Wesfarmers.
History :
Woolworths Limited's original Woolworths variety stores carried a range of general merchandise. An increasing percentage of later stores opened sold supermarket grocery lines, which eventually became the company's focus.
In the 1960s the company created an additional store type (Big W) to complement the Woolworths supermarkets and, ultimately, replace the extensive variety store network. The first Big W branded standalone store opened its doors in 1976 in Tamworth .[2] The separation of Big W and Woolworths supermarkets was largely completed by 1989, although a few Woolworths variety stores existed into the 1990s (such as the one in Rundle Mall, Adelaide).[citation needed]
Currently, Big W has 164 stores trading across Australia, with 58 trading in New South Wales, 40 trading in Queensland, 26 trading in Victoria, 14 trading in Western Australia, 13 trading in South Australia, three trading in the Australian Capital Territory, three trading in Tasmania and one trading in the Northern Territory.[3]
In 2006, Woolworths along with Big W rolled out new Retalix point of sale systems running on IBM POS hardware with LCD touch-screens throughout all its stores. [4]
In October 2007, Woolworths announced a $1 billion makeover of Big W, including a new store format, logo and slogan. The first store with the new format is located in the Rouse Hill Town Centre in New South Wales, which first opened on 6 March 2008. [5] The new logo started appearing in advertisements, store dockets, and a redesigned Big W website on 24 October 2007. The former tagline, "We sell for less", was replaced with "Live big for less".
In December 2008, Julie Coates took the general manager position after it became apparent Greg Foran would take over running the supermarkets and liquor division in Australia and New Zealand from Naum Onikul, who stepped down from the position.
Business:
One of Big W's key strategies is "everyday low prices".[6] Thus, Big W never has storewide percentage-off days. Nevertheless, Big W still has a weekly catalogue advertising these "everyday low prices", which generally runs from Wednesday to Tuesday.
Many of the techniques used by Big W in promotions were nearly identical to the US chain Wal-Mart, such as the in store "smiley face" and the "price rollback".[citation needed] Indeed, former Woolworths Chief Executive Officer and former Big W Managing Director, Roger Corbett, has a mentor relationship with a former President of Wal-Mart, and has been appointed to the board of the American retailer.[citation needed] However Big W has begun to establish their own promotional slogans coinciding with their transition to a new look example: 'low prices everyday' (a Wal-Mart slogan) has been replaced by 'Low Prices The Whole Shop The Whole Time'
This article is about the Australia department store. For other uses, see Big W (disambiguation).
 | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1970s |
| Headquarters | Bella Vista, New South Wales,  Australia |
| Number of locations | 165[1] |
| Key people | Julie Coates, Director of Big W |
| Products | Leisure, Apparel, Home, Optometry |
| Revenue |  A$4.16 billion (2011)[1] |
| Employees | 25,000 |
| Parent | Woolworths Limited |
| Website | BigW.com.au |
History :
Woolworths Limited's original Woolworths variety stores carried a range of general merchandise. An increasing percentage of later stores opened sold supermarket grocery lines, which eventually became the company's focus.
In the 1960s the company created an additional store type (Big W) to complement the Woolworths supermarkets and, ultimately, replace the extensive variety store network. The first Big W branded standalone store opened its doors in 1976 in Tamworth .[2] The separation of Big W and Woolworths supermarkets was largely completed by 1989, although a few Woolworths variety stores existed into the 1990s (such as the one in Rundle Mall, Adelaide).[citation needed]
Currently, Big W has 164 stores trading across Australia, with 58 trading in New South Wales, 40 trading in Queensland, 26 trading in Victoria, 14 trading in Western Australia, 13 trading in South Australia, three trading in the Australian Capital Territory, three trading in Tasmania and one trading in the Northern Territory.[3]
In 2006, Woolworths along with Big W rolled out new Retalix point of sale systems running on IBM POS hardware with LCD touch-screens throughout all its stores. [4]
In October 2007, Woolworths announced a $1 billion makeover of Big W, including a new store format, logo and slogan. The first store with the new format is located in the Rouse Hill Town Centre in New South Wales, which first opened on 6 March 2008. [5] The new logo started appearing in advertisements, store dockets, and a redesigned Big W website on 24 October 2007. The former tagline, "We sell for less", was replaced with "Live big for less".
In December 2008, Julie Coates took the general manager position after it became apparent Greg Foran would take over running the supermarkets and liquor division in Australia and New Zealand from Naum Onikul, who stepped down from the position.
Business:
One of Big W's key strategies is "everyday low prices".[6] Thus, Big W never has storewide percentage-off days. Nevertheless, Big W still has a weekly catalogue advertising these "everyday low prices", which generally runs from Wednesday to Tuesday.
Many of the techniques used by Big W in promotions were nearly identical to the US chain Wal-Mart, such as the in store "smiley face" and the "price rollback".[citation needed] Indeed, former Woolworths Chief Executive Officer and former Big W Managing Director, Roger Corbett, has a mentor relationship with a former President of Wal-Mart, and has been appointed to the board of the American retailer.[citation needed] However Big W has begun to establish their own promotional slogans coinciding with their transition to a new look example: 'low prices everyday' (a Wal-Mart slogan) has been replaced by 'Low Prices The Whole Shop The Whole Time'
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