Currys
Parent Currys plc | | |
Website | currys |
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Currys (branded as Currys PC World between 2010 and 2021) is a British electrical retailer and aftercare service provider operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland, specialising in white goods, consumer electronics, computers and mobile phones.
Established as a bicycle retailer in 1927, Currys expanded the range of goods sold and from the 1960s became a major retailer of household electrical items. In 1984 the company was bought by rival retailer Dixons, and the Currys brand was used for all outlets of the combined company. From 2008, the business turned away from shops in town centres to larger out-of-town stores under the Currys PC World brand, combining the operations of Currys with Dixon's PC World under one roof; after the formation of Dixons Carphone in 2014, the stores gained Carphone Warehouse departments. It was announced in July 2021 that all Currys PC World stores would be rebranded to Currys.
History
Early years
Henry Curry started to make bicycles in Painter Street Leicester in 1884, after leaving his previous employer N. Corah & Sons. Currys went public in 1927 when his four sons merged The Louth Bicycle Company, and the loose confederation of shops which the sons had run since their father's retirement in 1909, with the Nottingham-based Campion Cycle Company.[2]
By the 1940s, the shops sold a wide variety of goods including bicycles, toys, radios and gramophones.[3]
Meanwhile, particularly under the directorship between 1967 and 1984 of Dennis Curry, grandson of Henry Curry,[4] the company underwent considerable expansion to become a major high street supplier of televisions and white goods (refrigerators, washing machines and other domestic appliances); by 1984 Currys Group plc had 570 shops, twice as many as the company which was then to acquire it.[5]
Takeover by Dixons
In 1984, Currys was taken over by
Before the Dixons rebranding, the chain had only a few small town centre shops compared with its much greater number of large out-of-town megastores. On 17 January 2007, group chief executive John Clare announced that when the leases on the remaining Currys High Street shops (not the rebranded Currys.digital shops) expired, it would be unlikely that they would be renewed: thus the shops would be closed at the earliest opportunity.[8]
Currys PC World
Dixons Retail began a trial combining Currys and PC World shops in 2008.
Revival of Currys as sole brand
Following reorganisations in 2020 and 2021, Dixons Carphone announced that the Currys PC World stores would be rebranded as Currys in October 2021.[12]
Views
In December 2023, Currys' CEO Alex Baldock said of a planned rise in the
References
- ^ "Our Brands". CurrysPLC. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
- ISBN 0859413071 [page needed]
- ^ Whittaker, John (16 April 2001). "Dennis Curry".
- ^ "Obituary: Dennis Curry". www.telegraph.co.uk. 17 April 2001. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
- ^ "Dixons Group plc" on Company-Histories.com
- ^ "Assessing the Currys.digital brand". Marketing Week. 29 September 2006. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ Mulligan, John (7 August 2008). "Electrical store Dixons to be rebranded under Currys name". Irish Independent.
- ^ "Business Comment". The Independent. London. 18 January 2007. Archived from the original on 18 February 2007.
- ^ "PC World and Currys trial joint store". Archived from the original on 29 September 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
- ^ Parfitt, Ben (3 August 2009). "PC World and Currys combo 'a success'". MCV. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
- ^ "Christmas Trading Update 2015–16" (PDF). Dixons Carphone. Dixons Carphone. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
- ^ "Currys boss: minimum wage hike shows government does not 'care' about retail". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
External links
- Official website (United Kingdom)
- Official website (Ireland)