Poundworld

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Poundworld
Industry Retail
Founded 1974
Founder Christopher Edwards Sr.
Headquarters Normanton, West Yorkshire, England
Number of locations
 319
Products Grocery, general merchandise
Owner TPG
Number of employees
 6000
Website Poundworld.co.uk

Poundworld is a British single price variety store that sells most of its items for £1.[1] The chain was founded in 1974 by Yorkshire-based father and son team Chris Edwards Sr. and Chris Edwards Jr.[2]

In contrast to many high-street retailers,[3] Poundworld maintained strong sales and growth during the global recession that started in 2007.[4]

As of 2014, Poundworld's product range consisted of over 5,000 items including groceries, health and beauty, toiletries, cleaning products and pet care,[5] some of them known brands;[6] it had over 6,000 employees[citation needed] and about 240 stores in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; and it was planning to open 150 new stores within three years.[7]

Its larger rival in the market is Poundland. Two BBC series entitled Pound Shop Wars, broadcast between 2012 and 2015, focused on Poundworld and its rivals.

History

File:Poundworld, Bradford, England (5005069424).jpg
Poundworld store in Bradford

The chain originated in 1974, when Chris Edwards Sr. set up a market stall in his home town of Wakefield.[8] Edwards initially set up a multi-price store called "Bargain Centre", before switching to a single-price format in 1997, trading as "Everything's £1".[9]

Since the recession that started in 2007, Poundworld has expanded rapidly.[10] Its sales grew by 42% in 2010-2011,[11] and increased by 55% with revenues of £200M in 2012.[10] Its expansion meant that the company required larger premises, and it relocated its head offices to the largest unit in Yorkshire's main warehousing and distribution base.[12] It also opened an overseas office in Shanghai during this period.[13]

In October 2013, Poundworld partnered with the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity, which it had already supported during 2013's Great Daffodil Appeal.[14]

In November 2013, Poundworld opened its first multi-price retail store under the Bargain Buys name in Walsall.[15] Bargain Buys was originally and briefly traded as Discount UK, with the name change allowing the chain to compete more closely with its rivals in the market.[15] The company planned to open a further 100 stores in the next 3 years.[16]

In mid-2014 the store secured a £26m loan from Santander to finance its stated aim of increasing its approximately 240 stores by 40 or 50 a year for the next three years, and to strengthen its overseas supply chain from where about 30% of its supplies are sourced.[7]

Former Poundworld logo with the "Everything £1" slogan

In 2014, The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that Poundworld's "Everything £1" slogan was misleading, as some items were priced at up to £8.99. Poundworld stated that the products in question were 'Manager Specials' and were only run at Christmas and occasionally throughout the year.[17][18]

The Edwards (father and son) were placed at number 12 in Management Today's annual list of Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs in October 2014.[19] In the same month Poundworld Retail was named one of the UK's fastest-growing retailers in the Sunday Times Grant Thornton Top Track 250.[20]

On 15 May 2015 the company announced that it had sold a majority stake in the business to US private equity firm TPG for £150 million,[21] with Christopher Edwards, his son, and other senior executives retaining a substantial minority holding, allowing the family to maintain the day-to-day running of the business.[22] Poundworld announced that the investment from TPG would allow the business to grow, with further plans for store expansion.[23] Shortly after the deal, the company announced that it had begun construction of a new distribution centre in Normanton as part of a plan to create 4,000 jobs and open a further 200 new stores in the next 3 years.[24][25]

Online

In May 2012, the company launched a wholesale website, targeted at market traders, eBay sellers and independent retailers.[26] The website offers over 2,000 products including cleaning, DIY, stationery and pet care.[27] Since launching online, the operation has seen a sales increase of 400%.[28]

The company followed this in February 2014 by launching a retail online pound store named poundshop.com.[29] Poundworld supplied stock and product images for the single-price website – the first of its kind. However, Poundworld decided to leave the project after 6 months, citing "a failure to reach a shared vision" with Smith.[30] It launched another online shop in April 2015: Poundworld Plus,[31] offering over 4,000 products, all at £1.[32] It later changed the website name to Poundworld.co.uk.

Notable products

In 2013, Poundworld launched a comfort bra priced at £1.[33] 100,000 were bought in a few hours.[33]

In 2014, the company started selling a range of merchandise relating to the 2013 Disney film, Frozen.[34] At Poundworld's new store opening in Merthyr Tydfil in October, people waited for over an hour before it opened, with fights breaking out as stocks ran low.[35] There were similar crowds at the new Nottingham store in November.[36]

Pound Shop Wars

In 2012, the company was the subject of a BBC documentary series, Pound Shop Wars, that focused on the competition between Poundworld and its rivals.[37] After the initial hour-long pilot, the four-episode series was broadcast in early 2014.[38] A second series of 8 episodes was screened in autumn 2015.[39]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ http://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/577393/150m-buyout-inflate-Poundworld
  23. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/may/14/high-street-chain-poundworld-sells-majority-stake-to-us-investors
  24. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-33463515
  25. ↑ http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/channels/discounters/poundworld-to-add-200-new-stores-nationwide/521347.article
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/poundworld-launches-online-shop-bargains-5555765
  32. ↑ http://www.theretailbulletin.com/news/poundworld_unveils_ecommerce_website_20-04-15/
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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