Big W
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1964 |
| Headquarters | Bella Vista, New South Wales, Australia |
|
Number of locations
|
186 |
|
Key people
|
- Acting CEO |
| Revenue |
 A$4.11 billion (2015)
|
 A$114 million (2015)
|
|
|
Number of employees
|
22,000+ |
| Parent | Woolworths Limited |
| Website | bigw |
Big W is an Australian chain of discount department stores, which was founded in regional New South Wales in 1964. The company is a division of Woolworths Limited and currently operates 186 stores, with about 22,000 employees across Australia and Asia. The company has recently suffered setbacks and its future is in doubt.
Woolworths Limited developed the Big W brand to provide Australian shoppers with a broad range of general merchandise products in a dedicated one-stop-shop. The Big W chain grew out of Woolworths Limited's original Variety stores, which carried a small range of general merchandise products. The first Big W stand-alone store opened in 1964 at Jesmond, New South Wales. Big W's name reflects the complementary relationship it has with Woolworths Supermarkets. The separation of Big W and Woolworths supermarkets was largely completed by 1989, although a few Woolworths Variety stores continued to operate into the 1990s (such as the one in Rundle Mall, Adelaide).
In 2015, there were 186 Big W stores trading across Australia: 63 in New South Wales, 46 in Queensland, 34 in Victoria, 17 in Western Australia, 17 in South Australia, 5 in the Australian Capital Territory, 3 in Tasmania and 1 trading in the Northern Territory. The store is divided into two main departments; the soft goods department (apparel/clothing/shoes/nursery) and the hard goods department (home office/linen/toys/etc.).
In 2007, Big W began trialling the provision of optometry services in South Australia and since then, these services have been added to selected stores in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Big W were the first company in Australia to use self-serve checkouts, which were introduced in 2003 on a trial basis in two of Sydney's major stores and began expanding throughout Australia in late 2005.
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Wikipedia